There is a kernel of truth to this. After the cold war ended, it really did feel like the world was finally at peace, for a little while. There were still conflicts and wars going on, but they seemed manageable by comparison.
I believe one of the spy museums in DC even wrote that after the fall of Russia, the US was considering ending it’s intelligence groups. That was scaled back, especially after Bush’s monumental failure in 2001. But it was interesting to see the optimism at the time.
True, and I would say it wasn’t so much the resurgence of Putin that kicked off a downward feeling, but 9/11 and the aftermath. Geopolitical violence at “home” no longer seemed an obvious worry until then, in the western world.
I sometimes wonder what would have happened if that had never occurred and the western powers did more to help the struggling Russia in their post Soviet transition…
There is a kernel of truth to this. After the cold war ended, it really did feel like the world was finally at peace, for a little while. There were still conflicts and wars going on, but they seemed manageable by comparison.
I believe one of the spy museums in DC even wrote that after the fall of Russia, the US was considering ending it’s intelligence groups. That was scaled back, especially after Bush’s monumental failure in 2001. But it was interesting to see the optimism at the time.
True, and I would say it wasn’t so much the resurgence of Putin that kicked off a downward feeling, but 9/11 and the aftermath. Geopolitical violence at “home” no longer seemed an obvious worry until then, in the western world.
I sometimes wonder what would have happened if that had never occurred and the western powers did more to help the struggling Russia in their post Soviet transition…