economics

Escobar: Iran Now First Line Of Defense For BRICS & The Global South

Authored by Pepe Escobar,

This is as serious as it gets. Let’s survey the chessboard – from micro to macro…

The crying shadow in the funeral dance,The loud lament of the disconsolate chimera.

T. S. Eliot, Burnt Norton

Israel’s shock’n’awe on Iran – straight from the trademark US playbook – essentially failed, despite the initial combination of speed, meticulous military planning and the element of surprise, including hacking the Iranian electronic communications within the military grid; decapitation of the vertical IRGC nomenklatura; the spiderweb drone attack playbook; and bombing – ultimately ineffectual – of key nodes of the Iranian nuclear infrastructure.

It took hours for top Iranian technicians to get their grid back. And once that happened, the tide began to turn, to the point that after surgical missile volleys deep in the night on Sunday, the IRGC announced its capability to seriously disrupt Israel’s command and control systems using “enhanced intelligence”, thus breaching Iron – or Paper – Dome.

Absolutely key infrastructure nodes in Tel Aviv and Haifa have been destroyed – from the Rafael weapons complex (specialized in missiles, drones, cyber warfare and Iron Dome components) to the power plant and oil refinery in Haifa. This is historic in more ways than one.

Compound the cries of joy all across the lands of Islam to the massive psychological trauma inflicted on Israel. The myth of Israeli invincibility has been definitely shattered. Unleashing hell from above, killing women and children and spinning like there’s no tomorrow does not win a war against a real opponent.

The tweaked IRGC strategy – applied by an instantly revamped leadership – is being fine-tuned day by day in a calculated, surgical manner. It’s not that hard for the IRGC to totally paralyze Israel’s economy. Israel has only one oil refinery (already bombed); three ports, of which one is already bankrupt (Eilat) and another is on fire (Haifa); and one airport (already in dire straits).

The blowback on Tel Aviv’s desperate, indeed suicidal move – no chess involved – is in effect. Tehran is proving that every Zionist axis calculation that Iran could – and was – bled dry in a matter of hours was, predictably, false.

The POTUS, for his part, fell into a voracious trap. His MAGA base is already fractured – in depth. Non-Zionist MAGA is the overwhelming majority. He admitted in a stunning infantilist post that he knew everything about the Israeli shock’n awe all along.

Less than 10 days ago, in a meeting in New York packed with billionaire usual suspects, Steve Witkoff himself – Trump’s Talleyrand – explicitly noted that Iranian ballistic missiles are “a threat to America”. Considering their performance in the last 48 hours, everything points to Washington de facto entering the Hot War.

Diplomatic sources in Tehran point out that the leadership is working under this scenario. That’s why they are essentially still holding their capabilities – and carefully calibrating the next big steps in the escalatory ladder. Once again: Iranian strategic patience on display.

The…

These Are The Biggest Tech Talent Hubs In The World

The global tech talent landscape is becoming increasingly decentralized as fast-growing hubs across Asia, Europe, and beyond rival traditional strongholds like Silicon Valley in size.

This map, via Visual Capitalist’s Kayla Zhu, shows the top global tech talent hubs in the world by number of tech workers as of the year 2023.

Data comes from CBRE Consulting’s Global Tech Talent Guidebook 2025.

Powerhouse markets are defined as major urban centers with large tech talent pools, mature tech ecosystems, stable regulatory environments, access to capital, and the ability to attract tech entrepreneurs and talent from around the world.

Which Cities Have the Most Tech Workers?

Below, we show the top global tech talent hubs by number of tech talent workers.

Market
Country
Region
Tech Talent Workforce
Beijing
🇨🇳 Mainland China
Asia-Pacific
500,000+
Bengaluru
🇮🇳 India
Asia-Pacific
500,000+
Shanghai
🇨🇳 Mainland China
Asia-Pacific
500,000+
Tokyo
🇯🇵 Japan
Asia-Pacific
500,000+
Delhi-Gurugram
🇮🇳 India
Asia-Pacific
500,000+
Hyderabad
🇮🇳 India
Asia-Pacific
500,000+
Mumbai
🇮🇳 India
Asia-Pacific
500,000+
Shenzhen
🇨🇳 Mainland China
Asia-Pacific
500,000+
Guangzhou
🇨🇳 Mainland China
Asia-Pacific
300,000-500,000
London
🇬🇧 U.K.
Europe
300,000-500,000
New York Metro
🇺🇸 U.S.
North America
300,000-500,000
Paris
🇫🇷 France
Europe
300,000-500,000
S.F. Bay Area
🇺🇸 U.S.
North America
300,000-500,000
Toronto
🇨🇦 Canada
North America
300,000-500,000
Singapore
🇸🇬 Singapore
Asia-Pacific
200,000-300,000
Dallas-Ft. Worth
🇺🇸 U.S.
North America
200,000-300,000
L.A.-Orange County
🇺🇸 U.S.
North America
200,000-300,000
Madrid
🇪🇸 Spain
Europe
200,000-300,000
Manila
🇵🇭 Philippines
Asia-Pacific
200,000-300,000
Mexico City
🇲🇽 Mexico
Latin America
200,000-300,000
Sao Paulo
🇧🇷 Brazil
Latin America
200,000-300,000
Sydney
🇦🇺 Australia
Asia-Pacific
200,000-300,000
Washington, D.C.
🇺🇸 U.S.
North America
200,000-300,000
Boston
🇺🇸 U.S.
North America
150,000-200,000
Seattle
🇺🇸 U.S.
North America
150,000-200,000
Chicago
🇺🇸 U.S.
North America
150,000-200,000
Melbourne
🇦🇺 Australia
Asia-Pacific
150,000-200,000
Montreal
🇨🇦 Canada
North America
150,000-200,000
Santiago
🇨🇱 Chile
Latin America
150,000-200,000
Seoul
🇰🇷 South Korea
Asia-Pacific
150,000-200,000
New Taipei City
🇹🇼 Taiwan
Asia-Pacific
150,000-200,000
Amsterdam
🇳🇱 Netherlands
Europe
100,000-150,000
Atlanta
🇺🇸 U.S.
North America
100,000-150,000
Barcelona
🇪🇸 Spain
Europe
100,000-150,000
Berlin
🇩🇪 Germany
Europe
100,000-150,000
Bogota
🇨🇴 Colombia
Latin America
100,000-150,000
Bucharest
🇷🇴 Romania
Europe
100,000-150,000
Buenos Aires
🇦🇷 Argentina
Latin America
100,000-150,000
Denver
🇺🇸 U.S.
North America
100,000-150,000
Dublin
🇮🇪 Ireland
Europe
100,000-150,000
Hong Kong
🇭🇰 Hong Kong
Asia-Pacific
100,000-150,000
Milan
🇮🇹 Italy
Europe
100,000-150,000
Munich
🇩🇪 Germany
Europe
100,000-150,000
Philadelphia
🇺🇸 U.S.
North America
100,000-150,000
Phoenix
🇺🇸 U.S.
North America
100,000-150,000
Stockholm
🇸🇪 Sweden
Europe
100,000-150,000
Vancouver
🇨🇦 Canada
North America
100,000-150,000
Warsaw
🇵🇱 Poland
Europe
100,000-150,000
The Asia-Pacific region is challenging the United States’ long-standing dominance in tech talent.

In 2023, all eight markets with 500,000 or more tech talent workers were located in Asia, specifically in India, China, and Japan.

The biggest Asian tech talent hubs are home to some of the world’s most influential tech companies, including the world’s most valuable unicorn ByteDance (Beijing), Infosys (Bengaluru), Alibaba (Shanghai), Sony (Tokyo), and Tencent (Shenzhen)–one of the most valuable companies in the world.

The San Francisco Bay Area, home to Silicon Valley, was among the top powerhouse markets from this year’s report and the largest tech talent hub in North America.

Powerhouse markets were mostly found in Asia and North America, with Paris, France being the only European powerhouse market. Paris is home to multinational IT consulting company Capgemini and an up-and-coming generative AI startup, Mistral AI.

Across all regions, demand for skilled workers in AI, software development and data engineering is driving growth in both established and emerging markets.

The Asia-Pacific region had the most tech talent hubs overall at 16, followed by North America at 15.

To learn about significant hubs for research and innoation, check out this graphic that visualizes the world’s top 50 science and technology (S&T) clusters in 2024.

Tyler Durden
Fri, 06/20/2025 – 23:00…

Nebraska ICE Raid Debunks Claim That The US Needs Migrant Labor

The primary argument among progressives on the issue of mass deportations is that “criminals are fine” but kicking Pedro the farm worker or Juanita the waitress back to Mexico is unacceptable because they are doing jobs that native born Americans refuse to do.

First, the Trump campaign made it clear from the beginning that they planned to deport all illegals, not just those that commit crimes after they cross the border.  Second, the narrative of essential migrant workers is based on a lie; Americans do want and need most of the jobs being stolen by foreign invaders.  

An ICE raid this week at the Glenn Valley Foods meat packing plant in Omaha, Nebraska resulted in at least 75 illegals detained out of 150 workers total workers.  The majority are now being deported, triggering an angry leftist protest. 

With the plant losing so many workers at the same time the concern was that it would have to immediately shut down. Every employee at Glenn Valley Foods, including those who were detained by ICE, has been approved through E-Verify, according to the company owner Gary Rohwer. When he told this to DHS during the raid, an agency official described the system they operate as flawed and easy to cheat.

It’s also important to remember that these are vetting systems restructured by the Biden Administration and it’s likely most of the illegals were hired during Biden’s term.  About a third of the remaining staff at Glenn Valley Foods showed up to work the next day, with many staying home because they “felt afraid or traumatized”, resulting in a roughly 20% drop in production.  No illegals will dare apply at any of the surrounding manufacturing plants – In other words, the raid was a success. 

The company is now engaged in a hiring frenzy and they are getting a positive response.  Despite his claim that manufacturers will collapse without migrants, Rohwer admitted that the packing plant immediately received over 100 new applications and only five of the potential employees are immigrants.  That’s right, the illegals were stealing jobs from native born Americans who were willing to work.

Workers on the production line at Glenn Valley Foods earn $18 to $19 an hour, Rohwer says.  How much the illegal workers were getting paid is not known, but on average migrants work for 30% less in any given industry, driving down wages for Americans and undercutting employment opportunities.

The Labor Department’s May jobs report, released earlier this month, showed both an increase in wages and a substantial decline in the immigrant labor force, due in part to border czar Tom Homan’s execution of the president’s deportation plan.  More than a million foreign-born workers have exited the US workforce since March. 

The Omaha example helps to debunk claims by Democrats that illegal migrants are an integral part of the US economy that the country “can’t live without”.  In fact, there are millions of Americans citizens ready to fill these jobs if only given the…

US Intel: Iran Likely To Pursue Nukes If US Joins Israel’s War – Trump Worried About ‘Libya Scenario’

Reiterating a long-running US intelligence community consensus that Iran has not been building a nuclear bomb, US intelligence officials are warning that an American entry into Israel’s war would likely incentivize Iran to pursue becoming a nuclear-weapon state after all. Meanwhile, insiders say President Trump is wary of turning Iran into “another Libya” if Israel’s regime-change ambitions are somehow realized.   

In other major developments: 

President Trump on Thursday issued a statement seemingly granting more time for a diplomatic solution: “Considering there’s a significant likelihood of negotiations that may or may not happen with Iran soon, I will determine whether or not to engage in the next two weeks.” 
The Pentagon’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency has advised top officials that America’s formidable 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs may be insufficient to destroy Iran’s nuclear enrichment facility buried in a mountain at Fordo — and that doing so may require a nuclear bomb. Otherwise, even in the wake of bombings of various other facilities, Iran could conceivably be capable of producing a bomb if it decided to.  
Steve Bannon joined Donald Trump for lunch at the White House on Thursday; Bannon is staunchly opposed to America entering Israel’s war, telling an audience, “We can’t do this again. We’ll tear the country apart. We can’t have another Iraq.”  
Iranians have largely been cut off from the internet for more than 36 hours, with some observers claiming it reflects the government working to stifle domestic dissent, but most attributing it to Iranian wariness of potential cyberattacks.
Israel and Iran traded more attacks over Thursday night, with the Israeli Air Force claiming it hit ballistic missile launchers, missile production facilities and a nuclear research center, and Iran hitting the city of Beersheba, with unconfirmed reports of damage to a Microsoft building.

New footage from Beersheba targeted by Iran. pic.twitter.com/QUmipEZEhr
— Clash Report (@clashreport) June 20, 2025
Speaking to the New York Times, senior intelligence officials say a US strike on the uranium enrichment facility buried under 300 feet of mountainous rock at Fordo, or a US-facilitated assassination of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, would probably push Iran to build a nuclear bomb to deter further aggression against it. In 2003, Khamenei issued a religious order — or fatwa — prohibiting the development of any kind of weapon of mass destruction. That edict is “right now holding,” a senior intel official told the Times. 

One of the officials cast doubts on Israeli claims that Iran could have a bomb in 15 days. Iran would first have to take uranium it’s already enriched to 60% and enrich it to 90%. That’s probably the easiest part. Next, they’d have to construct a nuclear explosive device, and miniaturize it so it can fit inside a missile warhead. As an alternative, US intel analysts speculate that Iran could build a crude, 10,000-pound Hiroshima-style bomb that would have to be dropped by plane — which wouldn’t be a particularly credible deterrent. The analysts say that,…

Kremlin Hawks Frustrated That Putin Still Has Not Declared Formal State Of War

Russian hardliners are urging President Vladimir Putin to officially declare war on Ukraine, arguing that the current “special military operation” is insufficient, especially in the wake Ukraine’s recent surprise strike on air bases near Moscow. President Zelensky had touted last month’s ‘Operation Spider’s Web’ as a huge success, and an unknown number of long-range strategic bombers, valuable assets in Russia’s air force, were reportedly destroyed.

Although the conflict has entered its fourth year since Russia’s invasion, it still has never been formally recognized as a war, despite estimates of casualties in the hundreds of thousands on both sides. Kremlin officials have at times used language denoting all-out ‘war’, but the Kremlin still classified it as a ‘special military operation’ – which is a very limited designation in Russian law.

Members of Russia’s nationalist elite are calling for more drastic measures, evident also on popular Russian military blog and social media channels.
Via AFP

Kremlin insiders, speaking anonymously to The Telegraph, expressed concern that failing to escalate could lead to even greater risks for Russia – as NATO has very obviously grown more deeply involved. There’s an assumption that Western intelligence assisted in Ukraine’ Spider’s Web operation.

A full war declaration by Putin would mobilize all of society and the economy on a much bigger level, and would lead to a likely draft and mass military recruitment campaign. While Russian forces have lately expanded ground ops to the west of Donesk oblast, which they have almost full control over, it has been clear that the Russian army doesn’t seek to occupy Kiev or places deep into central or Western Ukraine.

Instead Putin has of late declared that his forces will establish a large buffer zone, to protect from the regular drone and artillery attacks on southern Russian, and into Crimea.

The Telegraph on Wednesday cited a Russian official as saying, “Like every thinking patriot, I took it as a personal tragedy.” 

And another high-ranking official characterized the mood in the Kremlin as “shock and outrage”.

“Explosions, drones, sabotage, and possibly even terrorist attacks are what the future may hold for us if the Zelenskyy regime is not completely destroyed,” the high-ranking official said. “If Ukraine ceases to exist in its current form, the criminal underground will be demoralized.”

Throughout the war Russian aerial attacks have not fully targeted Ukrainian HQ centers – only in some specific major retaliatory instances. Air strikes on Kiev have stepped up this month, however.

I’m in a bomb shelter, listening to explosions and checking the news about Russia’s attack on Kyiv. A building near my neighborhood is burning. A woman here got a call from a friend saying their apartment is gone, she’s in shock. The city is burning after massive Russian strikes pic.twitter.com/vavWs5Ch0Z
— Iryna Matviyishyn (@IMatviyishyn) June 17, 2025
But each side is still focusing on degrading the other’s military and industrial sectors and infrastructure, with the White House trying to keep an ‘energy’ ceasefire in place – that is, the US wants attacks on energy infrastructure…

NIRP Is Back As Swiss National Bank Cuts Rates To Zero, Introduces Stealth Negative Rates

Five years after covid sparked a once in a generation inflationary surge and forced all central banks to push their interest rates well above the zero (and in some cases negative) lower bound which defined the post-QE era, overnight the Swiss National Bank became the first to show that the world of higher rates is over and ZIRP is coming back, after the central bank cut its rate from 0.25% back to 0.00% for the first time since 2022.

But it’s not just ZIRP that is back: NIRP is also here courtesy of the Swiss, because while the SNB may have cut its interest rate to zero, the way it penalizes banks’ excess reserve holdings means lenders will face negative rates if they park too much cash at the central bank.

Ah yes, the magic of the zero lower bound is once again with us!

According to a statement by the SNB published on Thursday morning, Swiss banks can hold up to an unchanged 18 times their minimum reserve requirement in sight deposits at the SNB for free but anything over that they will be charged interest of -0.25% as the discount from the policy rate remains unchanged at 25 basis points.

The goal behind the “tiered remuneration”, according to Bloomberg, is to incentivize lending between banks so that enough liquidity is exchanged on the Swiss money market. For lenders holding more than their limit it’s cheaper to pass on excess reserves to institutions which are under their thresholds, because they have to pay them less than the central bank.

For all lenders which don’t have a minimum reserve requirement the threshold is set at a paltry 10 million francs ($12 million) in sight deposits, the SNB said.

The system, which the SNB has had in place since it lifted its key rate above zero in 2022, means that the average money-market rate — known as Saron — has usually been a few basis points below the central-bank rate.

Which means that starting Friday, negative funding costs for banks are therefore likely, as board member Petra Tschudin told reporters in Zurich. She added that she expects only “very little” sight deposits to be remunerated at the negative rate. That chimes with experience from some three years under the regime, where typically only a tiny fraction of them were hit by the lower rate.

Still, little or not so little, negative rates are back in at least one country… and soon in many more. 

While Switzerland’s main banks lobby called the SNB’s decision “understandable,” it criticized its consequences.

“It’s clear that a zero interest rate environment diminishes the incentive for responsible saving and places additional pressure on retirement provision,” the Swiss Bankers Association said in a statement. “As in previous periods of low interest rates, banks and their customers once again bear a significant share of the monetary policy burden.”

Similarly, the insurance association welcomed the SNB not going negative, but stressed that “even the return to a low…

The Countries With The Highest Share Of International Migrants May Surprise You

The number of international migrants worldwide hit 304 million in 2024, a figure that has doubled since 1990.

As people relocate across borders for reasons ranging from work opportunities to conflict and displacement, certain countries have become major destinations for foreign-born populations.

This map, via Visual Capitalist’s Kayla Zhu, visualizes the top 20 countries with the highest proportion of international migrants in their populations as of 2024, based on data from the United Nations.

An international migrant is defined as someone living in a country other than their birth country for at least 12 months, regardless of reasons or status.

Which Country Has the Highest Share of International Migrants?

Below, we show countries by share of international migrants in their population.

Rank
Country
Share (%) of international migrants in total population (2024)
1
🇶🇦 Qatar
76.7
2
🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates
74.0
3
🇲🇨 Monaco
70.2
4
🇱🇮 Liechtenstein
69.4
5
🇰🇼 Kuwait
67.3
6
🇦🇩 Andorra
59.1
7
🇧🇭 Bahrain
52.3
8
🇱🇺 Luxembourg
51.2
9
🇸🇬 Singapore
48.7
10
🇯🇴 Jordan
45.7
11
🇴🇲 Oman
43.2
12
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia
40.3
13
🇲🇹 Malta
37.0
14
🇦🇬 Antigua and Barbuda
32.5
15
🇨🇭 Switzerland
31.1
16
🇦🇺 Australia
30.4
17
🇵🇼 Palau
29.5
18
🇳🇿 New Zealand
28.2
19
🇧🇳 Brunei
25.9
20
🇦🇹 Austria
25.5
21
🇮🇸 Iceland
25.1
22
🇱🇧 Lebanon
24.5
23
🇫🇲 Micronesia
23.4
24
🇮🇪 Ireland
23.1
25
🇮🇱 Israel
22.3
26
🇨🇦 Canada
22.2
27
🇸🇪 Sweden
21.4
28
🇳🇷 Nauru
21.3
29
🇧🇪 Belgium
20.0
30
🇩🇪 Germany
19.8
31
🇪🇸 Spain
18.5
32
🇳🇴 Norway
18.2
33
🇬🇦 Gabon
17.7
34
🇸🇲 San Marino
17.4
35
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
17.1
36
🇰🇳 Saint Kitts and Nevis
17.0
37
🇧🇸 Bahamas
16.8
38
🇧🇿 Belize
16.5
39
🇳🇱 Netherlands
16.2
40
🇺🇸 United States
15.2
41
🇨🇾 Cyprus
14.9
42
🇪🇪 Estonia
14.9
43
🇸🇮 Slovenia
14.9
44
🇲🇪 Montenegro
14.4
45
🇩🇰 Denmark
14.2
46
🇬🇷 Greece
14.2
47
🇲🇻 Maldives
14.2
48
🇫🇷 France
13.8
49
🇭🇷 Croatia
13.6
50
🇺🇦 Ukraine
13.4
51
🇬🇶 Equatorial Guinea
13.2
52
🇩🇲 Dominica
12.7
53
🇧🇧 Barbados
12.5
54
🇨🇷 Costa Rica
12.2
55
🇱🇾 Libya
12.2
56
🇱🇻 Latvia
11.8
57
🇧🇾 Belarus
11.6
58
🇮🇹 Italy
11.0
59
🇩🇯 Djibouti
10.8
60
🇵🇹 Portugal
10.8
61
🇲🇾 Malaysia
10.7
62
🇵🇦 Panama
10.6
63
🇷🇸 Serbia
10.6
64
🇸🇨 Seychelles
10.2
65
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
10.1
66
🇨🇿 Czechia
9.5
67
🇸🇭 Saint Helena
9.4
68
🇦🇲 Armenia
9.2
69
🇫🇮 Finland
9.2
70
🇨🇮 Côte d’Ivoire
9.0
71
🇲🇭 Marshall Islands
8.8
72
🇬🇲 Gambia
8.6
73
🇲🇰 North Macedonia
8.3
74
🇸🇷 Suriname
8.2
75
🇹🇷 Türkiye
8.1
76
🇨🇱 Chile
7.8
77
🇸🇸 South Sudan
7.7
78
🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago
7.5
79
🇭🇺 Hungary
7.1
80
🇧🇹 Bhutan
7.0
81
🇩🇴 Dominican Republic
6.5
82
🇬🇾 Guyana
6.5
83
🇹🇩 Chad
6.3
84
🇬🇩 Grenada
6.3
85
🇲🇩 Moldova
6.2
86
🇨🇬 Congo
6.1
87
🇱🇹 Lithuania
6.1
88
🇸🇰 Slovakia
5.9
89
🇨🇴 Colombia
5.8
90
🇵🇪 Peru
5.4
91
🇷🇺 Russia
5.3
92
🇵🇸 State of Palestine
5.0
93
Saint Vincent and Grenadines
4.8
94
🇸🇩 Sudan
4.8
95
🇺🇾 Uruguay
4.7
96
🇧🇼 Botswana
4.6
97
🇵🇱 Poland
4.5
98
🇱🇨 Saint Lucia
4.5
99
🇧🇬 Bulgaria
4.4
100
🇹🇭 Thailand
4.4
101
🇻🇪 Venezuela
4.4
102
🇦🇷 Argentina
4.3
103
🇮🇷 Iran
4.2
104
🇪🇨 Ecuador
4.1
105
🇿🇦 South Africa
4.1
106
🇺🇬 Uganda
4.1
107
🇲🇷 Mauritania
3.8
108
🇳🇦 Namibia
3.8
109
🇷🇼 Rwanda
3.6
110
🇸🇾 Syria
3.6
111
🇰🇷 South Korea
3.5
112
🇷🇴 Romania
3.4
113
🇹🇴 Tonga
3.4
114
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan
3.2
115
🇧🇫 Burkina Faso
3.1
116
🇨🇻 Cabo Verde
3.1
117
🇹🇬 Togo
3.0
118
🇧🇯 Benin
2.9
119
🇧🇮 Burundi
2.8
120
🇯🇵 Japan
2.8
121
🇸🇿 Eswatini
2.7
122
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan
2.7
123
🇵🇾 Paraguay
2.6
124
🇹🇯 Tajikistan
2.6
125
🇹🇲 Turkmenistan
2.6
126
🇹🇻 Tuvalu
2.6
127
🇿🇼 Zimbabwe
2.6
128
🇰🇮 Kiribati
2.5
129
🇲🇺 Mauritius
2.3
130
🇨🇲 Cameroon
2.2
131
🇲🇱 Mali
2.2
132
🇦🇿 Azerbaijan
2.1
133
🇬🇪 Georgia
2.1
134
🇦🇴 Angola
1.8
135
🇨🇫 Central African Republic
1.8
136
🇰🇪 Kenya
1.8
137
🇼🇸 Samoa
1.8
138
🇦🇱 Albania
1.7
139
🇧🇩 Bangladesh
1.7
140
🇳🇬 Niger
1.7
141
🇵🇰 Pakistan
1.7
142
🇳🇵 Nepal
1.6
143
🇧🇴 Bolivia
1.5
144
🇫🇯 Fiji
1.5
145
🇬🇭 Ghana
1.5
146
🇸🇳 Senegal
1.5
147
🇰🇲 Comoros
1.4
148
🇱🇷 Liberia
1.3
149
🇲🇽 Mexico
1.3
150
🇿🇲 Zambia
1.2
151
🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina
1.1
152
🇨🇩 DR Congo
1.0
153
🇪🇬 Egypt
1.0
154
🇲🇿 Mozambique
1.0
155
🇻🇺 Vanuatu
1.0
156
🇾🇪 Yemen
1.0
157
🇪🇹 Ethiopia
0.9
158
🇲🇼 Malawi
0.9
159
🇬🇳 Guinea
0.8
160
🇮🇶 Iraq
0.8
161
🇯🇲 Jamaica
0.8
162
🇸🇹 Sao Tome and Principe
0.8
163
🇧🇷 Brazil
0.7
164
🇸🇻 El Salvador
0.7
165
🇬🇼 Guinea-Bissau
0.7
166
Laos
0.7
167
🇹🇿 Tanzania
0.7
168
🇩🇿 Algeria
0.6
169
🇱🇸 Lesotho
0.6
170
🇲🇳 Mongolia
0.6
171
🇳🇮 Nicaragua
0.6
172
🇳🇬 Nigeria
0.6
173
🇸🇱 Sierra Leone
0.6
174
🇹🇱 Timor-Leste
0.6
175
🇰🇭 Cambodia
0.5
176
🇬🇹 Guatemala
0.5
177
🇹🇳 Tunisia
0.5
178
🇪🇷 Eritrea
0.4
179
🇭🇳 Honduras
0.4
180
🇸🇴 Somalia
0.4
181
🇮🇳 India
0.3
182
🇲🇦 Morocco
0.3
183
🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea
0.3
184
🇸🇧 Solomon Islands
0.3
185
🇻🇳 Vietnam
0.3
186
🇦🇫 Afghanistan
0.2
187
🇰🇵 North Korea
0.2
188
🇭🇹 Haiti
0.2
189
🇮🇩 Indonesia
0.2
190
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
0.2
191
🇨🇳 China
0.1
192
🇲🇬 Madagascar
0.1
193
🇲🇲 Myanmar
0.1
194
🇵🇭 Philippines
0.1
195
🇨🇺 Cuba
0.0
In 2024, Qatar had the world’s highest share of foreign-born residents, with international migrants making up over three-quarters (76.7%) of its population.

Several Gulf states like Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait ranked at the top of the list, as their economies rely heavily on foreign labor, with migrants making up an overwhelming majority of their workforces.

These countries host higher proportions of international migrants largely due to the kafala system—a sponsorship-based labor framework that ties foreign workers to their employers—drawing million of people for low-wage jobs.

Several small European countries such as Monaco, Liechtenstein, and Andorra also have high shares of migrants, largely due to their small populations and roles as financial or tourism hubs.

U.S. is Still Home to the Most Migrants

By total population, the U.S. recorded the highest number of international…

When The U.S. Army Occupied PA’s Anthracite Coal Region

Authored by Jake Wynn via RealClearPennsylvania,

In October 1862, Irish mineworkers in the rural coal mining villages of western Schuylkill County rose up in armed opposition to Pennsylvania’s first attempt to create a drafted militia to add soldiers to the United States Army.

They marched from mine to mine across Cass and New Castle Townships, shutting down mining operations as they went. Several hundred men, some armed with pistols and other weaponry, stopped a train carrying recruits for the Army at the village of Tremont and ordered them to return to their homes. Chaos reigned through mid-October in Schuylkill County, raising alarm bells in the county seat in Pottsville, the state capital in Harrisburg, and even among leaders in Washington.

It was the second autumn of the Civil War and a month since the U.S. Army’s victory at the Battle of Antietam, resulting in President Abraham Lincoln’s issuance of the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation freeing enslaved people in the Confederate states.

The war effort, however, had not been going particularly well for the Union. The summer of 1862 included a string of defeats for the U.S. Army in Virginia and in other theaters of the conflict, resulting in a series of Confederate invasions into the border states of Kentucky and Maryland.

With morale sagging across the Northern states, the Lincoln administration and state leaders like Pennsylvania’s Gov. Andrew Curtin sought other ways to boost enlistment into the state’s military forces serving under the Federal government. Curtin’s administration initiated mechanisms to begin drafting men into state militia units, infuriating opponents of the Republican administrations in Harrisburg and Washington.

The Irish population of western Schuylkill County had many grievances as the Civil War raged on. Often relegated to the worst jobs in the mining hierarchy of the anthracite coal fields, they lived in the tiny hamlets and patch towns around mining operations, or collieries, scattered across the rugged landscape north and west of Pottsville. They faced dangerous working conditions, low pay, and company-owned housing that was often barely fit for human habitation.

With the issuance of an executive order regarding the freedom of the South’s slaves, the anger of the immigrant working class of Schuylkill County grew to fever pitch. Conspiracy theories spread about the Lincoln administration’s motive to free the enslaved.

“We can tell the President of the United States, and his Abolition advisers, that they must keep their negroes out of the Coal Regions, unless they desire to inaugurate war in the North,” wrote the Pottsville Standard newspaper in fall 1862. “The people of this section of the State will not allow emancipated slaves to be thrown in competition white labor.”

Fears about the replacement of white, working-class laborers in the mines, though baseless, mixed with early attempts by the mineworkers of Schuylkill County to organize themselves. They sought to improve working conditions in the mines and the pay they received as the price of anthracite coal reached new heights due to extensive war-time demand.

The organization of Schuylkill County mineworkers and their…