Definition of Fractal
"Any of various extremely irregular curves or shapes for which any suitably chosen part is similar in shape to a given larger or smaller part when magnified or reduced to the same size."
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fractal
Fractals are used by technical analysts to show a recurring pattern in a chart. They are sort of like small scale 'archetypes ' or patterns that recur.
History also has these small patterns, like fractals, and when a pattern in history is noticed, a person can 'zoom out', look at a longer term timeframe, to see if the pattern was relevant.
This page will list some historical 'fractals' that seem to be recurring.
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An easy to understand example is the pattern that leads from a dynasty or personality centered 'kingdom' or empire, to a more authoritarian power whose center is obscured by itself for its own security.
Russia expanded into the USSR in the decades after Tsar Nicholas left power.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_II_of_Russia
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Empire
Ultimately Russian interests took their history notes and moved forward.
The 'fractal' in this case involves the current pattern in the United States, which seems to be mirroring the decay of the Soviet Union, first into authoritarianism, then into pending collapse and retreat to a more stable ethnic unit. The United States though, in this case, has no easy retreat available, it is not a real historical entity, it is simply a collection of 'trophies' taken from its victims
Specifically, the 'Holodomor' that occurred within Soviet territory is widely perceived as having been given some help from western powers. The United States etc appears to have 'created a new historical precedent' by using financial pressure to push a rival into desperation and destabilization. A smaller scale fractal would also be the 'urban insurrection' tactics of 'guerrilla' types like Che Guevara.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holodomor
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che_Guevara
The Soviet Union was expanding as a melting pot, and this expansion came with obvious vulnerabilities of a type that are typically ignored by rivals. In other words up to that point the specific type of interference in foreign affairs that lead to the famine would have been considered 'poor form', not suitable for civilized rivalry.
By encouraging or instigating that famine a new set of boundaries or rules was established.
Now, as things go, it appears the stage is being set for the final legitimacy to be given to that tactic i.e., it will be re used by the former victims on the initial perpetrators.
This 'fractal' is still in its early stages, and history will judge eventually whether it is accurate to consider this a 'fractal' or historical pattern, but there is more evidence of it's development with regard to China.
China, like Russia, had a fairly stable melting pot for a long time until new frontier empires decided to change some of the rules i.e., remove certain moral rules from generally accepted conduct among melting pots.
To put it another way, both China and Russia developed within a certain ethical framework. They had existed within boundaries that were sort of a natural extension of common human individual rules. For example if 'x' is considered improper for an individual then that ruleset would say 'x' was generally improper at a national level.
1) An interesting fractal involving the broader 'middle east'
https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/29/middleeast/turkey-saudi-visit-mime-intl/index.html
In this case, the British aspect of the melting pot used a split middle east to profit alongside the Soviet Union, but now strategies are changing and the Muslim bloc is preparing to unite as a balance to China's growth.
The parallels or previous versions of this fractal are visible in that region itself.
~In Progress