All of you know bad relationships between some countries and other world is an ordinary phenomenon for our world. At one time one particular country is shamed as "evil", and in the others - other countries go 'evil' and turn 'good' back. It acts as an unwritten rule of the world: the enemy is needed and the good without the evil does not work well:) But at the same time it does not mean people of these counties become 'good' or 'bad' by the wave of a wisdom magician. Taking into account national and cultural differences, people in these countries are mostly good by nature.
I mean, here in Russia we do not want to turn civilization into radioactive ash as it may seem at first glance. The first glance of a propagandized citizen of any 'good' country. Those of you who are familiar with Russian culture and history know that Russia moves in the canvas of Western civilization. Yes, sometimes we go mad and turn crazy ideas into reality. We were commies as well as we are supremely pro-Keynesian now. Anyway, we were not initial creators of this ideas, but due to some interest in empty experiments, we bring it to life. Does it mean we do not have to pay for our mistakes? No, what I want to say is that despite the differences in the spectrum we all continue to develop the cultural traditions of ancient Greece.
I guess the reason we look kinda curious and suspicious, and sometimes frighteningly is a special approach in accordance with which Western ideas are refracted in Russian reality as if through a prism. Often we think about same things and discover the same staff, so the difference is in the form - not in a matter:)
Western post-modern has Jean Baudrillard. So your sample of the modern world's madness is pretty beautiful. You have got Persian Gulf War, Watergate scandal, 9-11. It's about the meaning and the role of interpretation in post-modern paradigm. Here in Russia we also have big samples of the post-modern phenomenon but most of them lie in in the field of everyday life. One of the most popular memo-word in Russia in a few recent years is "skrepy" - bracing. The meaning of "skrepy" is quite complex. 'Skrepy' (it is plural, it is something like fetters or chains in English) contain ethical settings, over-national values benchmarks, traditions and patterns of behaviour. The anticipated role of 'skrepy' is to restrain the country from moral decay and collapse. You might think 'skrepy' are something real and something ofimportance. But it is a fictitious construct appeared in the mass consciousness against the background of the aggravation of the political situation in the country.
So, in the nearest posts I will tell you about 'skrepy', their meaning and their real and fictitious content.