Just sad since few days thinking of how they were killed

[Blog Real]

I do not think any European monarchy will fall. And I hope to see some restored, especially the Portuguese monarchy.

[Denville]

Originally Posted by Blog Real

I do not think any European monarchy will fall. And I hope to see some restored, especially the Portuguese monarchy.

Certainly doubt it. I think that monarchies can and do fail and I doubt if the Port monarchy will be restored. And certainly not the Tsars.

[Al_bina]

Originally Posted by Muhler

I wouldn't discount the western middle class just yet, nor "the American dream".

The middle class is growing in Continental Europe, China, India, Brazil and so on. The places where the middle class has gone back or stagnated in recent years are USA and Britain.
The "American Dream" is very much alive in countries like China, India and Russia.

The consequences of the middle class breaking down as you predict, would be chaos. A chaos that would also very much affect Russia!

The larger the middle class is the more prosperous a nation is as a society, and also the more politically stable it is.
Look at 20th century history, when the middle class suffers or diminish in number, the societies become politically more unstable. And the wealth in the society become more unevenly distributed.

Russia is reverting to it's more traditional stance: On the outskirts of Europe. A part of Europe and yet distant from Europe.
The Western world made a huge mistake back in the 90's. In hindsight a kind of Marshall help to Russia would have been the best solution and the current situation where the west and Russia is facing off again would likely IMO have been avoided.
Instead we are now having a semi-paranoid Russia.

An interesting question is: Could Russia, that has always had a Tzar, no matter what they called themselves, be ready to reinstate the monarchy again? The monarchy also being a symbol of Russias past and greatness - while being a conveniently politically neutral figurehead.

Having the 2000 histories, China and India have their own dreams. USSR tried to emulate the Scandinavian dream. Modern Russia has been working to formulate a new dream.
The NATO expansion is the biggest mistake the west has committed. The Marshall plan worked for Germany. It is impossible to determine whether or not the similar plan worked for Russia.

[Alexey 1904]

ezguy: You really think kiling Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antoinette, was ‘a proper way’ by decapitating them by guillitoine?

[COUNTESS]

Originally Posted by Al_bina

Having the 2000 histories, China and India have their own dreams. USSR tried to emulate the Scandinavian dream. Modern Russia has been working to formulate a new dream.
The NATO expansion is the biggest mistake the west has committed. The Marshall plan worked for Germany. It is impossible to determine whether or not the similar plan worked for Russia.

NATO is not a bad idea, not having is. Russian still remains a dark spot on the map. They have never come past heir past. Autocracy in one form or another. There is nothing Scandinavian about their system or lives.