Although societies adapt and evolve along
with their climate, this has been an especially difficult task for Russia because of
its severe and capricious climate. Indeed,
extremes are the norm, and this has always
taxed the ability of Russian agriculture to
produce enough food for its people. While
the soils can be rich, the rains can be
fickle, and large parts of the main agricultural areas have been affected by severe
drought at least once or twice a decade
during the 20th century. Given the severity

The Scenarios for the Russian Federation were developed through a strategic dialogue process engaging over 350 business, policy and academic leaders throughout 2012. The scenarios report focuses on possible future pathways for the Russian economy and pays particular attention to three critical uncertainties: ongoing evolutions in the global energy landscape, the quality of Russia's domestic institutional environment and dynamics of social cohesion within the country.

The three scenarios are clearly larger than the sum of their parts, as no one expert in the group could have drawn them as they are on his own. Yet participants could find a trace of their thinking reflected throughout the complex intellectual mosaic incorporated into the final product.

Based on the major Russiaon development tendencies and the chosen uncertainty axes, we've created eight futures scenarios for Russia in the year 2020