Global Issues

KRISTEN A. HITE leads climate work for Oxfam America and teaches on global issues at the graduate level. Professor Hite has consulted for UN and nonprofit organizations, served as an attorney for the US government and environmental clients, and instructed graduate students at Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, American University, and the University of Maryland. Her approach centers on working across geographies to bridge the intersections of rights, land, and climate in pursuit of sustainable development. JOHN L. SEITZ is Professor Emeritus of Government at Wofford College, USA. He earned a BA and MPA from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, and a PhD in political science from the University of Wisconsin. He is a Member of Phi Beta Kappa and has extensive first-hand experience of South Korea, Iran, Brazil, Liberia, and Pakistan. Previous editions of this book, for which he was sole author, have been used around the world and have been translated into a number of languages, including Chinese, Japanese, and Portuguese.

List of Plates xiii

List of Figures, Maps, and Tables xv

Acknowledgements xix

Introduction 1

The Creation of Global Issues 1

1 What is Development? 3

Developing Toward What? 3

Twentieth‐Century Approach: Development as Economic Growth 4

Twenty‐First‐Century Approach: Developing towards Sustainability 6

Wave of Hope: The Millennium Development Goals (2000–2015) 7

Sustainable Development Goals (2015–2030) 8

Development Assistance and Foreign Aid 10

Culture and Development 14

Conclusion 16

Notes 18

Further Reading 19

2 Wealth and Poverty 21

Can We Eradicate Poverty? 23

Mainstreaming Sustainable Development 27

A Pessimistic View: The Persistence of Poverty 29

Systematic Approaches 33

A Market Approach 33

The State as Economic Actor 36

A Blended Approach 40

Trade and Global Economic Interdependence 41

Global Interdependence 43

Positive aspects 43

Negative aspects 44

Geography and Wealth, Geography and Poverty 45

Conclusions 46

Notes 48

Further Reading 52

3 Population 55

The Changing Population of the World 56

Shifting Demographics: Rural to Urban 61

Causes of the Population Explosion 67

Demographic transitions: population and development 68

How Population Growth Affects Development 74

Rapid growth 74

Slow growth 76

An aging population and low birth rates 76

How Development Affects Population Growth 79

Factors lowering birth rates 80

International Conferences on Population 82

Governmental Population Policies 84

Managing growth 84

Mexico 86

India 88

China 88

Promoting growth 89

The Future 92

The growth of the world’s population 92

The carrying capacity of the Earth 92

“Optimum” size of the Earth’s population 94

Population‐related challenges in our future 96

Conclusions 98

Notes 99

Further Reading 105

4 Food 108

How Many Are Hungry? 109

World Food Production 110

Arable land 111

Climate 112

How Development Affects Food 113

United States: Industrial Agriculture and Farm Consolidation 114

Brazil: Becoming a Food Exporter by Expanding the

Agricultural Frontier 116

Contents ix

China: Limited Land to Grow, Many Mouths to Feed 116

Feeding a Growing Population 118

The “Green” Revolution 119

Fertilizers 120

Pesticides 121

Energy 121

Irrigation 122

Biotechnology 122

Fishing and aquaculture 125

Traditional/sustainable/organic agriculture 126

Causes of World Hunger 128

How Food Affects Development 132

The type of food 134

What’s your Footprint? 138

Food Waste and Food Loss 139

The Future 140

Governmental Food Policies 141

Future Food Supplies 143

Conclusions 145

Notes 146

Further Reading 156

5 Energy 158

The Relationship between Energy Use and Development 159

Nonrenewable Energy Sources 161

Oil 162

Global Oil Supplies and Price Shocks 163

Coal 165

Natural Gas 166

The Energy Transition 167

Renewable Energy Sources 169

Solar Power 169

Wind 171

Hydroelectric Power 172

Wood, Agricultural/Forestry Residues, and Animal Dung 173

Geothermal Energy 174

Hydrogen‐Powered Fuel Cells 175

Energy and Development: Critical Challenges and Opportunities 176

National Approaches to Energy and Development 177

China 179

The United States 180

Western Europe 183

Japan 184

The Decoupling of Energy Consumption and Economic Growth 185

Conservation/Energy Efficiency 186

x Contents

Nuclear Power: A Case Study 188

The potential and the peril 188

The choice 192

Withdraw support for nuclear power 192

Continue to support nuclear power 194

Conclusions 195

Notes 196

Further Reading 201

6 Climate Change 203

An Unprecedented Global Challenge 204

How Increased Temperatures Impact the Earth 206

Regional impacts 206

Africa 207

Asia 207

Low‐lying islands 207

Europe 207

Latin America 207

North America 207

Polar regions 207

Types of impacts 209

Monster storms 209

Extreme heat 210

Infectious diseases 210

Agriculture 210

Melting ice 212

Sea level rise 212

Disruption of natural ecosystems 213

How Bad Will It Get? 213

Planet at a crossroads: high stakes choices 215

Air pollution 215

Uncertainties 216

Abrupt climate change 216

Slower Atlantic currents 216

Clouds 216

Other positive and negative feedbacks 216

Global Agreement for a Global Problem 217

What More Can Be Done? 218

Conclusion 221

Notes 221

Further Reading 223

7 The Environment: Natural Resources 225

The Awakening 225

Water 228

Contents xi

Land 229

Minerals 229

Deforestation 230

Governing the Commons 235

The Extinction of Species 236

Responsible Use 240

Resource efficiency 240

Recycling 241

Substitution 243

Reducing needs 243

Conclusion 244

Notes 244

Recommended Readings 248

8 The Environment: Pollution 249

Air Pollution 250

Acid rain 254

Ozone depletion 258

Climate change (global warming) 260

Water Pollution 261

The Workplace and the Home 263

Cancer 263

Chemicals 264

Pesticides 265

Managing Waste 267

Solid wastes 267

Toxic wastes 269

Governmental and industrial responses to the waste problem 270

Environmental Politics 271

Conclusion 274

Notes 275

Further Reading 282

9 Technology 283

Benefits of Technology 284

Unanticipated Consequences of the Use of Technology 285

DDT 287

Factory farms 288

Inappropriate Uses of Technology 289

Limits to the “Technological Fix” 294

War 296

The Threat of Nuclear Weapons: A Case Study 298

The threat 298

New dangers 301

Nuclear proliferation 301

The cleanup 303

The threat of nuclear terrorism 303

xii Contents

Conclusions 304

Notes 305

Further Reading 308

10 Alternative Futures 310

Development Pathways: Evaluating Our Current Situation 311

Current Outlook: Business as Usual 312

Collapse and Sustainable Development 314

Choices 318

Improve production 318

Reduce demand 319

Governance: Deciding How to Act on the Choices We Make 320

Conclusion 324

Notes 326

Further Reading 330

Appendix 1: Studying and Teaching Global Issues 332

Appendix 2: Relevant Videos 340

Glossary 349

Index 355