Empires were once the pre-eminent political structures in the world, and there was a wide variety of forms of governance within them. There are supreme difficulties in comparing them, but analysts always try. Balaji Viswanathan gives the argument for ranking the Mongols as the greatest empire ever. It is a highly persuasive case. In fact, it is hard to imagine how the world would have evolved without the unification of Europe and Asia forged the the Khanates.
Speaking of empires, Cossacks in St. Petersburg dedicated a new statue of Russian President Putin. It portrays a bare-chested Putin dressed in the toga of a Roman Emperor. The statue was the brainchild of Andrey Polyakov, the Ataman of the Cossacks in St. Petersburg. Mr. Polyakov has also issued Russian passports to “Alaskan Cossacks” in an effort to reclaim Alaska for Russia. The US purchased Alaska from Russia on March 30, 1867, for 7.2 million U.S. dollars (about two cents per acre). Mr. Putin celebrated by scoring 8 goals in an exhibition hockey game (I wonder how the goalkeeper calculated the benefits of blocking Mr. Putin’s shots).
There was a protest march in Accra, Ghana, against electricity shortages in the country which have devastated the economic growth of the country. Reliable power is one of the most debilitating characteristics of many African economies. Energy infrastructures are expensive and difficult to maintain, but it is virtually impossible to have sustained economic growth if electrical supplies are irregular and sporadic. People in the richer countries take power supplies for granted, but there is a great deal of evidence that even in the rich countries, the energy grid is becoming somewhat fragile.
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