I don't have a strong opinion about Snowden, but I do not think Russia was his only option by any means. From Wikipedia's article about US extradition treaties:

I don't have a strong opinion about Snowden, but I do not think Russia was his only option by any means. From Wikipedia's article about US extradition treaties: The United States does not have an extradition treaty with China, Indonesia, Iran, Mongolia, Russia, Taiwan, Ukraine, Vietnam, the GCC states, most African states, and most former Soviet states, among others. Some countries with US extradition treaties have refused to extradite includes: Ecuador, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Iceland, Pakistan, Egypt, Switzerland, Venezuela, Zimbabwe etc. There's also a map if you prefer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_extradition_treaties https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_extradit... I can think of a lot of places I'd prefer to live besides Russia, while still offering a decent level of social/technological development.