Graphic Truth: Mixed views on post-communist economies

The end of communism opened up political and economic freedoms that most people in the Soviet bloc had never known. But the advent of capitalism didn't benefit everyone equally. Thirty years later, here's how select countries in the former east see things.

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The Caryn influencer artificial intelligence AI page is seen in this illustration photo taken in Warsaw, Poland on 05 December, 2023.
(Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto)

Since its inception, generative AI such as ChatGPT has run primarily in the cloud: large data centers run by large companies. In that home, AI is reliant on electricity-hungry computers, robust internet connections, and centralized data.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy attend a press conference, on the day they attend a virtual meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump and European leaders on the upcoming Trump-Putin summit on Ukraine, in Berlin, Germany, August 13, 2025.
REUTERS/Liesa Johannssen

During a planned group call later today, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and some of his fellow European leaders will press US President Donald Trump to consult Kyiv more deeply.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and then-Indian ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran attend a ceremony to hand over credentials at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on April 20, 2016.

REUTERS/Kirill Kudryavtsev/Pool

Amid US President Donald Trump’s tariff threats, GZERO spoke to former Indian Ambassador to Russia Pankaj Saran to better understand why India’s relationship with Russia is so crucial to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.