State-wise analysis of the Indian growth miracle

ARVIND SUBRAMANIAN of the Peterson Institute and UTSAV KUMAR of the Asian Development Bank analyze patterns in India's decadal growth in 2001-2009 vs the 1993-2001 as the turnaround in policy entered its third decade since 1991. 

In a Business Standard op-ed, "India: Growth in 2000s- Key Facts", they present four key findings on the state of growth in India  

1. Doubling of growth: Per-capita growth rates doubled in the 2000s in most states with the exception of Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan 

2. Increasing divergence: Richer states on average grew faster and pulled away from the rest and inequality increased in spite of the stellar performance of hitherto laggards such as Bihar, Orissa and Chattisgarh 

3. Vulnerability to globalization: Globalization catalyzed growth as well as decline exemplified by states such as Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharshtra where growth accelerated prior to 2008 and declined sharply during the global financial crisis 

4. Demographic complacence: Demographically aging states such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Gujarat did remarkably well while demographically dynamic states such as U.P, Rajastan and M.P did not fare as well.

They state that the Indian growth miracle continued to confound with India capacious enough to allow both Bania, reforming Gujarat and Marxist, reform-resistant Kerala to flourish.

Analysis of Russian Arctic Policy

ELANA WILSON ROWE of the Norwegian Institute for International Affairs, MARLENE LARUELLE at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and DMITRY GORENBURG, editor of Russian Politics and Law analyze aspects of Russia's Arctic policy such as politics in the Russian North, demographics and the role of the Russian military in the Arctic, in a study, "Russian Policy Options in the Arctic" for the Russian analytical digest.
Elana Wilson Rowe provides an introduction to the politics of the Russian North, and outlines the dichotomy of an ‘open’ North with wider international co-operation and a ‘closed’ North with an emphasis on defending its national interests and authority and calls for greater attention on the overlaps and tensions between these two modes. 
Marlene Laruelle reviews the Moscow's demographic challenges in the Russian Arctic and states that as it embarked on greater resource extraction in the region, Moscow would have to address challenges to key aspects of its Russian identity in the wake of an influx of migrants from Central Asia and China.
Dmitry Gorenburg states that Russia’s military and security strategy in the Arctic has shifted from unilateral military posturing to peaceful dispute resolution due to a perception of a co-operative approach as being more conducive to exploration and investment in Arctic natural resources. He states that the Arctic was unexpectedly becoming a venue for strengthening international cooperation although the role of growing non-Arctic powers such as China and Korea was an unknown for the near future.

Pakistan’s demographic genie

SHAHID JAVED BURKI, former finance minister of Pakistan reviews the trends in Pakistan’s demographics and population policies in the wake of its six-fold growth in population since its inception in 1947 with a forecast of a further doubling over the next four decades for “Reaping the Dividend”, a joint study by Woodrow Wilson center’s Asia program and the fellowship fund of Pakistan.

In his wide-ranging essay titled “Historical trends in Pakistan’s demographics and population policy”, he reviews the historical trends in Pakistan’s population trajectory, the effects of large-scale migration and diasporas, growth projections, rapid urbanization and alternate future scenarios of reaping either a demographic dividend or a catastrophe for the population, which, at a median age of 21 was one of the youngest in the world.

He states that it was imperative for Islamabad to conduct a population census coupled with a household survey and then design an urban policy to enhance the human capital of the population and also address the issues arising out of rapid urbanization, failure of which would result in a high cost for Pakistan.

China's demographic transition

WANG FENG, director at Brookings-Tsinghua center examines China's demographic transition, role of the Chinese state as am accelerator of transition and highlights a few key unique features of China's demographic future based on a few scenarios.
In an article in the Population and Development Review, "The Future of a Demographic Overachiever: Long-Term Implications of the Demographic Transition in China", he puts in perspective China's demographic transition starting from a state of high-mortality and high-fertility to a state of low-mortality coupled with low-fertility in a span of 50 years which is unprecedented in history.
He concludes that China had to be prepared to pay the costs of rapid transition such as a shrinkage of inexpensive labour force that powered China to its position as the world's factory, and a reversal of the one-child policy was unlikely to result in a substantial increase in fertility.