A Great Breakdown?

Dissolution of a State

Afghanistan s Unavoidable Partition

Bolivia seems to be in danger of falling apart.

The dismantling of the British Empire was relatively peaceful.

It may even accelerate Russia s internal decay.

The later the breakup, the worse the ultimate outcome.

August 20, 1960, ends with the dissolution of the Federation of Mali...

What it is that horrifies people changes over time.

Indeed, he recently called the disintegration of the Soviet Union a tragic mistake.

The Cold War ended quietly, and the dismantlement of the Soviet empire followed.

But what if a breakup can only be postponed, not avoided?

But breaking up earlier could allow the survival of the single market and of the EU.

Europe s disintegration has already advanced much further than it might appear.

At the onset of the crisis, a breakup of the euro was inconceivable the assets and liabilities denominated in a common currency were so intermingled that a breakup would have led to an uncontrollable meltdown.

But the collapse of the Soviet Union meant that there was no negotiated settlement of this new order.

The overwhelming majority of Europeans, however, probably view the USSR s breakup as a cause for celebration.

The country is caught between two choices progressive reform or continuing paralysis and decay.

Inflation

Unless it is met, the eurozone s financial disintegration will eventually resume.

So, if a breakup is unavoidable, delaying it implies much higher costs.

In Afghanistan, too, an Iraq style soft partition may be the best possible outcome.

And Syria s disintegration could further balkanize the Middle East, potentially unleashing new violence.

VIENNA The Soviet Union's termination, which brought to an end the bipolar world, ushered in an era of U.S. hegemony.

Indeed, Russian President Vladimir Putin considers the Soviet Union s collapse the largest geopolitical catastrophe of the twentieth century.

It was a political breakdown that led to three terrible decades for the world economy.

The state union of Serbia and Montenegro is dissolved on June 5, leaving Serbia as the successor state.

Austere Growth?

Putin once said that the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the twentieth century was the fall of the Soviet Union.

For anyone concerned with human rights, disintegration in Nigeria or Indonesia would be a calamity. Though it is impossible to predict how events may unfold, there are precedents in the many conflicts triggered by the breakdowns of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia.

The breakdown of Bretton Woods in 1971, far from stopping inflation, unleashed a synchronized monetary surge.

For anyone concerned with human rights, disintegration in Nigeria or Indonesia would be a calamity.

This was already happening before the Great Recession, so generating full time jobs that pay decent wages was becoming ever more difficult.

So economic growth the rise in real incomes slows.

Quality Growth growth that will provide all Singaporeans a better quality of life.

Growth, indeed, is accelerating.

Growth Out of Time

Diet and Growth

Water Risk on the Rise

Growth is not dead.

Faster growth, certainly.

Slow growth ahead.

How tall are you?

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has described the Soviet Union s collapse as the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the twentieth century.

The collapse of the Soviet Union created a new reality sovereign, independent countries with their own rights and interests.