a country that, for a long time, was the wet dream of US foreign policy. America welcomed the Russian federation into existence. America loved the Russian federation because it meant the end of the Soviet union.

I occasionally think about what an alternate universe would be like where Russia was allowed to join NATO after the dissolution of the USSR. a world where maybe China was as ascendant as it is today and so scared NATO enough to allow Russia in.

None of Russia's actions in the decades since the 90s are particularly egregious when compared directly to what NATO countries have done everywhere in the world. Their actions in Chechnya, Georgia, and Syria are really not that much different than what the US did in Iraq/Afghanistan, parts of South America, and Libya. There probably exists a parallel universe where Russian troops are sitting in Coalition FOBs in Iraq alongside American troops, and nobody is shredding them for foreign actions (this isn't said wistfully, mind, just a thought). Ideology unfortunately just couldn't leave Russia alone.