On 16 november 2003 I posted a critical comment on a book by Brookings Institution authors about Siberia on Marxmail and PEN-L. Here is another one by a Russian author that is much better (thanks to Chris for drawing my attention to it):
Every year or so, another silly theory comes into vogue among Western "Russia hands," that estimable body of scientific prognosticators not one of whom managed to predict the collapse of the Soviet Union until three or four years after it had occurred. This year's trendily daft notion is that "the curse of natural resources" is to blame for Russia's fate. That's right: Russia's problem is that it's got far too much oil, minerals and forests-just like other famously messed-up countries, like Brazil and Venezuela. It's not the rich countries' fault for stripping these places; it 's their own fault for leading them on with provocative displays of natural wealth. Story at: http://www.exile.ru/184/book_review.html
