This is also happening specifically because of how the US treated Russia after the USSR broke up. We allowed American financers to create a “Wild wild East.” Russia has enormous natural resource wealth, and the state had enormous industrial wealth. US financial titans “helped” Russia privatize (i.e. give away national wealth to private companies at a pittance). We fixed their presidential election to get the alcoholic western puppet Yeltsin into office. The pillaging went on for years. Russia was in a downward spiral of rapidly decreasing life span and quality of life.

Putin came to power and pulled Russia out of their death spiral. Putin is a semi-dictator (sharing power with the oligarchs). Like all dictators he’s not a nice guy. But he is actually really popular in Russia, because he stopped the pillaging. He stabilized the country. People realize this.

Putin is not a stupid man. He knows who pillaged his country. He also knows that Russia is no real threat to US hegemony. At least not alone.

We, the US, could have partnered with Russia after the breakup of the USSR in a mutually beneficial manner. As usual, we chose greed. Now we’re reaping what we sowed.