The strength of a nation starts with its population. Are its ambitions compatible with its population base: too small, and it does not have the economic weight needed to project power; too big, and its people are a hostage to famine and poverty. We have grown up in a world where China and Russia are the twin evils; two slides down to the Dark Side. Does demographics give us any reason to fear them?
Super interesting how it all has played out when you add in climate change and the Earth's population increase. Not sure it's a bad thing for Earth if the total global population decreases but clearly there is an economic price to be paid by individual nations.
It would also be great to see how the world's democracies are faring compared to the autocracies. When people are fleeing one type of government to live in another it can't help but accelerate the inevitable demographic shift. Russia is probably the primary example.
Maybe there's a third but smaller group as well, call them enlightened autocracies. Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, while not democracies, have also relied heavily on immigration which has, in part, led to increasing freedoms for their native populations such as women now driving in SA. Iraq would be another interesting one to consider for this group. Have immigrants come to Iraq due to newfound freedoms there created by the US occupation and a more democratic govt? Not sure about them, but probably true of Kuwait which has a lot of immigrants.
I am sure you are right about Saudi having immigrants, because I worked there myself for years - but it was purely a cash attraction! LOL It would indeed be a good investigation to see if some autocracies are drawing closer to democratic rights. Thanks for the thought!
Super interesting how it all has played out when you add in climate change and the Earth's population increase. Not sure it's a bad thing for Earth if the total global population decreases but clearly there is an economic price to be paid by individual nations.
It would also be great to see how the world's democracies are faring compared to the autocracies. When people are fleeing one type of government to live in another it can't help but accelerate the inevitable demographic shift. Russia is probably the primary example.
Maybe there's a third but smaller group as well, call them enlightened autocracies. Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, while not democracies, have also relied heavily on immigration which has, in part, led to increasing freedoms for their native populations such as women now driving in SA. Iraq would be another interesting one to consider for this group. Have immigrants come to Iraq due to newfound freedoms there created by the US occupation and a more democratic govt? Not sure about them, but probably true of Kuwait which has a lot of immigrants.
I am sure you are right about Saudi having immigrants, because I worked there myself for years - but it was purely a cash attraction! LOL It would indeed be a good investigation to see if some autocracies are drawing closer to democratic rights. Thanks for the thought!
Freedom House publishes scores on all that each year so would be a good place to start. Larry Diamond at Stanford also publishes on it frequently.
Thank you! Will add it to the "must read" list!
https://freedomhouse.org