Historian Timothy Snyder argues that for the Trump administration, the fall of the Soviet Union is not a warning but an aspirational model. They see it as a positive example of how aspiring oligarchs can exploit a collapsing state to "come crashing in and steal all the resources" for personal enrichment.

The final stage in the decline of a global power, like the British Empire, can involve its own financial elite exploiting populist or socialist policies. While the populace votes for more deficits and government spending, savvy bankers use the resulting inflation and economic turmoil to consolidate wealth and extract value from the collapsing system.

Rather than seeking military conquest, Russia's primary strategy against the US is to foster extreme political polarization. The goal is to push opposing domestic factions into a civil war, causing the American empire to collapse from within.

Snyder argues that deploying emissaries who view international relations as transactional deals between individuals cripples diplomacy. Mediators like Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner struggle to engage with Ukraine because they view figures like Putin as peers while failing to grasp concepts like national sovereignty, collective rights, or public interest. Consequently, their framework reduces statecraft to satisfying oligarchic aspirations rather than negotiating legitimate state interests.

The greatest threat to a nation's power isn't an external adversary but internal decay. When leaders prioritize personal monetization and political corruption over national interests, they effectively sell off the foundations of their country's strength, leading to a self-inflicted decline from within.

While the consolidation of wealth and power mirrors the Gilded Age, today's influential figures differ critically. Unlike their historical counterparts who still believed in the American system, a modern 'cabal' is actively trying to destroy democracy and the post-WWII global order.

Historically, significant shifts in Russia, like the fall of the Soviet Union, are initiated by elites acting in their own self-interest, not by popular uprisings. The current discontent among oligarchs suggests a similar top-down transition could be forming.

The USSR's relatively peaceful end was possible because many elites wanted to join the West. This created an internal pull towards capitulation. In contrast, regimes in China and Iran are built on anti-Western ideologies, making their elites far less likely to be co-opted and their regimes much harder to influence or change.

The most significant danger to the United States isn't a foreign adversary but its own internal discord, self-loathing, and loss of faith in its institutions. This "suicide" of national will, often stemming from an elite disconnected from the populace, creates the weakness that external threats exploit.