An idle thought, inspired by some of the older discussions of the future of White Russia.
We tend to presume that the default scenario is that it ends up with a Western European standard of living, like Finland and the Baltic States have. But...
A quick look at per capita incomes around the world, drawn from the IMF:
Mexico: $14,406
Russia: $15,612
Argentina: $15,901
Brazil: $11,273
Is there a reason to assume that non-red Russia, in whatever form, wouldn't end up as mega Mexico?