Bare Branches: The Security Implications of Asia's Surplus Male Population

In their academic work, Bare Branches, Valerie Hudson and Andrea den Boer describe the causes of the high sex ratio in China and India, observed effects and future implications. They also suggest policy options and evaluate their merits. Sex ratio is the ratio of men to women. The average sex ratio worldwide is 105 (105 men for every 100 women). China and India have higher than average sex ratios that have lead to a large surplus of males on the order of millions in both societies. The high sex ratio in China is driven by a long history of preference for sons over daughters to preserve the family name, provide agricultural labor and care for parents in their old age. The preference for sons is intensified by the one child policy that limits the number of children to one per family. These cultural forces have resulted to sex selective abortions, infanticide and infant abandonment. Further they have resulted in bare branches - unmarried males with a propensity for substance abuse, gambling and violent crime. Typically these males are unemployed or underemployed, did not graduate from high school and lack a permanent residence. They tend to congregate in migrant bachelor subcultures. Future implications are frightening. One possibility is a government unable to control large and violent bachelor subcultures. Another possibility is an increased recruitment into the military or police force - with attendant propensities for violence that may be directed internally or towards neighboring countries. In this reviewer's opinion, of the several policies that could help the gender imbalance, these seem to have the highest probability of success. · the repeal of the one child policy · government care of abandoned girls to adulthood · government safety nets for the elderly to decrease financial reliance on sons · policies that elevate the value of women There seems to be a weakness however, in the ability of "policy" to affect "values". Policy usually translates into propaganda. And propaganda has had limited success in changing thousands of years of cultural values. Hundreds of thousands of infants are abandoned annually in China. The majority of these infants are girls. In 1997, the total number of Chinese infants adopted by American citizen was 3314. Clearly, adoption by foreign nationals is not a complete solution to the problem. What else can we do to influence the situation without offending the great nation of China? If you have ideas, please let me know. I thank Valerie Hudson and Andrea den Boer for and for giving us an understanding of the importance of gender issues in China and India.

There are millions of missing women in India and China--girl babies aborted or killed. What are the policy implications for a lopsided surplus of men for a country? "Bare Branches" explores this problem. Historically, the problem meant high crime and wars, and, oddly, a dramatic drop in freedom and value for women. An intesting book, should be widely read.

Female infanticide is hardly new. The authors note that of 600 families in ancient Delphi only 1 percent raised more than one daughter. But what are the consequences? Violent, criminal men and a lowered status for women have been the historical consequences. Wars are another. This is not good news considering the high rate of female infanticide in China and India. Interesting book, lots of historical facts to back up the theories.

This recent MIT Press book makes a significant contribution to national security literature and, at the same time, takes it in a new and exciting direction. Order-of-battle analysts would do well to add sex-ratios to the list of variables on which they collect information. Not every reader will be convinced by the argument of this book, but most will find it stimulating, thought-provoking, and very well-written. I hope it escapes the classification as solely a gender studies book. It is much more than that and deserves the attention of scholars, foreign policy experts, and national-security gurus.

After reading the article about this book in the Chronicle of Higher Education, I purchased it out of pure curiosity, admittedly prepared to reject the idea that the surplus male population in Asia could pose a threat to international security. However, I was astounded by the authors' very convincing and thorougly researched findings, which highlighted what I never imagined was such a strong linkage between international security and gender selection in Asia. Not exactly "beach reading," but most definitely suitable for university teaching and a good read for anyone interested in gender selection or security issues.