There certainly was a lot of navel-gazing and patting of backs with the dissolution of the USSR…

Truth is while the govt model and Union failed, the people who made it up didn’t vanish into thin air. You can draw a pretty straight line from 1991 to how Putin acts against the US and Europe.

The 90s were definitely a different beast. Beginning of a unipolar geopolitical push from the US. Seems after 30yr we’re starting to finally get some real push back, which is simultaneously concerning and nice to see.