RICHARD NIXON (Bonus Edition) Predicting Vladimir Putin over two decades ago - Nixon interview on the Soviet Union and the Post Cold War

The Richard Nixon Experience

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In Former President Richard Nixon's final book "Beyond Peace" he often wrote like a psychic of some kind. He wrote:
“The United States must lead. We must lead to open the eyes of those still blinded by despotism, to emboldened those who remain oppressed, and bring out from the dungeons of tyranny those who still live in darkness. The question remains whether the United States will meet its responsibilities of leadership beyond peace as it did to defeat the communists in the Cold War. History thrusts certain powers at certain times on to center stage. In this era, the spotlight shines on the United States. How long it stays with us – – and how brightly it shines – – will be determined by us alone.

“Peace demands more, not less, from a people. Peace lacks the clarity of purpose in the cadence of war…. Our contact at home and abroad will determine how well we improvise beyond peace.”
"The failure of freedom would also have a profoundly negative global impact. The reestablishment of a dictatorship and a command economy in Russia would give encouragement to every dictator and would-be dictator in the world. Since an authoritarian Russia would be far more likely to adopt an aggressive foreign policy than a democratic Russia, freedom’s failure would threaten peace and stability in Europe and around the world. If Russia turns away from democracy and economic freedom and we have not done everything possible to prevent it, we will bear a large measure of responsibility for the ominous consequences."

Page 40
"at the same time, the West must take note of warning signs on the horizon. Russian military thinking is becoming more nationalistic and more assertive in defense of Russia’s interests in the other former Soviet states bordering on Russia, and more supportive of the use of military force as an instrument of foreign policy. Russian policy toward other post-Soviet nations represents the greatest dilemma for the United States. A new attempt by Moscow to rebuild its empire would be a tragedy for Russia and its neighbors alike. In view of the Russian-Soviet historical legacy, it is understandable that Russia’s neighbors are sensitive to any signs of new assertiveness on Moscow’s part."

Page 61
"I am convinced that the Russian people will not turn back to communism. But if they have no choice, they will turn to some kind of political dictatorship, which will at least promise the safety-net guarantees that were supposed to have been delivered by the communist regime."

Page 81
It seems he wrote about how to help Russia enter the 21st century and he wrote about what could happen if we failed to help them. What he described on page 81 of his book sounds almost exactly like a perfect description of what did eventually happen in Russia and the rise of Vladamir Putin. In this episode we will listen to a casual interview President Nixon had on Russia, the old Soviet Union, and how to deal with them in the post Cold War, and it sounds like a lesson that can still be applied today.