Russia: A “Dying Country” or a World Leader?

Streetwise Professor is wondering about Russia's future: “First, how is it objectively possible for a country with a rapidly shrinking population to assume world leadership […]? Second, subjectively, how can large numbers of people believe that a dying country can achieve such status?”

4 comments

  • Christian Zwicky

    Russia has the potential to become a world contender with the right policies put into place. Rapidly decreasing population is reaching a peak of decline and will begin to increase again with Chinese immigrants fleeing Communism and suppression. Vladimir Putin has brought a revived sense of pride to the Russian people. They once again believe they can do anything and have leverage over the West with their vast supply of oil.

  • […] as leis russas sobre o aborto seriam a causa de tal vertiginoso declínio populacional, são ainda temas em discussão […]

  • […] Il fatto che la popolazione russa rischi effettivamente l'estinzione e se tale rischio dipenda dalle leggi sull'aborto rimane oggetto di discussione [in]. […]

  • sepi

    It’s simply not realistic to expect Russia to re-establish itself as a world superpower. Today Russia barely contains 2% of the world’s population. In 2050 it’s reasonable to expect that Russia’s share is down to less than 1.2 %. For comparison, in 1940, Soviet Union had 8.5 % of the world total. If you compare Russia to United States the current ratio is 2.16 in favor of US. In 2050, US is expected to have more than 4 times the population of Russia. With this demographic situation there is simply no way Russia can hope to retain its former power.

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