Political Scientists, Take Note: A New Kind of State Formation

Siloviki-Statism: The ideology and structure of a state run by a tightly coordinated network of past and present secret security officers, who are also political office holders and corporate owners, directors, and managers, sometimes at the same time.

The rapid purchaseby Russian state firms of assets in western Europe, notably in the form of public utilities, represents the legalization of assets that were recently illegally confiscated from the old owners, a move made necessary by the legal insecurity generated by all such confiscatory regimes when there is uncertainty (as there is in Russia) about the succession to power.

An interesting question is, how long would such a regime last were oil prices to tumble?