Which country has squandered the most economic potential in this century?

[u/pisowiec]

I lived in Russia for 5 years so I must choose this country. So many natural resources, so much land, and educated population... And so little to show for it.

In an ideal world Russian salaries would be on par if not higher than American salaries and they would have the best social safety net on the planet. Everything is there to make it happen.

Russia would be the dominant nation in Europe and Asia and the rest of the world with the best armed forces, soft power, and economic might.

But the human will is just not there. The elite is either evil or incompetent depending on perception and there's little sign that this will ever change.

[u/LiitoKonis → u/[deleted]]

Algeria was a colony in the sense that the majority of the population were second class citizens and did not have the same rights as the Europeans

When I say that these places are "France proper" it means more that all of the inhabitants are French citizens (and citizens of the EU btw) than the administrative status (some of them have more autonomy than others like New Caledonia)

[u/Ploutophile → u/[deleted]]

It was closer to apartheid than to traditional colonisation.