Brian Whitmore,
writing in
The Atlantic, summarizes at length a recent article by economist Vladislav Inozemtsev, director of the Moscow-based Center for Post-Industrial Studies.
“The real consequence will be Russia’s retreat from the global market and its economy’s transformation into one which is much more closed,” Inozemtsev wrote. “This way leads us towards a quasi-Soviet economy detached from the world and, at the same time, proud of its autarky; towards a deteriorating economy which compensates for the drop in living standards with pervasive propaganda.”
“Can Russia ‘opt out’ of contemporary globalization? I do not see any reasons which would prevent this,” Inozemtsev wrote. “How long will it remain stable under the new conditions? I believe much longer than the majority of today’s analysts are prepared to admit.”
Finally, Whitmore draws his own conclusion:
We should soon learn whether we are witnessing the death throes of the Putin regime or the birth of a new fortress Russia.
