I guess Chuck Hagel’s going to be confirmed, so we can return to an all-international edition of linkage. And mostly Asia.

• Papua New Guinea could finally give us a test of the institutions strain of the resource-curse hypothesis; unlike rich and democratic oil titan Norway, Papua New Guinea is poor and democratic(ish). The news that it might have natural gas and other deposits sufficient to bring its resource exports in 2030 to three times the country’s current GDP. (Of course, much depends for resource curse-testing purposes on how much of that comes from natural gas and copper, compared to palm oil.) [The Diplomat]
• Tibetans are wondering whether 99 self-immolations have garnered the world’s attention. The honest but saddening answer is probably not. [The New York Times] (Also, also)
• How can you balance being a reincarnated spiritual leader with living in the 21st century? [The Believer]
• Eyewitness accounts of Chinese air pollution, via Fallows: here, here. [James Fallows, The Atlantic]
• Gulnara Karimova is not just a socialite, she’s the dictator’s daughter. [The New Yorker]
• Via Dan Drezner, how bad are China’s economic statistics? [Washington Post]

kludge