Nicholas Eberstadt writes on the crisis in Russia in both fertility rates and death rates. While the fertility rate is very "European" (i.e., very low) and a problem, its death rate is an even bigger problem (and one that other European countries can’t match). Over the the four decades between 1962 and 2002, life expectancy at birth in Russia fell by nearly five years for males. He explains why this is so, and he thinks it will have massive political consequences for Russia and the world. By, the way, in a speech yesterday Vladimir Putin lamented the death of the Soviet Union. Not good.