The Siberian Curse

This is a provocative look at a problem that has been overlooked since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Using economic statistics, economic geography, and history, the book argues that what traditionally has been perceived as one of Russia’s major strengths – its enormous size – is in fact its greatest weakness. The authors describe how years of forcing people and economic activity out into the vast, resource-rich, but inhospitably cold, territory of Siberia has burdened Russia with huge problems and costs. Defying nature as well as the market, the Bolsheviks forcibly industrialized the gigantic landmass they inherited from the Tsars in 1917. They deployed slave labour to build factories and cities and operate industries in some of the most forbidding places on the planet. They then used costly incentives to attract new workers when the prison camps closed. Today, people and factories languish in places communist planners put them – not where market forces would have attracted them. The book explains why this problem was not rectified in the 1990s and why it is likely to persist.
Russian leaders still see Russia’s future prosperity as intimately linked to Siberia and its resources. They focus on Siberian redevelopment rather than resettlement to the warmer, western regions of the country. The authors conclude by considering ways in which Russian leaders should rethink the relationship between Russia, its economy, and its territory, especially Siberia.

Author Biography

Fiona Hill is a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Studies program at the Brookings Institution. Trained as a historian at St. Andrews University and Harvard University, she has published extensively on a wide range of issues related to Russian and Soviet history, Russia’s economic and political transition, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and energy and security issues.Clifford G. Gaddy is a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy and Governance Studies programs at the Brookings Institution and a visiting professor of economics at Johns Hopkins University. His previous books include Russia’s Virtual Economy (Brookings, 2002) and The Price of the Past: Russia’s Struggle with the Legacy of a Militarized Economy (Brookings, 1996).