Whoever destroyed it, the fall of the 67-year-old Kakhovka Dam stands as a symbol of the final death of the Soviet dream of inter-ethnic and constructive co-operation. The Soviet Union, which was dismantled in 1991, was more colonial than co-operative, more about oppressive politics than constructive economics. Yet the dream of Soviet-style harmony and co-operation still endured through much of the 20th century in many parts of the world. It explains part of the continued appeal of Russia in areas of the Global South even today. The Kakhovka Dam was one of the dream’s symbols. A look at the opening...