Vice President Biden had just completed a successful visit to Ukraine and Georgia last week when he created a new controversy with dire predictions about Russia. His comments, arguably ill-timed for his boss's efforts to reset relations with Moscow, were not the only ones in the past few days offering a gloomy outlook on Russia. The outgoing European Union Ambassador to Russia Marc Franco similarly warned that Russia would maintain "many characteristics of a Third World economy" unless it established real rule of law.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on July 23, Biden described a Russia with a looming demographic crisis, a "withering economy", and a banking sector in trouble. He noted Russia's interest in negotiating further cuts in nuclear weapons because they cannot afford to maintain even current levels. Russia is having difficulty adjusting to "loss of empire," Biden said, adding that it is "clinging to something in the past that is not sustainable."
In a separate interview over the weekend with Reuters, Franco cited Russia's insufficiently developed civil society and lack of freedom of the press. "I do believe," Franco said, "that you cannot have rule of law without the basic elements of democracy, implying free elections and a vibrant civil society supported by a free press."
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