Comments on: The end of the world as we know it

By: PETER BAKER

PETER BAKER — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 00:03:02 +0000

Further to the previous comment, how can such a large global population possibly be sustained and managed given these constraints on energy supply and food production? We can see how food shortages/high food prices aggravated the recent social unrest in Tunisia. So how will similar governments elsewhere respond to growing internal pressures and dissent in their own backyards? Western countries are terrified of “democracy” in countries like Tunisia in case it turns out to be rabidly anti-Western.

My question is – are Western countries genuinely committed to “human rights” and “democratic values” (as they have piously claimed to be the case with their occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan) or will they be forced to adopt policies of global authoritarianism and repression in response to these growing tensions over future global supplies of food and energy?

By: Marty Hiller

Marty Hiller — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 19:59:07 +0000

I would love to see a similar analysis that includes the power dynamics of food. World grain consumption surpassed supply several years ago, and environmental change is leading to more & more production challenges (e.g. unstable weather patterns, depletion of aquifers.) Most of the world’s fisheries are in decline, and fish farming is eliminating the bottom of the ocean food chain. Food shortages are already becoming apparent, and will only get worse as the population continues to grow.

While it’s true that we need energy to sustain our current lifestyle, we need food to sustain life itself. Food will inevitably become a major player on the world stage, possibly even greater than energy. With Russia as perhaps the only nation with a surplus of both, and the US working to convert its grain surplus into energy, the interaction between the two will almost certainly change the world order.