The interests of the Soviet Union are in controlling highly developed countries and having the benefit of their economies so that they can run their own inefficient empire.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
In the 20th century, the Soviet Union made the state's role absolute. In the long run, this made the Soviet economy totally uncompetitive. This lesson cost us dearly. I am sure nobody wants to see it repeated.
By now it is evident that the Soviet Union must gain control of Europe to maintain its empire.
The Soviet Union was a one-party state. In such states, enemies of the party become enemies of the state, and the state can punish with full weight of prosecution.
The number one foreign policy goal of Russia is control of the former Soviet space.
Russia is an important power upon which the U.S.A. imposed a Cold War.
In the Cold War, a lot of Soviet actions could be explained as extensions of Czarist imperial ambitions, but that didn't stop us from studying Marxism in theory and Communism in practice to better understand that adversary.
Of course the United States and Russia have different interests. Nevertheless, both are strategic partners.
The readings of Soviet society are as many as the experts you speak to. In my view, it's a society that is overdue for measures of democratization and organization.
With hindsight, we see that the Soviet Union never had a chance of world domination, but we didn't know that then.
The Soviet Union represents a threat in terms of might. It is a joke in terms of its economy and what it has to offer the Third World - a laughingstock to countries that are looking for an economic-development model.