What if the Soviet intervention was a blessing in disguise? It saved the myth that if the Soviets were not to intervene there would have been some flowering authentic democratic socialism and so on. I'm a little bit more of a pessimist there. I think that the Soviets - it's a very sad lesson - by their intervention saved the myth.
Playing a character who's dealing not only with a superpower but having a normal relationship is easy to associate with because I feel that everyone has been through it.