When the Iron Curtain was finally ripped
away in 1991, the free world cheered at the fall of the oldest tyranny of the
20th century. The Soviet system had long been known as the world’s largest open
prison whose border guards were posted to keep its citizens in rather than
enemies out. As it imploded with a spectacular scattering of satellites east
and west, bringing down the Warsaw Pact as well, even the most pessimistic
would have felt hopeful that the destruction of empire would surely