I think you've both got good points (and I'm not just hedging my bets, honest!). The places in the former USSR where the problem is most keenly felt are Kazahkstan (sp?) and so on. Because all the Russians have gone home now their populations have fallen to the extent that when my friend bought a flat there recently, most of the other units in the building were empty with no prospect of being occupied in the near future. Good if you've got a loud stereo but obviously this isn't good for the country's economic health.
When I was referring to failed communist governments etc. I didn't mean what people think of as the old communist bloc, more countries in central and south America, Asia and Africa i.e. all the pawns in the struggle between the superpowers.
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