"Russia loves America" is similiar level of simplification as "post-soviet countries love democracy". In reality, people here don't value democracy as much as they just want German cars, French clothes and American movies and politicians are adapting to the demand.
I find it difficult to understand whether your second sentence refers to Russia or those 'post-soviet countries'.
If it is the latter, I want to note that as a person from a Baltic country I have no doubt that my fellow citizens value self-determination and democracy a lot more than consumer goods.
That was a reckless generalization on my part, I meant both. It was my cynical take on the atmosphere in Hungary, Slovakia and Poland as well as (anecdotally) in Russia. Clearly Baltics have made a much bigger progress.
Could Barbie have been made (and had the marketing muscle put behind it) anywhere else but America though? Would Givenchy have grown to the brand that it is in a France that wasn't democratic? You can say or even think you don't like America, but what does that really mean when you seek out things that have thrived because of it?
The meaning of "Russian soul" is secretly adoring and mimicking the West (for centuries), while overtly threatening to burn it to the ground. The wives and progeny of some of the most ardent haters live in Europe and give birth in the United States for American citizenship.
> "Russian soul" is secretly adoring and mimicking the West
Pretty sure it's not secret at all. St Petersburg founded in the 1700s (and then made the capital of Tsarist Russia) was literally an attempt to westernize Russia.
I think the "Russian soul" is more of an inner conflict between the desire to live a Western life while under the heavy influence of non-Western traditions and culture
Western in the early 18th century referred generally to the cultural reaction of (mostly Western) Europe to the enlightenment that was happening at the time. Russia did not have that movement, so Peter the Great attempted to "Westernize" by bringing some of the ideas into Russia via St. Petersburg, while still maintaining the traditional non-Western Russian Tsarism (I don't know of a better word than non-Western because Eastern doesn't really correspond to a broad culture similar to Westernism as thought of in Western Europe)
This is the internal conflict of the "Russian soul"
The problem with Kremlins ("ardent haters of the West") is that they are
a) In for money or because it is a part of their job description.
b) Not too Russian. It's a distinct ethno-political subgroup.
The latter would be apparent from reading the "Early Life" section of Wikipedia, or any source of the same effect.
A Russian will not want to harm Europe unless it's kill or be killed situation - because Russia is a part of Europe and is not viable without it. A Russian will also not want to hurt Russian people or the country. Kremlins talk about the former and do the latter, all the time.
