Monday, September 5, 2011

20th Anniversary

20 years ago the old Soviet Union effectively disintegrated.  Yes, it did last as a country till the end of 1991, but by the early September this disintegration was a done deal.  Jewish Russian Telegraph is linking to an article on the subject and asking whether it was worth it:

As Muammar Gaddafi's rule crumbles in Libya, the anniversary of another revolution is passing by almost unnoticed. In August 1991, a cabal of Kremlin hardliners moved against Mikhail Gorbachev, whose reforms they saw as weakening state power and giving too much autonomy to the Soviet Union's constituent republics. Gorbachev was detained on a Crimean vacation and officially declared to be taking a health-related leave of absence, with an eight-man State of Emergency Committee taking the reins of power. After three tense days that saw tanks in Moscow's streets and a deadly clash between Soviet troops and pro-democracy protesters, the coup failed, and the fallout helped hasten the end of the communist regime and the Soviet empire.

In my opinion, it was definitely worth it, especially for the Russians and other residents of the former Soviet Union.  Although, I believe that it would have been easier for our government here in America to deal with a single entity, if a democratic Soviet Union was ever possible, the disintegrated Soviet Union is better than a totalitarian regime that existed before fall of 1991.  And despite the authoritarian tendencies existing in Russia today, modern Russia is much more free than the old Soviet Union ever was.  Russian nationalism is dangerous, but perhaps the good life made possible by the market economy will keep the dangerous tendencies in check.

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