Chechnya has been torn apart by war for more than 10 years. In the process of war, men die. That means fewer men to go around for the remaining eligible women.

Acting Prime Minister Ramzan Kadyrov (who would want the job on a permanent basis?) has proposed a simple solution: “Each man who can provide for four wives should do it.”

That’s a radical approach to take when the spoils of war have spoiled the economy and there are not enough men to go around.

To clarify, in the strict sense Kadyrov is not proposing polygamy. Simply put, polygamy is having more than one spouse; (male or female).

What he’s proposing is actually polygyny, which is having multiple wives.

Chechnya is the break away province of Russia and is mostly Islamic. Some say that polygyny is allowed under Islamic law (as it is in Saudi Arabia), but it is not allowed in Russia.

Polygyny is part economics, part tradition, part religion, and part unchecked sexual appetite. Or, so I’m told.

King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines, plus wisdom, wealth, and God’s blessings.

Despite what we in the western part of the world may think, polygyny is popular in many other parts of the world. Africa. The Middle East. Asia.

OK, that’s not Peoria or Boca Raton, but we have our own issues with fidelity within the western marriage arrangement, as over half fail, and the winners and losers move on every few years in a strange game of musical chair adultery.

What about China? The government policy for decades has been one-child per family, while condoning abortions of girls. That produced a surplus of men, which means there’s more competition for good quality women.

China’s situation is the opposite of Chechnya, but you see the point. How do you repair the extremes? Or, do you just leave it alone and foster a few generations of miserable men, and miserable women, though in different countries.

Polygyny in Chechnya and polyandry in China might help the economics of relationships in both countries.

Should polygamy be give a second look in modern society?