The Military
Army remains poorly trained, malnourished and demoralized. Alcoholism, suicide and corruption are rife. Weaponry is aging and newer models arrive at a trickle: India has bought more Russian tanks since 2001 than the Russian Army.
The Economy
What happens when–not if–oil and gas prices begin to retreat?
Human Capital
Russia’s human capital is being ravaged. The population is [...]

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Is the world’s most dynamic economy headed for the rocks? Chinese stocks have taken a pounding over the last six days on speculation that the central bank will raise interest rates to quell worsening inflation. But it gets worse, Newsweek reports.
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Despite some eerie parallels between the position of the United States today and that of the British Empire a century ago, there are key differences. Britain’s decline was driven by bad economics. The United States, in contrast, has the strength and dynamism to continue shaping the world — but only if it can overcome its [...]

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My fellow economists are manning the barricades to defend free trade from a growing public backlash. But with globalization increasingly seen as a threat, our arguments are falling on deaf ears. Maybe it’s time to stop claiming we know what is best for everyone?
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The Moral Challenge of Globalization - Robert Samuelson, Newsweek

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What does the collapse of communism have to do with the credit crunch? According to Italian economist Loretta Napoleoni, author of the best-selling book “Terror Inc: Tracing the Money Behind Global Terrorism,” the fall of the Berlin wall set off a global economic transformation that led directly to the turmoil on Wall Street and will [...]

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