But he wasn't there to whine. "No once could have predicted in 1998 in the very dark days of the utter collapse of the Russian economy that we would be sitting here today with such an optimistic nature about the current state of the Russian macroeconomic story," he said.
Russia will be the fifth-largest economy in the world in 2020, with a $2 trillion economy in 2010, thanks to its booming economy, says Mr. Ryan.
Not everything's perfect yet, though. He talked of Russian officials keeping half their country's GDP in cash, claiming distrust of the Russian bureaucracy not to invest it "wisely," adding that these "officials" would rather invest it by engaging Western business and getting Russia involved in private partnerships.
He criticized Russia's President Vladimir Putin's tax reform program passed last year that required Russians pay a 13% flat tax, saying it makes it difficult for anybody to live "independently, economically."
Andrew C. Kuchins, a political scientist and director and senior fellow for the Russia and Eurasia Program, agreed that there has been an economic revolution taking place in Russia for over the past eight years.
"This transformation of Russia from an economic basket case to emerging market powerhouse is very much underappreciated," Mr. Kuchins said, calling the country "polarized much like the Tale of Two Cities."
The way some were hinting to possible American-Russian collaborations on investing, it seemed that traces of the Cold War had all but melted.
"There are going to be important steps for the [American and Russian] governments to take to ensure that the private initiative is allowed to make its contribution where it can," said Ambassador James F. Collins, senior associate and director of the Russia and Eurasia Program.
"I hope that our engagement with the Russians will continue to make the point that developing the commercial relationship with the business communities in Russia and vice-versa is an important strategic interest for the United States. It will make the relationship more stable."
— Andrew Richards, intern, The Washington Times ]]>