wrote in message
...
...
I've always thought that memories of the world encompassing empire
was, perhaps, their worst shortcoming.

--
Cheers,

Schweik

That may be a more troubling issue for Russia. While their people can
be as capable as anyone they mostly demonstrated their abilities as
overseas exiles; the nation has a long history of feeling inferior.
The USSR fell back on the respect of fear after failing to inspire
love:
https://themoscowtimes.com/articles/...reatness-19116

-jsw