The Economic System of Islam — Page 107
107 of its national income was invested to expand its factories. This, too, is quite impressive. But the question is how long can Russia maintain this pace of expansion in an economy closed to foreign trade? The present situation is that the Russian economy is quite self- sufficient, with only a low level of imports and exports. Its imports are meant basically to satisfy the requirements of its industry. This situation resembles that of an Indian farmer, who raises a little sugarcane, some lentils, a little rice, wheat and some oil seeds on his piece of land, and manages to subsist on these things. But obviously this situation cannot continue as economic and cultural progress takes place. At some point exposure to the outside world must be faced. If it had been possible to maintain economic self-sufficiency forever, the conflicts seen all over the world—which led to World Wars—would have never occurred. But the fact is that this state of self-sufficiency cannot continue indefinitely. Prospect of Russia Emerging as Global Economic Shock It is now universally acknowledged that no country can survive on its own. Experience underscores the imperative for a country to establish relations with other nations. Thus, if the Soviet Union cannot maintain economic progress under autarchy, it would be impelled to search for foreign markets to dispose of its industrial surplus. This became abundantly evident during the war when the Soviet Union had to rely heavily on imports of essential goods