The public focus in the West has been on Russia’s electoral politics and Vladimir Putin’s possible successors. But emerging consumer markets there represent another “new Russia” that the media is largely ignoring.
Tensions between President Putin and the West aside, a market economy has begun to function not only in the traditional centers of the country, but also throughout its periphery.
Soon after the September 11 attacks, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a speech proclaiming Russia's readiness to become a reliable alternative for oil in case of a shortfall from an unstable Middle East.