Putin can buy time for himself with the oil boom, but, like all commodity cycles there will be an end to it. Oil revenues won't go on forever. There is no investment in anything useful in Russia that the rest of the global economy wants... no innovative technology, no state of the arts manufacturing or unique consumer products.

There isn't and won't be any international capital flowing into Russia like there is in China. Without a civil society, transparency, honest courts, contract laws that are respected, why invest there?

My guess, China, far surpasses Russia in the not too distant future both economically and eventually as a civil society.

Russia with its culture of passivity and envy, insular, distrustful of capitalism and democracy will continue its trajectory into oblivion as big, irrelevant land mass.

PENNY: Well said! Not only that, but Russia is bound to actually become China in the course of time. For sure, China will take everything east of the Urals sooner or later just because of Russia's population contraction and China's expansion. As for the rest, like Atlantic magazine said: "Zaire with permafrost."

Ever tried to compare Siberian and Chinese populations 'in the course of time'? Chinese last thousand of years not made a move to take Siberia, but for you Westerners history usually starts from yesterday newspapers.

Silly old girls, what a boring life you have to seek excitement in idiotic predictions. I wonder if you are practicing Tarot.

UGLY: That's because in the last thousand years Russia's population wasn't precipitously falling as it is under Putin and China had not yet grown so large as to burst from its borders. But now that time is at hand.

If you think our life is boring, what would you say about a person who merely comments on what we say?

That's because in the last thousand years Russia's population wasn't precipitously falling

?! Do you know at least something about Russian history?

China had not yet grown so large as to burst from its borders

Sorry, some time ago I did think so, but I got some explanations from guy who is senior scientific worker (I don't know how more correctly translate старший научный сотрудник) in Institute of Far East and whom I consider an expert, not some reporter. He said Chinese are not colonizing our territories intentionally and it is not one of their political or economical priorities. They have yet plenty of room in China, and conditions there are much softer than Siberian.

So, predictions about Ural are laughable. Problem might be solved if current regime and all pro-Western groups will be driven out from power.

If you think our life is boring, what would you say about a person who merely comments on what we say?

Mmmm... 'he is compassionate'?