I'd say Russia is appx. in the state of a gold rush, pretty much like the US was at the end of the 19th century, maybe until 1920. It will be THE economic power of the next decades.
In Russia there is no real foundation or buffer between head of the state and common man, this storey has to be slowly "colonized" or filled up by a real middle class. At the same time now in Russia the secret service is not able to control the people anymore, it just happens to be still one of the biggest employers. But it sure is Putin's last election, wait a few years and things will sort out.
On the other hand, if the US goes on with spending one trillion dollars for the F-35 alone, just to boast about "who has the longest .." providing an outer threat that keps people like Putin afloat, it may well be things develop differently. From overwhelming debts to the perception of the rest of the world
