"I also expect Russia and other Former Soviet states to eventually purge their capitalists and return to the "good old days" of the USSR, as Putin and all potential successors are KGB commie thugs. North Korea is a Marxist holdout for both Jintao and Putin."I don't believe there is a definitive basis for this eventuality. At least with Russia. Putin may be authoritarian, and play it like a mafia boss sometimes, but there is still a whole lot that separates today's Russia from 1983 USSR. Russia may become more authoritarian, even fascist nationalist in the years to come (2008 will be a key year, a sort of "crossroads" for Russia) but I don't believe a return to a fully-fledged Marxist totalitarian state is possible for Russia. They will probably strive to reclaim dominance in all the traditional areas which the Russian Empire and USSR once ruled, but hardly more than that. And do you seriously believe Ukraine, the Baltics, etc, central Asian ex-Soviet republics can go back in flash?
Is China running low on slave labor?
Kazakhstan, Belarus, and a bunch of the other Stans could fall back. Also, if Putin plays his cards right, he could get Ukraine back. Ukraine is pretty much split 50-50 on joining NATO and the EU, or going back to Russia and the CIS.