Trash Can

Hmm, alright, I won't say anything, I'll just suggest reading the history textbook more carefully.

Which one? There are tons of history textbooks now, and I can't say for sure that even one of them is reliable. Besides, in textbooks, recent history is considered from a subjective point of view; for one person, life was good under the communists, and they will write well about the USSR, while for another, their father was exiled to labor camps, and they will bash the USSR as much as they can. There are too many different opinions, as I already wrote, it will only be possible to say something objectively about the USSR, at the very least, a century from now. In general, regarding the confrontation between the USA and the USSR-Russia, everything can be explained quite simply. Think about it: firstly, if a country is large, it needs some kind of common idea to prevent it from falling apart, and the best unifying factor has always been an external enemy; secondly, if a country is rich, it needs to constantly maintain and increase its military power, and in order not to remind the people once again that they live in a rich country (so that people don't start demanding more from the state than the government wants), an Enemy is needed again. Under such conditions, the USSR and the USA were, of course, ideal Enemies, and even with opposing ideologies: socialism vs. capitalism. The current Russia is no longer what was ideal for America, but there are no better options now. And since it's still scary and, in general, unnecessary to settle things openly, local conflicts occur, like the recent events in Georgia. Our confrontation, in essence, is needed only by our governments and no one else. I, for example, don't care about Americans; they live well - so be it, what do I care? They live poorly - well, good riddance, I'm more concerned about my own problems than theirs! And I'm sure that most of the population in our countries has the same attitude towards each other; we just need to remember that we are all people, regardless of where we live.