The Economist February 26th 2022 5
Contents
Contents continues overleaf
Onthecover
Theworldthisweek
8 Asummary of political
andbusiness news
Leaders
11 Vladimir Putin’s war
Where will he stop?
12 Spending America’s
federal bonanza
Wasting a windfall
12 Private markets
The private-equity
delusion
14 South Africa
Courting trouble
16 Workplace automation
Riseoftherobots
Letters
18 On Canada, bilingual
people, Estonia, levelling
up, Uganda, Gordon
Brown,tech giants
Briefing
19 The war in Ukraine
Afrightening wait yields
toawfulreality
Special report:
Privatemarkets
Into the mainstream
After page 44
UnitedStates
24 The American Rescue
Plan
25 New York’s governor
26 Parks and permits
28 Child brides
28 Anti-woke universities
32 LexingtonReality against
Putin
TheAmericas
33 Uruguay’s success story
34 Inflation in Brazil
35 Bello Drugs and politics
Asia
36 Moon Jae-in’s legacy in
South Korea
37 Asian place names
40 Blasphemy in Pakistan
40 Cambodia’s diplomacy
41 Banyan Ukraine viewed
from Asia
China
42 Choosing sides on
Ukraine
43 Hong Kong’s covid-
chaos
44 ChaguanThe horrors of
bride-trafficking
MiddleEast&Africa
45 South Africa’s judiciary
46 Jihadists moving south
47 Africa’s narrative names
48 Dirty money in the uae
49 Minibuses in Cairo
49 Falconry in the Gulf
Russia’s president has begun a
war that many thought
unthinkable. Ukraine and the
West face a grim test: leader,
page 11.The consequences will
reshape European security:
briefing,page 19.Expect
inflation, lower growth and
disruption to financial markets,
page 67.How the Biden
administration is countering
Russian disinformation on
Ukraine: Lexington,page 32.
China’s balancing act,page 42.
The implications of the Ukraine
conflict for the Asia-Pacific
region: Banyan,page 41
China’s techno-dependence
The Communist Party wants to
end China’s reliance on the West
in strategic industries. We assess
its progress in six of them,
page 59
South African judges under
threatThe country must do
more to protect them: leader,
page 14,and analysis, page 45
Thecountriesthatfaketheir
covidstatsAbnormaltallies
suggestsomecountriesreported
falsecovid-19data:graphic
detail,page 85
Aspecialreportonprivate
financeThepastdecadewas
goldenforprivatemarkets.Now
theyarebeingdramatically
reshaped,afterpage 44
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Schumpeter How
Gazprom helps the
Kremlin put the squeeze
on Europe, page 66