whilst the East Asians and Ashkenazi populations might have the edge in the abstract reasoning that constitutes IQ

Look up some of the Ashkenazi studies. I think the whole 'really high IQ' thing is largely overblown. The test groups weren't equal, for one, and it wasn't equally distributed IQ, even in the results, but verbal IQ specifically, as I recall. Even the results didn't say they were smarter than whites as a whole, because it was massively skewed to verbal IQ. But the real issue is that they were measuring relatively highly educated children, who are of course going to outperform children on average.

Good points, though. It is interesting that, in some ways, whites outperform even Asians, despite a lower average IQ. It could just be different values, though. Empire building isn't the only measurement of IQ, although it is relevant in basic societal competence.

Also, IQ isn't the be-all, end-all anyway. Asians are now having many of the same issues that the West had forced upon it, and look to be falling, albeit more slowly, to the same cultural decay. Doesn't matter how high your IQ is, if you let your culture get overtaken, for whatever reason.