Reply #72: I see a couple of problems with your generalizations. [View All]

[Snow]

First, I can think of number of former USSR sats that are not tempting places to visit. Here's a partial list:
Bosnia, Herzegovinia, Serbia, Croatia, Montenegro, Uzbekhistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgizstan, Kazakstan, Ukraine, Georgia.

Second, you say, "As far as I can tell there is only one difference between them and N.Korea", them being, I assume, the former Warsaw pact countries. That's a singularly uninformed and simplistic statement that ignores completely enormous differences in culture, history, and geography. You could with equal validity argue that Japan has a personality cult with the emperor. If that's the crucial difference, why is Japan like it is instead of like N. Korea?