Back when most of today's Western decision-makers were in college, Sting had a hit song with "Russians." It began:
"In Europe and America, there's a growing feeling of hysteria / Conditioned to respond to all the threats / In the rhetorical speeches of the Soviets / Mr. Khrushchev said we will bury you / I don't subscribe to this point of view / It would be such an ignorant thing to do / If the Russians love their children too."
It sometimes seems that most Western analysis of Russia has the sophistication of this song.