Abstract

Russia is at the brink of a steep demographic decline—a peacetime population hemorrhage framed by a collapse of the birth rate and a catastrophic surge in the death rate. The following pages will attempt to demonstrate that post-Communist Russia is today beset by what may fairly be characterized as severe, dramatic, and even critical population problems. Russian social conditions, economic potential, military power, and international influence are today all subject to negative demographic constraints—and these constraints stand only to worsen over the years immediately ahead. Altering Russia's demographic trajectory would be a formidable task under any circumstances. Unfortunately, as of yet, neither Russia's political leadership nor the voting public that sustains it have really even begun to address the enormous magnitude of the country's demographic challenges.

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