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