I don't know, I feel like the health issues contributing to the reverse population growth trend detailed by the article are issues that are intrinsically tied to the economic and political landscape of the country. In Haiti, for example, it is so hard to reverse rates of violent crimes and decrease social unrest because the country itself was founded on uprisings and revolutions and to this day bears a sort of hostile environment for the people living there. There's only so much that individuals and societies can do without the support of those in power.
Russia is an interesting nation because it has a very turbulent history, and in this case I really feel that the government needs to make a shift towards using politics for public service. As stated in the article, the government needs to improve living standards. Given the instability, there simply is no incentive for people to have lots of children, if at all any. Many people may even be leaving the country, which further contributes to population decline. I am skeptical of the article's comparison of Russia's demographic trends being similar to those of the European Union and Japan, because those are completely different scenarios. As industrialized nations move on and upward, people are more likely to focus on individual development and postpone having a family whereas the situation in Russia is that there is great insecurity.
We learned in another class that having 2 children in the United States was the consumption approximate to having 20 children in Africa. Population growth is not necessarily a good thing. Russia should look to tackle their prevailing health issues not because they need a population big enough to "maintain their territory," but because their health outcomes are simply below standard. When they can resolve these fundamental, underlying issues, then they can start to tackle how to get more live births per year.
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