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There's not going to be a global shortage of cocaine, prostitutes or things to gamble on in the next 20 years.
But oil, eh, that's a different matter. If you were OC, which would you prefer to control?
Now about the timing -- the United Russia party congress was just held this weekend and this scandal could have already altered the fate of Russian oil, because the faction backed by Putin didn't do nearly as well as expected.
There's no way someone wanting to influence Russian politics could succeed without working from inside this party, because the alternatives to this party are: Libertarians (called liberals in Russia), Communists and ultra-nationalists.
People who don't blame the Jews for all their troubles and don't want Communism or unbridled robber baron capitalism are going to vote United Russia.
It's funny -- Americans want to see Putin as a shadowy authoritarian future.
He just took a public beating at his own party congress. He doesn't looking so threatening or authoritarian in that light.
The way Americans look at Putin has been strongly influenced by the highly selective coverage of the Yukos affair in the American press.
For example, the American press doesn't even mention that Putin belongs to a political party at all.
