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2025 milestone: The core remnant of the original Russia is becoming an important international player again
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-- CIA angers Russia by predicting break-up of state within 10 years By Andrew Osborn; 30 April 2004; news.independent.co.uk
"China and Japan are locked in a fierce diplomatic and economic struggle to win access to Russian oil" -- In the pipeline; Apr 29th 2004; economist.com |
It's taken Russia a long time to come to terms with its new economy and politics, as well as to fix many of the problems relating to massive industrial pollution and the aftermath of nuclear and biological weapons used in certain conflicts which have occured since the collapse of the USSR. It's also taken Russia many years to figure out a suitable way to exploit its remaining natural resources, and put together a reasonably modern industrial and market infrastructure as well.
The 21st century rebirth of the Russian state is regarded by some as the greatest achievement yet of certain global Vigilante/virtual state factions, aided with widespread support from a substantial portion of Russian citizens.
Most all observers agree that the sudden influx of free or very low cost network computers and cheap internet access via pizza-size satellite dishes was instrumental to the state's reorganization. The new virtual mediums of exchange and e-commerce usurped economic control from the corrupt geopolitical forces of old, with the front line in the conflict for a while consisting of the physical delivery systems supporting the new economic forces. However, the Russian mafia and governmental forces soon discovered many of the delivery agencies were heavily armed and well trained members of a powerful global Vigilante organization, working in concert with the virtual entities supporting and distributing the free and low cost net clients across the country. These same delivery personnel also helped many Russians set up their own new businesses as well. Within only a few years the delivery forces were expanding the scope of their operations into various security and then law enforcement areas, becoming something very near to a pseudo Russian government in their own right. Over time the Russian mafia found it more profitable to join the new revolution than oppose it, and the official Russian geopolitical government eventually collapsed in a way much like its USSR predecessor had decades before-- with a wholly new and much more modern government taking its place. The Vigilantes/virtual states largely responsible for bringing about these events helped the Russian populace to construct a much more democratic governmental body much less vulnerable to corruption or centralization of power and influence into only a few hands-- effectively leapfrogging many western states into a new and more enlightened form of government and individual representation in same (a form of government geophysicals like USAmerica would not officially adopt until decades later).
This reinvigoration of Russia began in small pockets throughout the country and spread from there. Russians in general were desperate for an escape from the anarchy, chaos, violence, and poverty of the previous decades, but still eyed the new trends with suspicion, forcing those responsible to prove their good intentions every step of the way with actions and commitments rather than words. As it became clear that many of those staffing the Vigilantes/virtual states behind the revolution were themselves Russian expatriates and/or Russian or eastern european by ancestry, obstacles to the operation fell away and popular support exploded.
Although today Russia still faces the threat of more conflicts and/or terrorist/successionist actions involving weapons of mass destruction, and withering global economic competition as well...these are pretty much the same problems everyone else faces at this time too.
Some of the brightest spots in Russia now include its entertainment industry. How so? Because the very same hard times which brought Russia so much misery in past decades also generated some of the most intriguing new tales of true life drama, invention, adventure, and conflict to be seen since the time of USAmerica's Old West of gunslingers and outlaws. Only Russia's stories are far more compelling to contemporary folk, as they include novel twists and turns that only modern technologies and anarchic local conditions could have added to the mix. I.e., USAmerica's Old West tales-- and even those of World War II-- pale by comparison to the new stories available from Russia today.
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"...the new Russia – a wild-west state where crime, wealth, politics and business intertwine"
-- The Colour of Money by Angus Roxburgh; Sunday Herald - 01 February 2004 |
Russia is considered in the present to be at least number two or three among high quality global cyberwar forces. They might be even stronger than that, if they hadn't lost many of their best cyber-minds to Israel, USAmerica, and other states (including spin off states from Russia itself) in decades past. Russia also boasts a strong and growing computer industry, with hard-wired solutions one of their mainstays. These elements make Russia a strong competitor in workstation/PC/NC and net server type technologies (especially the hardware aspect)-- including security and certain types of niche software development. Another Russian specialty is rapid deployment of proprietary, highly secure networks over fairly large regions for either military or civilian purposes. They often do this with a system which includes both satellites and airborne and/or seaborne transceivers which may be laid within minutes or hours by aircraft and/or boats. In a pinch the nets may even operate by way of bouncing signals off atmospheric layers rather than dedicated satellites. These systems typically only function well for a relatively short period of time without comparatively expensive maintenance and upgrades. However, in the wild, wild cyber environment of the 21st century, such nets often come in handy to replace conventional nets during natural disasters or after damage or compromise by cyber assaults/accidents, or for support of special events of some kind on short notice. There's also a considerable amount of experimentation going on in USAmerica and other developed nations whereby local small and medium-sized businesses desire to quickly create their own temporary local nets for lots of reasons, too (some to evade increasingly onerous net restrictions/regulations/surveillance by geophysicals like USAmerica). Russia excels in such temporary but secure net deployments-- actually being better than USAmerica at it. USAmerica itself makes use of the Russian fast nets for some disaster recovery operations, and military staging purposes in a few conflicts during this period.
Russia's cyberwar expertise also proves a boon to further expansion and improvements to the embryonic virtual states online, as both Russia and surviving Israeli cyberwar experts help support and protect many net servers from discovery, seizure, and regulation by the old world geopolitical establishment, both for financial and non-financial ones.
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-- Soviet technology legacy draws offshore work Russia is emerging as an R&D center for software and telecommunications firms by Patrick Thibodeau; JULY 03, 2003; computerworld.com
-- Russian Computer Pirates Flourish In Crisis By Elizabeth Piper, Yahoo/Reuters, January 4 1999 |
Russian medical technology is now considered state-of-the-art in many ways, and in high demand worldwide. The Russians you see suffered so mightily from medical distress in decades past their entrepreneurs and struggling medical professionals came together to create a whole new industry in at home and highly mobile personal medical diagnostics and treatments.
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-- "Tuberculosis Epidemic Among Some Homeless Russians"
Reuters/Yahoo! News Science Headlines, August 5 1999
-- Plague, other old diseases make a comeback in Russia By ALEXANDRA TRUBNYKOFF, Nando Media/Agence France-Press, November 26, 1999, http://www.nandotimes.com -- Russian population drops sharply as death rate, emigration rise, Nando Media/Associated Press, July 30, 1999, http://www.nandotimes.com -- CIA angers Russia by predicting break-up of state within 10 years By Andrew Osborn; 30 April 2004; news.independent.co.uk |
One particularly desirable feature of certain Russian medical products is 'guaranteed' protection from several common biological weapons agents-- as well as a dozen or so less scary but common health threats, too.
The Russian products were actually so good major battles were fought by many professional medical associations and other business concerns in USAmerica and elsewhere to block the sale of the equipment outside Russia, or at least make them more costly to consumers via heavy tariffs. But the injustice and illogic of the arguments, as well as major public outcry, thwarted those efforts after some years, eventually making the new technologies available to everyone at reasonable cost.
Russia also found success in other highly individualistic markets as well, such as home security, environment, and power generation. In these areas Russia was blessed (or cursed) with the circumstance of essentially living through certain aspects of the bulk of the 21st century a decade or so earlier than most of the west and Japan. Thus, as growing problems and threats concerning home security, environment, and power needs boomed for the world in the early 21st century, Russia already had second and third generation products specifically tailored for those needs, already on the shelves.
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-- It's Y2K daily for some Russians By Genine Babakian, Special for USA TODAY, 08/06/99
-- A crisis regarding heat and electricity shortages had gone on for months in eastern Russia, as of early 2001. Ironically, Russia in 2001 is second only to Saudi Arabia in terms of oil exports worldwide. -- Russian minister fired, governor resigns over energy crisis By ANDREW KRAMER, Associated Press/Nando Media/Nando Times, February 5, 2001, http://www.nandotimes.com |
Much of the new Russian technology is novel and ingenious in its workings. For instance, the Russians boast a line of power generation products which utilize explosives for their 'fuel'. The smallest units, meant for personal use, may fire off-the-shelf small arms ammunition internally (with resulting projectiles contained within the unit) to generate an hour or so of electricity from a single round suitable for computing or lighting needs. Considerably larger units digest relatively larger explosives to produce their energy. Updated explosives-making expertise from a couple of eastern european nations left over from the Cold War also contributed much to the technology's success, with a surprisingly large number of consumers and other factions in Asia utilizing the exotic but cheap generators as standalone home and office power stations. Even some vehicles use the technology. The preferred 'fuel' for the devices is usually a highly stable plastic explosive requiring precise electrical triggering to detonate, and automatically fed periodically in small amounts to the internal crucible.
A strong crucible for containing/capturing the force of the repeating explosions, as well as a small, precision balanced high speed flywheel, form the heart of some versions of the device. Energy is captured, stored, and released via magnetic fields in certain of the mechanisms, for maximum efficiency.
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-- Oh good - the power's on again
By Jon Pratty, Connected, Electronic Telegraph,
http://etad.telegraph.co.uk/, 24 June 1999
-- Around 1,673 AD Christiaan Huygens developed a motor driven by periodic explosions of gunpowder. -- TIMELINE 17th CENTURY page of ULTIMATE SCIENCE FICTION WEB GUIDE, (by Jonathan Vos Post?); Magic Dragon Multimedia |
Though still somewhat embryonic, Russia also has a promising new modular housing industry ramping up to meet demand mostly in the still developing nations (as well as Russia itself). What the products lack in terms of interior space they more than make up for in luxuries and conveniences. They are well made and designed, and comfortable. They are "super-efficiencies" for the most part; ultra compact dwellings suited to either fixed or mobile configurations. These items will meet with sufficient success in years to come as to inspire other firms elsewhere to jump into the business.
Russia has greatly lessened its dependence on biological and nuclear weapons for strategic defense by now-- although in previous years excessive dependence on same was a Russian trademark in many disputes, almost resulting in another world war with Russia itself likely dismantled afterwards.
Yes, Russia managed (with a little help) to pull itself back from the brink, and now exists as a startling contrast to what it was only some 15 years before. The average life expectancy of Russian newborns and mature adults now roughly matches the average for other developed nations, and per capita income is rapidly approaching parity with other developed nations. Average Russian living standards, once so bleak, have been steadily rising in the past decade.
| -- ZDNet Anchordesk ran a story on or about 5-12-97, concerning the technique of rapidly deploying net access technologies via weather balloons; another related article was "A High-Tech Trial Balloon Firm Looks Skyward To Different Satellite" by Mike Mills, the Washington Post, April 13, 1998; Page F05, "High-tech blooming in Israel" by DAN GILLMOR, April 27, 1998, Mercury News, and others |