In 2014, Kissinger acknowledged: “I did not think the Soviet Union would collapse or the Soviet system would collapse, but I thought that the Eastern European countries, the satellite orbit, would gradually edge out of the Soviet camp, but I thought it would take much longer.”

Let me add that Poland edged out of Soviet orbit in 1956, in 1970, and in 1980. So, there was no brainer to predict further progression.

In 1980, I wrote a book, in Polish, speculating about possible scenarios of disintegration of the Soviet Union. Reviewers dismissed it as political fantasy. I was very close to what happened just a decade later. In short, I was better at understanding Eastern European politics than top Western Sovietologists.

I read Kissinger’s article you recommended. This year, I posted on Medium seven articles about different aspects of the Ukrainian crisis. I think that “Putin wants Ukraine because it is a rich country” is the best response to Kissinger’s column. After checking my other articles as well, I hope that you would agree with me that my take on Ukraine is much better.