Russia has banned “undesirable” international organizations which are defined as any “foreign or international organisation that presents a threat to the defensive capabilities or security of the state, to the public order, or to the health of the population”. The move is designed to prevent those organizations from having an effect on the upcoming national elections in 2016. It is viewed by many as an attempt to prevent the further infiltration of Western ideas into Russian civil society. The legislation will further the isolation of Russia from international civil society. The move is also troubling because it appears as if Russian society is suffering from willful inattention to serious domestic problems such as the spread of the HIV/AIDS virus throughout the country.
Farmers always have a difficult life, and non-farmers really have a hard time understanding those difficulties. The natural rhythm of agricultural life is to become deeply indebted at the beginning of planting season and then hope for a good harvest to repay those debts. When the harvests are bad, farmers really have no place to turn. In India, the rate of farmer suicides is extraordinarily high and the society as a whole has not come to grips with the problem. Forty-one farmers commit suicide every day in India.
Robert Kaplan has written an interesting essay on the art of war. His historical analysis is well-informed, and his argument is straightforward, but very difficult for great powers to understand fully. The key to the survival of power is to learn how to not fight.
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