Why is russia so paranoid?

Question

i am only 20 so i havent been around long enough to witness all the stuff thats gone on with russia in the past. but it always seems like russia is suspicious of everyone, and it seems like a very secretive, paranoid place. and it seems like any tension it feels is created by its own paranoia.

why is it like this?

has it always been like this?

Answer 1

It's suspected that they are trying to absorb the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia

They are not paranoid, they have an agenda

and they may be proving something. Trying to show that they are not a pushover, and not a ghost of the former glory of the Soviet Union

Answer 2

I dont think its so much paranoia as a desire to regain lost power & prestige. They were first in space. The other super power. Now they're just a third world country with nukes & oil.

Answer 3

They battled the US in the Cold War for over 50 years and lost. During the past few years they have witnessed their former enemy the NATO alliance move eastward, surrounding part of their country, the US is also placing missile defense systems next to Russia. There is a saying that history repeats itself. The Russians have suffered some of the worst invasions in history from Napoleon to Hitler. During WW2 more Russians were killed than any other nationality. That still weighs on Russian minds. The Russians have a history which is filled with foreign nations trying to dictate to them what to do, which is why they are paranoid.

Answer 4

Good question.

The Russians feel that want for power, and they don't want anyone else to have it.

Russia has always been jealous of the United States, even during the Soviet Union's reign.

And yes, it has always been like this. Russia became so paranoid about finding a new czar during the Russian Empire's reign... they took a Polish Citizen that claimed to have been a decendent from Ivan the Terrible, and put him in power for 2 years.

Once they found out he wasn't, they burned him, and shot his ashes in the direction of Poland as a "Russian Goodbye"

Russia has always been paranoid and powerhungry.

Answer 5

It's just greed

Answer 6

Because they had dealt with US and US allies for 50years.