Joshua Kurlantzick says yes. Jay Ulfelder points out that this assertion is simply unsupported by the data. His advice for reporters:
[S]ure, some questions can’t be answered with numbers; the relevant data may not exist (yet), or the research question might involve aspects of process that are difficult to quantify. The rest of the time, however–and that’s going to be a lot of the time–it’s a good idea to look at available data before getting deeply invested in a particular answer.
The Dish 