After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the world's largest country was divided into 15 independent states, of which Russia and Ukraine were the largest and second largest respectively. Although Russia and Ukraine have shared the richest legacy of the Soviet Union, the development of the two countries after independence is not good, and the real rebirth of nirvana in the former member countries of the Soviet Union is a small Eastern European country - Estonia.
The lesson of Russia and Ukraine
Russia and Ukraine were the two countries with the best conditions after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but for various reasons they have mixed up to the point where they are unsustainable today. The lessons of Russia and Ukraine's post-collapse Soviet Union have also served as a wake-up call for other former Soviet allies.
Russia is the main inheritor of the Soviet legacy, and for this reason has been treated differently by Western countries, especially the United States. When Russia first became independent, the leaders at the time were eager to join the Western camp, but soon the Russians discovered that no matter how sweet the words of Europe and the United States, the real goal was to destroy Russia.
The West's attitude toward Russia has led it to embark on a path similar to that of the Soviet Union, that is, independence from the East as a great power in confrontation with the West. Due to Western sanctions and the practical difficulties faced by Russia's economic development, Russia has not been able to change the downward trend until today, and such problems have been exposed more obviously after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war.
But Russia's current state is already the best solution in the difficult situation at home and abroad, and Ukraine is the real loser. When the Soviet Union just collapsed, it left a lot of precious legacies for Ukraine, making Ukraine the third military power in the world after the United States and Russia.
Even Ukraine has a unique advantage over Russia. Ukraine's black soil area accounts for 25% of the world's total and is known as the breadbasket of Europe. In addition, Ukraine is also a large country with mineral resource reserves, which is difficult to say, Ukraine can make a lot of money even by selling grain and resources.
More importantly, Ukraine is where the Soviet industrial base is located, the Black Sea shipyard that manufactures aircraft carriers and large warships for the Soviet Navy is in Ukraine, the Motor Sich company that manufactures advanced turboshaft engines is in Ukraine, and even the Antonov Design Bureau, which manufactures the world's largest transport aircraft, the An-225, is also in Ukraine. These high-precision products, even Russia does not have the relevant manufacturing technology.
But it was this way that Ukraine, which started with a god, played its good hand to a sparse, and abruptly turned a country that could have become a world power into a cannon fodder country that Europe and the United States use to suppress Russia today. Even if the Russian-Ukrainian war ends, Ukraine's reduction to a failed country is almost a certainty.
Muffled to make a fortune
The former ally that was really reborn after the collapse of the Soviet Union is Estonia, which has a very low sense of existence, and even if the world mentions Estonia, it will be called the three Baltic states along with Latvia and Lithuania. Estonia and Soviet Russia have historically been closely related, and whenever there is a change of power on Russian soil, Estonia is re-annexed by the new regime.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Estonia became a blind spot in the competition between the United States and Russia, Russia had little interest in Estonia, which did not border it, and the United States felt that Estonia was too weak to be useful. Relying on the conditions of a quiet corner, Estonia can follow its own development path with peace of mind.
During the Soviet era, Estonia has always existed as an agricultural country, but after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Estonia completed its industrial transformation with a small share of the Soviet legacy. Due to the relatively small size of the country, Estonia's economic development has been rapid and it has become the strongest of the three Baltic countries.
After achieving certain development results, Estonia did not lose its construction direction, but focused on itself and embarked on an independent development path. The Estonian government has invested a lot of money in the science and education industry, and the quality of the population has been greatly improved, creating its own talent dividend advantage.
In 2011, Estonia officially became a developed country and achieved remarkable development achievements, which attracted the attention of Europe and the United States, and took the initiative to invite it to join NATO and the European Union. Compared with Estonia's ease, even if Ukraine does shed its last drop of blood for the West, it may not be accepted by NATO and the EU.
Today, Estonia is already the best developed country in Eastern Europe and even in Europe, with a per capita GDP of more than $20,000, making it a veritable high-income country. Estonia also has extremely beautiful natural scenery, the world's most famous tourist country, according to economic experts, Estonia's tourism development potential has not been fully developed, the future is very bright.
The biggest difference between Estonia and Russia and Ukraine is that they have never considered relying on external forces to develop themselves, and Russia and Ukraine have made this mistake, Russia has fallen into recession, and Ukraine has now relied entirely on the West to survive.
At the same time, Estonian leaders are also very clear about themselves, trying not to participate in political disputes, but once forced to get involved, they will see their position clearly and make the right choice. After NATO's eastward expansion, Estonia realized that it was unable to reverse this tide and simply went on the line.
On the other hand, Ukraine, by the West to engage in color revolutions, to promote the extreme right forces, the key is as the last strategic buffer between Russia and NATO, not only do not want to do how to balance and neutrality, but also sprint to the road to join NATO, Russia does not do it is strange.
In order to ensure that NATO does not put missiles on its own brain, whether Ukraine has a civil war or not, whether it has Nazis in its country or not, Russia will inevitably find an excuse to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, even if Ukraine is now reduced to a war zone, in the eyes of Russia it is much better than a Ukraine as a NATO member.