AMERICANIZE OR DIE:

Double or quits: Russia has to succeed in modernization (Russia Today, 5/31/10)

According to Medvedev, “we have no other opportunity”. “If we fail in carrying out modernization, a disintegration of the country and degradation of the economy will follow. This suits none of us,” the president stated.

The president noted that a lot of work has been done in recent years and “the country has been developing in an absolutely correct direction." Russian people "have managed to strengthen the state, reform the economy, and create a framework for the political system," he said as quoted by Itar-Tass.

However, Medvedev admitted that "the country has been moving not that fast as we would like it to."

"Now the time has come to change the paradigm of development, not to strengthen what has been achieved, but to engage in the development of the whole of society and the economy," he said.