The Next Collapse Will be Russia's Last

Not at first apparent, the thread running through this Moscow Times article is that the rule of law is a necessary precondition for democracy and that there is a process by which this will emerge. I think Milton Friedman finally admitted that the rule of law should have preceded "shock therapy" in Eastern Europe...but somewhat too late. Those sharp-suited young idiots from Stanford with no experience of the world screwed it up for the populations of the former Soviet Bloc and handed the resources over to criminal groups instead. This article still centres on a form of economic determinism which needs needs to be thought through carefully.