By Peter Zeihan

Since the Soviet fall, Russian generals, intelligence chiefs and foreign policy personnel have often waxed philosophic about the inevitability of a global alliance to hem in U.S. power -- often using the rhetoric of a "multipolar world." Central in all of these plans has been not only the implied leadership of Russia, but the implied presence of China. At first glance, the two seem natural partners. China has a booming manufacturing economy, while Russia boasts growing exports of raw materials. But a closer look at the geography of the two paints a very different picture, while the history of the two tells an extraordinarily different story. If anything, it is no small miracle that the two have never found themselves facing each other in a brutal war.

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By Dr Kim Holmes

The Heritage Foundation founded the Index of Economic Freedom in 1995 as a way for countries to measure progress and compare themselves in what we believe is an essential ingredient of prosperity— namely, economic freedom. The Index is now in its 14th edition, and it is co-published with the Wall Street Journal.[1]
Over the years, it has been interesting to see how competitive some countries have become regarding their own scores in the Index. In fact, sometimes gov­ernments actually try to persuade us to give them a better score. We steadfastly refuse to be lobbied or unduly influenced, of course; yet some countries per­sist nonetheless. And in spite of this occasional over­zealousness, having countries compete to be the freest economies in the world is in itself a very good thing!

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