Russians clearly perceive America's global influence as being in irreversible decline and American society shattered by major political, economic and ideological crises.

America is a nation of immigrants, but it is also a nation of people who never emigrate. Notably, Americans living outside the United States are not called emigrants, but 'expats.'

American society is still puritanical.

In addition to the decline in competition, American politics today is characterized by a growing ideological polarization between the two major political parties.

Regimes like the one in Russia are stabilized by the fact that they have no ideology. There is really no ideological means to attack them.

America gave the world the notion of the melting pot - an alchemical cooking device wherein diverse ethnic and religious groups voluntarily mix together, producing a new, American identity. And while critics may argue that the melting pot is a national myth, it has tenaciously informed the America's collective imagination.