Russia’s years of neglecting to invest and reform pointed to an inevitable crisis. In 2014, that crisis came on two fronts, first in the confrontation over Ukraine from early this year and the resulting sanctions, and then followed by the incredible collapse in oil prices over the last few months.
Russia and its citizens have been here before and know the drill. Everything looks terrible at the moment, but as the old saying goes, times of crisis are also times of maximum opportunity to chart a new course.
So the positive spin from all of this is that we could see a new start from Russia in 2015. But a vital precondition for that new start is a definitive solution to the Ukraine problem that firmly lays to rest the political and financial standoff with Europe and the US.
