The great drama of Russian history has been between its state and society. Put simply, Russia has always had too much state and not enough society.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Russia itself is an extremely complex country, and sometimes I feel like all of that comes back to haunt me. I can see why so many Russian writers were so tortured.
In the Russian experience, although the Russian state is oppressive, it is their state, it is part of their fabric, and so the relation between Russian citizens and their state is complicated.
The Russian revolution is one of history's car wrecks. We do know the ending, but we continue to watch. It expresses aspects of human nature we find unacceptable.
Russia is tough. The history, the land, the people - brutal.
Russia is very big and very varied. People are different in different regions.
From being a patriotic myth, the Russian people have become an awful reality.
Russia has always had a global history. Global history is a bummer. You suffer invasions of all different kinds. And Russia was not defended against them.
Russians aren't perfect. Their politics are messed up, and they keep going through self-defeating economic cycles. But I have a lot of respect for Russia, and a lot of love for Russians.
From the country with limited hope to grow your own business and express your own personality, Russia has become the land of significant opportunity.
Today's Russia is not to be compared with the Soviet Union of back then.