Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe, starts with his house being torn down for a bypass, and ends with the earth being destroyed, for a bypass.
So in just 14 years since the trainwreck that was the end of the CCCP, Russia is a large oil, gas, exporter, and the standard of living has risen, just as it has declined in America.
Russia won it's wars with Islamic terrorists, America has Iraq and Afganistan to its credit.
Sochi was rebuilt for the Olympics, but with a long term view of being a Russian Black Sea resort town. It is the only beach they have.
We know how HIV spreads, and it is an epidemic in the Islamic areas.
Russia resisted the early offer of extending the Autobahn, and has a road system almost as bad as Canada.
It is not the cost of building the roads, but of buying the best land. Old narrow roads had things built down both sides, unlike recently liberated America, Russians have been there for a long time.
Construction is expensive when you want to do it all within the country, and the machines do not exist. It took investment, but now the means exists to continue the road building as national employment.
Having a first class resort town, close to Europe, will bring in money.
Russia has improved since the CCCP, but there are still vets wearing medals from WWII, depressed drunks, dying young, and leftover good Communists, that have never thought, and never will, because the State will think for them, they were raised that way, they expect Stalin to return.
It is not an easy place to bring into the modern era.
Those just starting school when the CCCP fell apart, are now staffing the Russian Services. They are young, educated, healthy, and have a future. It will take another ten years for them to move on to government and business jobs, and bring about more change.
They are doing a better job of it than Americas Brownfields of Detroit, Buffalo, bankrupt cities in California.
All this carping is just because, there are no more chants of USA, We are Number One!
The British really have no standing to speak badly of others, their poor get poorer, so do their rich, and they have been overrun by Islam, Africa, and their post industrial cities make Detroit look nice.
Russia is huge, has resources, and no you cannot take them for your Queen, God, or whatever.
The old badly run Russia stopped invaders, and became one of two Superpowers. Then they stepped back, and dumped the welfare cases of Eastern Europe. Now they are rising again.
If you want to go to the International Space Station, you ride with the Russians or stay home. They do have a working technology. They produced the best hackers, and managed to block the NSA, who only spies on people who trusted us.
Russia, and the American National Debt, are rising.
Russians are very good at chess, thinking many moves ahead. Americans are name calling middle schoolers.
In another ten years, Interest on American debt will exceed government income.
Sochi is a Russian footprint, wiggling it's toes in the Black Sea.