Russia wanted to be a part of Western imperialism but the US rejected it, because it wanted Russia to be on the menu instead of at the table. The post-Soviet neoliberal shock therapy was a Global North plundering, which in Russia started under Yeltsin and ended under Putin, and the US still wants to finish the job it started.

• Zbigniew Brzezinski, 1997: The Grand Chessboard
• The Guardian, 2021: Ex-Nato head says Putin wanted to join alliance early on in his rule
• Geopolitical Economy Report, 2022: US gov’t body plots to break up Russia in name of ‘decolonization’

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Now Russia, out of necessity, has joined the Global South majority against the imperialist Global North minority.

• Monthly Review Online, 2019: Is Russia imperialist?
• Tricontinental, 2024: The Churning of the Global Order