Vladimir Putin's recent remark that the dissolution of the Soviet Union was "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century" reminds us that Russia is not just another country in transition from the communist past. For many Russians, including the former secret policeman who is their president, the loss of their empire, their state and their ideology remains a source of resentment. Yet Russia will only be a normal country when its people welcome their freedom rather than regret their power.

The greatest catastrophe of the 20th century was not, in fact, the dissolution of the Soviet Union, but its creation. The Soviet party-state was the organisational model and negative inspiration for Hitler's National Socialism. The heroism of the people of the Soviet Union destroyed that vile regime. For that, humanity must remain eternally grateful. But we must also recognise that the psychopath who controlled the Soviet state made that war far more likely and more costly than it needed to be, not least for his own people. No less is it true that what came to those liberated by the Red Army was not freedom, but four and a half decades of imprisonment. As for the Soviet Union itself, the experiment resulted in the deaths of tens of millions and, in the end, destitution.