I wouldn't be surprised if they're just careful having a former enemy around that now has pretty well established boots on the 'mainland' through Germany and co.

I acknowledge that my views on Russia are due to being within the West and looking out. It is difficult to imagine how things would seem if I was outside the West and looking in. If I had been a civilian on the wrong side of a war or been bombed by the West then I would have very different sentiments and opinions.

I understand that Russian does trade with northern continental Europe by selling them a lot of heating gas, for example.

But in any case, it is dumb of Russia to think that western Europe or the US wants to invade it, so all the militarism and spy stuff is unnecessary. After the end of the cold war the West reduced its militarism a lot, closing many military bases, but Russia apparently has not as far as I know. It is a shame that Russia still wants to keep things frosty. Vladimir has been watching too many James Bond movies.

Edit: the Soviet military bases in the former satellite countries of the USSR closed down when they became independent, as far as I know. But Russia still has a very high number of military personnel according to Wikipedia.

Watch this video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3wDB0M7UJs

Best quality
Edit: Sorry, going to fast on that ffmpeg line.

Communism didn't really fall, it just went to schools and colleges under new names. That said, of course Russia isn't controlled by a communist political party anymore.

The people on the other hand? You'd be surprised how many hard liners secretly pine for the "glory days."

I recall once hearing about a Russian news broadcast where the possibility of a nuclear attack on America was brought up as a good thing. It was some time in the mid to late 2000s but I could be wrong.

Nothing would surprise me about Russia. Robert Harris wrote a novel called Archangel in which a secret son of Stalin is discovered, and the people all hail him as a messiah who will make Russia great again.

It seems to me that one only has to look at Cuba to see that yesterday's revolutionary leader who champions the downtrodden is ultimately corrupted by the unlimited power he is given by default when The People abdicate all governance to a single leader or party of elites. While Karl Marx had some truly whacko (some would say evil) ideas about governance, it is possible to take his "Power to the People" stance as a call to democratic responsibility (granted with extreme liberty taken in "translation" ). It should be obvious, given the large numbers of Americans who don't vote, especially in Primary Elections, that it is easy and commonplace for citizens, even those used to democracy to fall prey to such laziness and blindness resulting in "Follow The Leader" as some sort of Messiah.

Recently an article I chanced upon recalled the 1983 film "The Day After" and it's rather profound effects on reducing nuclear armament to a slightly more sane policy in the world. I watched the full movie again. It traumatized me in 1983 and I was a bit stunned how all that deep fear came back watching it again in 2020. The best part though was the News Conference hosted by Ted Koppel that followed. It is an especially clear view, now in retrospect, of the state of the world in 1983. It is particularly educational seeing how the various experts predictions actually played out as well as how much hope they all saw in the then Youth of then Communist Russia. I must give considerable credit to that mini revolution to World Music, especially the largely African-based Music of what is now called Classic Rock that grew global from Germany and the UK, but ultimately beginning with the width of influences in The Melting Pot of the USA and that Music "snuck in the back doors" of every country on Earth, including Soviet Russia.

FWIW here is the fascinating and enlightening Koppel Symposium ----

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcCLZwU2t34

The Symposium's Panel includes---

Isn't that the truth. Khrushchev said that they would sell the west the rope that the west was hung with.

I've seen those documentaries. Here is one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRB9p2isVe0

That would change if we weren't given 2 evils and told to pick one.

I can't even figure out what my dog or cat stare means.
Let alone a whole country.

Told Mom years ago. " Going to your old stomping grounds on a TDY flight if I wanna for a month ."

She looked straight in the eye and said, " Don't you dare ! "

That was good enough for me.

That is exactly why I mentioned "especially in Primaries"!!!. We have FAR more effect early on than later when each party settles on who it thinks could win.

Op, its more simple then this:

World elites and their organizations require the myth of good countries and bad countries. Of course the good are those that comply with "their" ways, and the bad do not. Is Russia bad and EU good, is China bad and USA good, its relative to whom you ask and when you ask them.

I’m much more afraid of the U.S. since the late 90s than I ever was of Russia. They will bomb any number of civilians for cheap oil. Terrorist state, if you ask me.

I find it intriguing that the original question implies the presumption that the animosity to the USA was based ONLY upon the differences in government.

Communism is, at core, an elegant concept. The the concept has not been shown to scale well. The same could be said for PURE democracy. Any pure theory needs to be bolstered by bureaucracy and balance structure to prevent corruption and degradation. Until recently the USA could brag about getting that down pretty well. Now, not so much.

The basic idea behind communism was that society should be run like a family. Children do not have to compete with their parents for food; they are fed because they are family. Unfortunately that does not seem to work for people who are not genetically related.

I believe that from Russian viewpoint the same question arises: Why is "the west" still behaving like an enemy. There are obvious and serious motivations for such view.

So, your question is not fully valid. It should at least be like: Why Russia and "the west" behave like enemies towards each other

You're talking about over 140+ some millions opinions tho really over 7 trillion.

Even if we believe we are, we are not the make-believe "countries/opinions" born into.

Only opinions I mean human.

Instead of mass producing food (problems and opinions) let's mass produced food sources. Try growing Aquaponics in your basement or backyard!