re: #288 Alyosha

We were too busy reveling in the demise of the USSR to realize that it had created a whole passel of problems that would not raise their ugly heads for years or decades.

The USSR did not begin to address the issue of the millions of Russians how living outside the borders of Russia: under the Soviet regime, it was merely an administrative issue.

Nor did it address the issues of trade, dividing up national assets, etc., which were simply left lying about for the oligarchs to seize in the ensuring chaotic political climate.