Archives for June 2010

IQ and Industrialism

This about HBD, tagged , , , was written by for on June 26, 2010 .25 Comments

My recent post on demographic myths unleashed a lively discussion on the issue of race and IQ in the comments section. I’m not too interested in wading into it: not out of any misplaced respect for political correctness, of course, but simply because though I think there are good arguments for both sides, it misses […]

Top 5 Demography Myths

This about Demographics, tagged , , was written by for on June 20, 2010 .45 Comments

In this post, I intend to disprove or at least question five commonly encountered myths about world demography (as I already did for Russia). 1. The Third World is experiencing a fertility-driven population explosion. Whereas this was true a generation ago, today most countries outside sub-Saharan Africa are in the later throes of demographic transition […]

The Boris Bombshell. Two Years Later. Still a Dud.

This about Demographics, tagged , , , , was written by for on June 18, 2010 .12 Comments

During the past two years, Russian “dissident” liberals Boris Nemtsov and Vladimir Milov have produced a frankly maniacal quantity of so-called “Independent Expert Reports” (there are now seven of them) that purport to debunk the “persistent myths imposed by official [Kremlin] propaganda”. The authors say that their latest exegesis, melodramatically entitled “Putin. The Results. 10 […]

Why Russia is Cemented to the Other BRICs

This about Economy, tagged , , , , was written by for on June 13, 2010 .5 Comments

In the wake of the economic crisis in which Russia’s GDP fell by a stunning 7.9% in 2009, its status as a BRIC economy – with its connotations of promise and progress – was brought into question. After all, isn’t it a dying nation with rapidly degrading infrastructure? Isn’t it amazingly corrupt? Wouldn’t its contempt […]

Could Israel vs. Flotilla be Part of Turkey’s Bid for Regional Hegemony?

This about Geopolitics, tagged , , was written by for on June 9, 2010 .16 Comments

As was inevitable, the commentary on Israel’s raid / high seas piracy / legal blockade enforcement / call-it-what-you-will has degenerated into a polarized flame-war between the blind and the deaf, which although very entertaining is also pretty useless*. By far the best analytical article on this issue I’ve found that really cuts through the partisan […]

Russia Isn’t Hated by (Most Of) its Neighbors

This about Geopolitics, tagged , , , was written by for on June 8, 2010 .44 Comments

One of the staples of the neocon-Russophobe narrative is that Russia is alone in the world, utterly bereft of friends, left only with the likes of Nicaragua and Nauru to indulge it in its anachronistic “imperial fantasies”. Not really. Conflating the West with the world won’t change the fact that amongst the peoples of China, […]

The Geopolitics of Israel vs. Flotilla

This about Geopolitics, tagged , , was written by for on June 3, 2010 .20 Comments

So given that it’s the only game in town, let’s start provocative? The only group who behaved rationally are the Israeli commandos and the Americans. And perhaps the Turkish government. The Israeli position on the Gaza blockade is understandable (which is not to say optimal). The Palestinians elected Hamas, a militant group to Israel that […]