This really is a testament to the loss of American soft power.
The US stepping back and prioritizing corporate profits and short-term domestic political gain has really harmed them. George W. Bush’s administration did incredible damage, Trump effectively tripled that damage.
Couple that with China’s Belts-and-Roads initiatives and Russia’s bargain-bin-imperialism in the middle east and north Africa and you can see how we got here.
I.e. countries that like it best when the world is a steaming pile of shit.
There is some evidence that Nepal (and maybe India?) are having their youth lured into forced mercenary work. They’re traveling there for other work and then essentially being kidnapped and pressed into service. Nepal’s been warning its citizens about these schemes for months now.
India’s been on the fence a lot. Politically.
I was a little surprised to see them on this list. I assume cheap energy prices have some influence.
Indeed.
It’s groups recruiting offering jobs. Not official.
To be fair, none of these countries look like places where the current world order is particularly favourable for them. Why should we be surprised by maps like this?
I’ve read that a lot of these people are being tricked. They’re convinced to go to Russia with a job promise and are then forced to join the army.
Ah yes, the country of “small” and the city of “everyone”. Does someone have a link to the original?
I tried to find an actual Forbes article with this graphic, but came up empty.
So far, this thing screams “Source: trust me bro”
That’s not to say that Russia doesn’t press gang people into their armed forces. I feel like that’s been established by now.
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