As an American who was born in the USSR, I can confidently say that this prediction is completely based on the typical Russian misunderstanding of the culture of the United States.
He seems to think that the United States is exactly like the USSR in 1990, which couldn't be further from the truth.
Just look at his map. Its hilarious.
The USSR was a conglomeration of formerly separate countries who were culturally distinct, constantly bickered and fought. This was was mostly because the USSR wasn't around long enough for people to forget what independence for their country was like.
So yes, at the first sign of weakness of the central government each previously independent country eagerly broke away. They even had their old government systems to dredge up and fall back on when they wanted.
The 50 states, on the other hand, have never been separate countries (with one or two minor exceptions).
The Texans, while they might complain about the Californians, do not consider themselves a different ethnicity.
And the map's ideas of what countries will control what parts? Is he kidding me?
How can China possibly control the west coast? Its insane. The language and cultural barrier is insurmountable. And Mexico controlling Texas and the south east? Are you kidding me?
This shows a complete ignorance of the cultural issues of the region.
I'm involved with a business that does quite a lot of work in Russia and neighboring countries (or did until credit markets collapsed there this fall). What I've learned is that Russia fundamentally misunderstands the US, and the US fundamentally misunderstands Russia.
Our biggest mistake is that we both project our own experiences on the other. This article is a great example of this, as lionheart points out. In the other direction, we were wrong in thinking that the most likely alternative in 1991 to Soviet communism was US-style democracy.
While this guy's ideas are laughable, I understand how they could spread. I can imagine a similar book being written in the US about the Muslim world - playing on our fears, outlining some crazy scenario for the Middle East with no real basis in reality, and completely misunderstanding the differences between Iran and Egypt, Palestine and Turkey, etc.
I couldn't agree more. There are lots of Americans who thinks of Europe in the same way as the US. Just because most of western Europe is in the EU and share a continent, doesn't mean that you can say something about one country just because you have visited another. And we're talking about Europe here. I can only imagine the kinds of misconceptions we (both Europeans and Americans) have about the Middle East
He seems to think that the United States is exactly like the USSR in 1990, which couldn't be further from the truth.
Just look at his map. Its hilarious.
The USSR was a conglomeration of formerly separate countries who were culturally distinct, constantly bickered and fought. This was was mostly because the USSR wasn't around long enough for people to forget what independence for their country was like.
So yes, at the first sign of weakness of the central government each previously independent country eagerly broke away. They even had their old government systems to dredge up and fall back on when they wanted.
The 50 states, on the other hand, have never been separate countries (with one or two minor exceptions).
The Texans, while they might complain about the Californians, do not consider themselves a different ethnicity.
And the map's ideas of what countries will control what parts? Is he kidding me?
How can China possibly control the west coast? Its insane. The language and cultural barrier is insurmountable. And Mexico controlling Texas and the south east? Are you kidding me?
This shows a complete ignorance of the cultural issues of the region.