[iaejpiejf23]

> I mean very productive land, lots of mineral resources...

It wasn't productive like the US territory was. It was mostly inhospitable tundra. The bolsheviks weren't an economic superpower for the same reason the canadians aren't.

> Still to this day, Russia underdelivers, given its vast resources --natural and human/intellectual.

Russia is the 8th largest economy in the world.

[mc32]

Well, compare Russia to Japan or SKorea, or Taiwan, or the UK.

[iaejpiejf23]

Japan, SKorea, Taiwan and the UK have the benefit of living in pax americana and being an ally of america. It has access to all the resources they need...

Russia's problem is that their vast territory is also their achilles heel. They stole land from japan and skorea and every other nation on its border. China, germany, turkey, ukraine, iran, mongolia, etc...

Their land is a blessing AND a curse. Russia can't fully trade with china or japan because of territorial issues. So they didn't fully capitalize on japan's economic miracle. And now they aren't fully capitalizing on china's economic miracle.

Politics and power are an unforgiving discipline. If russia keeps missing out on opportunities and keeps falling behind, the russian empire is going to collapse. Doesn't matter how many nukes they have or now powerful they think they are.

What separates the US and russia is this. After ww2, russia stole a bunch of islands from japan and annexed it. That's why japan and russia still haven't signed a peace treaty. The US returned okinawa. We didn't steal it so we can have normal relations with japan.

[mc32]

I don't know. Some of those countries have minimal natural resources and small fractions of the pop of Russia yet, they enjoy relatively disproportionate economic success.

Maybe you have a point, but it's not the whole point. I think they wear a heavy shackle of ancient culture. One which has acclimatized them over centuries to a serf-state mindset they have not broken out of. It's very patriarchal (or statist). The state is their master in more ways than one. It'll take a cultural shift in the newer generations to shake it and allow them to achieve their potential.

[gaius]

The British Empire, long predates the rise of America.

[iaejpiejf23]

I did say otherwise? Not sure what your point is.