The Soviet Union broke up because it became a feeble, ungovernable state, unable to keep up with the emerging world of globalization. In the end it couldn't credibly feed, house or cloth its people without borrowing heavily from the West. The glue that held it together evaporated because it was based on propaganda, ideological falsehoods and not much that was practical or realistic. It broke apart because it became intolerably inefficient and corrupt, no longer able to keep up or compete with the emerging world around it, which was demanding more and more transparency and accountably. It also broke apart because it persisted in going against the grain of humanity and the currents that were calling for open societies, personal justice and freedom. The Soviet Union's financial indebtedness to the West was another major factor in its demise. It literally went bankrupted, in more ways than one.
The incredible thing is that the Soviet Union collapsed on its own, from within. Oh, it was helped by pressure from the West, since the Soviets couldn't keep pace with Western knowhow or the West's ability to change and modernize. The Soviets couldn't keep pace with the West's technological developments or its modern methods of governance and organization. However, it was finally the Soviets that did it to themselves. It was the inherent, internal weaknesses of communism, of cover-ups, cheating, manipulation and denial, that ultimately caused the system to fail. This is something that Putin has obviously been blind to and ignorant about.
I don't know if Putin has noticed but the Russia he rules today is basically run on the principles of capitalism, even though it is heavily dependent on cronyism and fraud. The remnants of the old Soviet Union he rules today is nothing like existed thirty years ago nor would it exist today if it weren't for the fact that Russia has adopted Western capitalist methods, which has allowed his country to continue. Russia sells it resources on the open market, unlike in the old Soviet days when the economy was tightly controlled and manipulated, which distorted the true cost of doing business. The economic controls that the old Soviet regime employed were a major reason why the communist economy collapsed, because such controls and distortions were what stifled and crippled the economy so that in the end it couldn't compete or sustain itself. And that is the passing Putin laments?
