Competing on efficiency and price competitiveness according to Western rules and institutions is not Russia's strong suit. But once politics and economics are employed together, Russia's position becomes much improved. Russia is happy mixing international trade agreements with politics, just as it has mixed together politics and business domestically. This approach may not be particularly welcome in the United States or Britain, but it is more consistent with the approach to business in much of the rest of the world where the delineation between the state and the private economy is less defined.
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