Did people predict that Russia was going to be the 2nd most powerful country in the world, in say 1900. As bad as leninism was, most of Russia's allies were obtained due to their shared believe in leninism or their supposed anti-imperialism. If it hadn't been for leninism, there would be very little reason to ally with Russia, as opposed to the United States.
Oswald Spengler, a German philosopher who was very influential in the first half of the twentieth century, even predicted that Russia would be the number one superpower. He had a theory that the lifespan of a culture is about 1000 years and Europe lived through its heydays in 16th to 18th century. He saw North America as an extension of European culture, but acknowledged that Russia is a separate culture.