why hasn’t Russian science taken over the world?

статья в Бостон-Глоб: почему Россия не Америка ...

It’s unthinkable that you’d seek out a Russian laptop, or make a call on a Russian cellphone, or watch a movie on a Russian flat-screen TV. Йотафон (на китайско-корейской элементной базе вроде есть в продаже) появился в прошлом году, мобила изобретена в 1973, а доступна с 1983 года. 

не взирая на то, что лазер изобретён в СССР -- There isn’t a single Russian company selling lasers on the international market that has any significance at all.

“Putin says, ‘We must diversify our economy, and we will do that,’ ” Graham said recently. “Well, to do that...they have to make all kinds of changes to their legal system, their patent system, the position of their investors. Technology doesn’t take off by itself. It has to have all kinds of supporting ingredients.”

for over 300 years, they’ve had wonderful technical and scientific ideas, and yet, they get almost no economic benefit out of them ....

....Russia makes the mistake, and is making it right now, and has made it for a long time, of thinking that the secret to modernization is the technology itself. 

автор: с софтом ситуёвина немного другая, по причине отсутствия регулирующих органов

knowledge industries -- клёвый термин

the Russian leaders keep thinking that the way to solve the problem is by government edict

а вывод с точностью до наоборот:

the failure of Russia to adequately use the talents of its scientists and engineers is one of the important reasons why Russia has not been able to make the transition to democracy.

и кто тут англичанка ???