The Dark Visitor

Mara Hvistendahl has been a very good friend here at TDV and in addition to Mara’s extensive knowledge of Chinese hackers, she is pretty much an expert on Asian regional security concerns. Some people make me so jealous! Mara has just released her new book, Unnatural Selection that deals with the 160 million missing Asian females and population imbalance.

Unnatural Selection is an important book and a fascinating read. Mara Hvistendahl is a delightful writer: witty, engaging, and acute. But the tale she tells is deeply disturbing. Asia alone is missing 160 million women and girls, a number equal to the entire female population of the United States. According to Hvistendahl, the culprit is less deeply rooted cultural gender bias than rising wealth, elite attitudes, and Western influence and technology. Development, at least for the coming decades, will produce not only fewer children overall, but also many fewer girls. The result is a future for many parts of the world, from India to China, Azerbaijan to Albania, where brides are much more likely to be bought, women are much more likely to be trafficked, and men are much more likely to be frustrated. For the present, we must confront the stark reality that the availability of ultrasound and ready abortion are sharply reducing the number of women in the world.”

Anne-Marie Slaughter, professor of politics and international affairs, Princeton University

Click on the book above to purchase your copy. Quickly, go do that!

*TDV has zero financial interest in the book, we just strongly believe in Mara’s work