Thread by @akarlin

#decolonization

Chechen separatist leader Dudayev had powerful ideas on Chechnya's (current budget 80-85% dependent on transfers, like Dagestan and Ingushetia) economic prospects after independence. (h/t @shanggyangg).

"All the oil hasn't been prospected; even Kuwait doesn't hold a candle to us there. They have no water or forests. We will sell spring water and drink camel milk. Arabia has many camels, we can acclimatize them to Chechnya."

PS. Many Eastern Euro states have statues to this guy.

"Chechen intellectuals will be trained all over the world and will steadily displace the Jews. Jews are a capable nation, but Chechens will dominate through courage. We will become the main intellectual force in the world."

Powerful.

40/100k Chechens in the USSR in 1973 were scientists, relative to 3,200/100k Jews. unz.com/akarlin/soviet…

Irony is in a hypothetical future Russia with no more "Great Power" pretensions, losing DICh (Dagestan/Ingushetia/Chechnya) will actually be a good thing: Savings for the budget, annulment of deleterious overflow effects on institutions, ethnic Russian share of RF goes up a bit.

But it will be bad for DICh themselves. They're much less socially developed even relative to Georgia, Armenia, etc., don't have Azeris' oil, but currently have higher living standards than all of them due to transfers & full access to Russian labor markets.