Yeah, in the same way as Jehovah Witnesses "predict" the end of the world. It will end one day, to be sure, but the point is to get the date right. Now I recall more details, the author's name was Andrei Amalrik, the year was 1984 not 2000, and the work has been published in English http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0060907320/103-9893668-1059003 ?v=glance
The predicted event took place seven years later, in 1991, and that is a pretty damn accurate prediction. Mind that this prediction was made in times where others were bracing for 300 years of the Soviet rule (cf. Milan Kundera, _Ignorance_).
Wojtek