State of the World 2005: Global Security [Paperback]

The Worldwatch Institute (Author)

Book Description

Series: State of the World | Publication Date: January 17, 2005

Tackles the pressing issue of international security and its ramifications on the health of our planet.

Since September 11, 2001, many governments have reasserted the centrality of traditional, military-focused security. Yet the aftermath of the ensuing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq underlines once more that lasting security is not found in soldiers, bullets, and tanks. "Security" concerns are only in part about violent conflict, a worst-case outcome that results from a broad range of underlying vulnerabilities. Worldwatch offers a broader perspective on these issues by reaffirming the importance of other, less-publicized threats to global stability and security: the complex interactions between environmental degradation, poverty, and inequity; growing human populations; and the international proliferation of deadly weapons. Emphasizing the opportunities for creating a less vulnerable, more secure world, State of the World 2005 addresses a broad range of needed reforms, including those related to governance, economics, ethics, and education. With easy-to-read charts and tables, this volume presents a view of our changing world that we, and our leaders, cannot afford to ignore. Charts and tables

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

The Worldwatch Institute is a Washington, DC-based nonprofit research and publishing organization dedicated to fostering the evolution of an environmentally sustainable society.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; Revised edition (January 17, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393326667
• ISBN-13: 978-0393326666
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,113,799 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Uninterrupted Gloom and Doom: A Review of State of the World 2005, February 24, 2010

By 

Jay Lehr - See all my reviews

This review is from: State of the World 2005: Global Security (Paperback)

You will not want to buy State of the World 2005 unless you are worried that you have an overly optimistic personality and believe you need a bit of gloom and doom to bring you down.

Or perhaps you are a statistics junkie and like plenty of numbers, regardless of whether they are accurate or relevant.

In the hands of the uninformed, this book can lead only to depression--which of course has long been the purpose of the Worldwatch Institute.


Kremlin Model

The book hits the ground running with a hollow, almost laughable foreword by that great environmentalist leader, Mikhail Gorbachev. If you have not noticed, the fall of the Iron Curtain offered a bevy of new blood to the environmental movement in the form of people previously engaged in the support of communism.

Gorbachev's foreword contains the following paragraph, which can only bring followers of his Kremlin career to hysterics:

"I believe that today the world faces three interrelated challenges: the challenge of security, including the risks associated with weapons of mass destruction and terrorism; the challenge of poverty and underdevelopment; and the challenge of environmental sustainability."


Attacks on Iraq War

A great deal of the book's attention is focused on America's alleged belligerence, attacking the war in Iraq at every turn, as if this had anything to do with the environment. The book also tells us the United States has only itself to blame for becoming a target of international terrorism, describing terrorism as foreseeable efforts to free oppressed people. I'll rest this aspect of my case on the following quotes from the book:

"Terrorism is a path chosen by protagonists who tend to be politically desperate and militarily weak. Acts of terror are not going to disappear as long as the roots of extremist violence are not tackled."

"A number of measures have been undertaken in the name of anti-terrorism that may well perpetuate a cycle of violence. These actions have undermined international cooperation, weakened human rights laws and other international norms, and played into the hands of extremists who thrive on a clash of civilizations. And this militarized response is draining resources and political attention away from the underlying socioeconomic and environmental issues that generate growing tension and instability."

"Rather than striking a blow against terrorism, the occupation of Iraq has accelerated the radicalization of an Islamic world already seething over events in the occupied Palestinian Territories."


Errors Needing Correction

Refreshingly, however, the authors every so often include some hearteningly accurate material. A case in point is their complete reversal from previous haranguing over the world's "exploding" population to an admission that most of the world has population growth under control.

They also present some reasonably accurate statistics on disease in the Third World ... but then appear to blame much of it on "[t]he widespread and often indiscriminate use of antibiotics and other anti-bacterial agents ... creating families of drug-resistant microbes." Apparently, the authors never heard of malaria's worldwide resurgence, causing the deaths of literally millions of people, after environmental activist groups successfully eliminated the use of the man-made pesticide known as DDT.

Even the left-leaning New York Times is calling for the return of DDT, yet groups like the Worldwatch Institute would rather ignore and deny that particular Third World holocaust.

Similarly, the Worldwatch authors give any serious reader pause when they state that the United States ranks 28th among nations with a life expectancy of 69.3 years. We in fact passed 70 decades ago and now sit atop the world at 77 years of age. (See [...]).


Bashing the Green Revolution

No discussion of American capitalism, however, is more egregiously wrong than the authors' attempt to undermine our efforts to feed the world a more nutritious diet. Foremost among their targets is the Green Revolution of modern technology that has tripled global crop production in the past four decades. State the authors:

"Ironically, the technologies developed since the 1960s to revolutionize agriculture may actually be increasing vulnerability on our farms. For instance, chemical-based pesticides and insecticides initially allowed farmers to reduce their losses to bugs and disease. But they began to fail as pests developed resistance, and the chemicals left toxic residues in our water, soil, and food. Raising thousands of animals in factory farms lowered the price of meat, allowing more people to eat hamburgers, steaks, and chicken breasts on a daily basis. But society is paying the price for cheap meat in the form of a loss of domestic animal diversity and diseases that jump the species barrier and infect people."

This paragraph exemplifies the distortions and fraud threaded through the book. Every sentence except the second one is absolutely incorrect.


Food As WMD

The authors even go so far as to ask the question, "can food be a weapon of mass destruction?" by claiming that our livestock is becoming increasingly disease-prone and that the reason there is no evidence of this is that we cannot tell because we have too many animals to monitor. They follow this with the threat of widespread foot and mouth disease, disregarding the U.S. Department of Agriculture's successful prevention of that disease for decades as a result of effective food and farm policies.

One of the clear intentions of State of the World 2005 is to eliminate successful agriculture in this country as we know it. We have the healthiest, safest, and least-expensive food supply on the planet. We have tripled yields everywhere over the past 40 years, leaving the bulk of our arable land for forests, parks, nature trails, and human amenities.

Throughout the book, the Worldwatch Institute clearly prefers that we return to subsistence farming, as is done in the Third World, eliminating all chemical inputs and fertilizers. They embrace imposition of low-yield organic farming across the nation, eating up more of our nation's land and leaving little food for export.


Railing Against Fossil Fuels

As you would guess, the authors rail against all fossil fuels--all the while warning that man is about to run out of such fuels. One would think that if the Worldwatch Institute truly believed we will imminently run out of fossil fuels, it would be rather unnecessary and superfluous to rail against them.

The book accurately calculates that 16 percent of the world's electricity is supplied by nuclear power plants, and then asserts, "To completely eliminate the threat that nuclear energy poses, nuclear power plants will need to be phased out entirely."

They admit this will be a challenge with nuclear power presently on the global upswing: 438 plants exist, 28 are under construction, and 35 more are being planned.

My readers will have no difficulty guessing what energy form the Worldwatch authors fancy to replace all other existing sources: solar power, of course, and its usual uneconomic, unproductive, unreliable brethren.

The book is uninterrupted gloom and doom, sprinkled with occasionally accurate facts. It is a glass almost always half empty.

But best of all, it is a clear insight into the thinking of those who oppose much of human progress and all of capitalism while supporting most of the failed endeavors of socialism's 70 year experiment in Mr. Gorbachev's native land.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr. Jay Lehr ([e-mail]) is science director for The Heartland Institute.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wisdom from an educated man, April 8, 2006

By 

John F. Wright (Savage, Minnesota United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: State of the World 2005: Global Security (Paperback)

I've listened to Mr. Brown lecture at the University of Washington and not only is he an excellent public speaker but it is clear that he is extremely well educated and comprehends our global situation better than 99.9% of our politicians.

We can only hope that more people will read and hear these words of wisdom and start taking steps in the right direction.

9 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but with a big flaw, April 11, 2005

By 

Jill Malter ([e-mail]) - See all my reviews

This review is from: State of the World 2005: Global Security (Paperback)

What is it about the state of the world that ought to concern us now? Oil? Food? Water? Infectious diseases? Gratutitous terror?

This book tries to answer some of these questions.

The first main issue is the connection between population and security. Overpopulated countries with high birth rates are at risk of getting into wars. They also have potential worries about employment, as well as food and water shortages.

What about infectious diseases? Many people in Western nations can expect over 70 years of healthy life. But life expectancies in Africa are much less. How much less? Less than 30 years of healthy life in Sierra Leone, and under 35 years in six other African nations! We see some horrifying statistics on the effects of HIV/AIDS in many of these nations.

Food security has many aspects. The main one addressed here is defence against climate changes.

What about water? The problem here is not so much of not having enough to go around. It is that arguments about water can escalate into warfare. This is a good example of where environmental cooperation is important and achievable.

As for oil, there are three obvious concerns. First, if we keep doing what we've been doing, eventually we'll run out. Second, oil's value as a commodity is undermining efforts for peace in some areas of the world. Third, burning oil threatens the stability of our climate. The first suggestion here is demand-side management. Now, what about burning hydrogen? That looks like a technologically tricky idea. We may need to look at other options. Hybrid cars will help a little, but that still means using gasoline. I happen to favor an intermediate idea: cutting way back on gasoline and trying to make use of alcohol as a fuel.

The next chapter is on disarmament. That idea has not had a good history. People simply rearm. I think the whole topic needs a great deal more thought.

The final chapter is on laying the foundations for peace. Is the United Nations up to this task? My answer would be a clear no. This book strongly disagrees, although it does feel that some new ideas are needed.

I think the biggest weakness of the book is in addressing terrorism. The claim is made that terror can not be defeated by military means. Well, obviously more is needed than occasional use of force. But if the terrorists win militarily, the game is over. Unless our civilization can avoid being defeated militarily by terrorists, it may not have a chance at a future. I think defeating terror requires imposition of an authority that values truth and insists on teaching it to those who would otherwise be educated by terrorists.

What does this book say about that? Just that "terrorism is a path chosen by protagonists who tend to be politically desperate and militarily weak." And that "acts of terror are not going to disappear as long as the roots of extremist violence are not tackled."

This sort of stuff lowered my rating of this book. Terrorists are often simply aggressors and bullies whose goals are so unjust and extreme that they know they can not achieve them peacefully. The roots of extremist violence do need to be tackled. But they are quite different from what this book implies.

I found most of the book interesting, but this one flaw is very serious.