Russia

Abstract

After the dissolution of the U.S.S.R., Russia is repositioning itself as a major political-economic actor in the Eurasian geo-region. These aspirations are commensurable with Russian history, geography, and rich mineral resource base, specifically energy. To a large extent, Russia's resurgence has been propelled by extraordinary reliance on oil and gas buttressed by high global energy prices. Russia's political-economic ambitions, posturing, and recent improvements are found in stark contrast with its mediocre ratings in social and environmental performance. The study explores strategic attractiveness, cost, and risk of doing business, and reveals that Russia trails Germany and U.S.A., key aspirational comparators, in critical global competitiveness rankings. It also lags behind China, a major comparator. Under high energy prices, Russia appears capable of maintaining a certain degree of global competitiveness and improvements, although tempered by growing politic-economic strategic ambitions. The study calls for reforms and strategic improvements in developing human capital and innovations toward sustainable global competitiveness.