Another interesting topic: the turmoil of imperial disintegration. Are ethnically heterogeneous empires more susceptible to collapse? It is a reasonable supposition: the ethnic and religious diversity would provide strongs faults along which the empire would partition. If so, it is something of a conundrum: that which makes a country stronger (diversity), also makes it more likely to eventually collapse. The bigger they are, the mightier they fall. If my hypothesis is true, of course.

A recent article in the NYT, Strange City. Thankless Job. Heartless Russian Winter writes about how people from the corners of the former USSR are flocking to Moscow to avoid unemployment.

That is easy to understand: people who have been living under Communism can’t be expected to suddenly wake up with entrepreneurial talents. The interesting part is how people who lived in peace before the collapse have turned on one another. I think it is a defense mechanism; a way of justifying the separation, believing that the “other” people weren’t worth living with.