The USA and the USSR have been following parallel histories, only slightly out of synch. Both demonstrate the failures of their fundamental political paradigms--Corporatism, and State Communism.

This is reflected in their leadership. GW Bush and Brezhnev were analogs of one another, the last sputtering gasp of the ancien regime.

Obama and Gorbachev attempted to salvage what was left, to reintroduce humanity and reason, but failed. The system was too far gone, too corrupt, too unstable.

Boris Yeltsin and Donald Trump are the dysfunctional buffoons who ruled fitfully during the interregnum.

In Russia we now have Putin firmly and brutally in charge. The masses long for stability. His American counterpart will probably be Pence. There is a perverse sense of symmetry there, and both their names start with a "P".