https:// www. cia . gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP80-00810A006000360009-0.pdf

Even in Stalin's time there was collective leadership. The western idea of a dictator within the Communist setup is exaggerated. Misunderstandings on that subject are caused by a lack of comprehension of the real nature and organization of the Communist party structure. Stalin, although holding wide powers, was merely the captain of a team and it seems obvious that Khrushchev will be the new captain.

Most Americans have no idea how the Soviet Union operated and if they knew it would seem like a much better system than US representative democracy. A generic feature of Orientalist racism is the idea that Asiatic cultures are inherently drones being controlled by despots, something we see with every other negatively-stereotyped Asian country and portrayed in every sphere of life from their workplace to their families and politics. Russia is regarded as more Asian than European by the white supremacists pushing that propaganda. The west reinforced it because it can't forgive Stalin for ending the holocaust or building a rival superpower out of the country everyone else was trying to destroy, nor could they compete with a society that invests in its citizens and says the poor can become scientists. It purely exists to rob the basic idea of autonomy from anyone who isn't white.