"When the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union collapsed two years later, Western leaders—and many Russians—imagined that Russia would become steadily more integrated into a post-Cold War system. According to that idealistic script, the West’s gain would not be Russia’s loss. The more neighbors like Poland, the Baltic states and, yes, Ukraine stabilized and prospered, the more this would benefit Russia, allowing it to move in the same direction."
"For Mr. Putin, that is the road not taken. Stuck in his 1989 KGB mindset, he sees the possibility that Ukraine might become a success story as a colossal danger—not an opportunity. If Ukrainians succeed, Russians may start asking openly why they should tolerate the same kind of corrupt autocracy that Ukrainian protesters swept out of power earlier this year."
http://m.wsj.com/articles/andrew-nagorski-putin-tries-to-undo-the-tragedy-of-the-berlin-walls-fall-1415405064?mobile=y
http://m.wsj.com/articles/andrew-nagorski-putin-tries-to-undo-the-tragedy-of-the-berlin-walls-fall-1415405064?mobile=y
