Ref5

Global Issues

Richard J. Payne

Chapter 7 The Global Financial Crisis

7.1: Causes of the Global Financial Crisis

1. 7.1 Evaluate the causes that contributed to creating the financial crisis

The causes of financial crises are as complex as many of the crises themselves and the human beings responsible for them. There have been at least sixty recorded crises since the early seventeenth century. Human beings seem to have always been obsessed with money, and greed drives them to obtain increasing amounts of it. And humans generally spend more than they have, thereby creating huge debts that undermine the stability of the financial system. As early as 33 ce, Emperor Tiberius of Rome had to inject public funds into the financial system to prevent it from collapsing. 2  Euphoria and excessive optimism, which often accompany financial bubbles, are usually followed by fear and panic when crisis arrives. Generally, people claim to not know how a particular crisis happened or that they could not see it coming. The  Asian Financial Crisis  in 1997 was a precursor to the financial crisis of 2008–2009. It started in Indonesia and spread to Malaysia, South Korea, other parts of Asia, and the rest of the world. Once-prosperous economies sunk into deep recession, with stock markets crashing and capital flowing out of the various countries at unprecedented rates. The Asian crisis was largely caused by “hasty and imprudent financial liberalization, almost always under foreign pressure, allowing free international flows of short-term capital without adequate attention to the potentially potent downside of such globalization.” 3

An integral component of the struggle against terrorism was the restoration of domestic and global confidence in America’s economic system in general and its financial system in particular. President George W. Bush launched a war against terrorism. To accomplish this, the U.S. defense budget was rapidly increased, a department of Homeland Security was created, and two wars, one in Afghanistan and the other in Iraq, were launched. Furthermore, part of the new security strategy was a comprehensive globalization agenda, in which American companies operating in foreign countries would be free from restraints imposed by those countries. 4  This meant increasing government debt and encouraging consumers to spend even more to strengthen both the economy and national security. With easy access to capital created by economic globalization, consumers and the U.S. government relied on other people’s money. In addition to concentrating on fighting a perpetual war against nonstate actors, an atmosphere was created in which questioning was discouraged and taking excessive financial risks and getting rich quickly were lauded. From John C. Bogle’s perspective, at the root of the problem was a societal change. America valued form over substance, prestige over virtue, money over achievement, charisma over character, and the ephemeral over the enduring. 5  While it is almost impossible to disentangle the causes of the global financial crisis, we will concentrate on those that are most often discussed. They include (1) deregulation of financial markets; (2) sophisticated financial innovations linked to rapid changes in computer technologies; (3) excessive executive compensation; (4) low interest rates; (5) subprime loans, especially for mortgages; and (6) speculation in general, with an emphasis on speculation in housing.

7.1.1: Deregulation of Financial Markets

Just as the current financial crisis has engendered demands for reforms, the Great Depression of the 1930s led to the implementation of financial regulations to stabilize the economy and to give American savers confidence in banks. Banks were widely perceived as boring but safe. Although interest rates were low, inflation was also low. Furthermore, deposits were protected by the  Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) . An outgrowth of the Great Depression, rising inflation, which also occurred following rapid and dramatic increases in oil prices in 1973–1974, contributed to the erosion of confidence in regulations designed during the Great Depression. Rising inflation in the United States prompted foreigners to lose confidence in the U.S. dollar as the leading currency and to seek security by purchasing gold. In response, President Richard Nixon unlinked the dollar from gold and adopted a regimen of floating interest rates. This created greater volatility in the financial system as well as increased opportunities to earn higher interest rates. 6

Significant societal changes and developments in technology combined to serve as a catalyst to propel  deregulation . Although large banks and financial institutions initiated efforts to eliminate or modify regulations that restrained them, individuals were also more assertive in gaining control over their savings pension funds and investments in the stock market. Between 1974 and 1980, many regulations were removed. For example, in 1980, commercial banks and savings and loans institutions were permitted to determine their own interest rates on deposits and loans, thereby spurring greater competition. Many smaller banks were acquired by larger, more distant banks. The local bank was fast becoming an outdated institution. 7

Just as financial globalization drives economic globalization, the rapid growth of trade was now facilitating  global financial liberalization . Globalization in general enabled American banks to argue that they were disadvantaged in competition with British, German, Japanese, and other foreign banks that were free of restrictions faced by American banks. Moreover, American banks adopted a global outlook that freed them from limiting their operations to the United States. Many were moving their activities offshore to places such as the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, and the Bahamas. President Ronald Reagan, elected on a platform of limiting the role of government, pressured other countries to open their financial systems to American firms. Financial deregulation in the United States was now inseparable from the globalization of trade and financial services. However, impeding global competition in banking was the  Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 , which prohibited commercial banks from underwriting or marketing securities. 8  The rapid growth of capital flows across national borders and the increasing power of investment bankers eventually led to the demise of the Glass-Steagall Act in 1999.

The phenomenal proliferation of sophisticated computer technologies and an almost unquestioning faith in the wisdom of markets contributed to escalating demands for and acceptance of less regulation. In essence, federal agencies designed to regulate banking became less effective. There was a general loss of control at all levels, which led to exponential risk taking at many companies, largely hidden from public scrutiny. Violations of financial regulations went largely unpunished. 9  Simon Johnson argues that from the confluence of campaign finance, personal connections, and ideology flowed a river of deregulatory policies. These included:

1. Insistence on free movement of capital across borders

2. The repeal of Depression-era regulations separating commercial and investment banking

3. Decreased regulatory enforcement by the Securities and Exchange Commission

4. Allowing banks to measure their own riskiness

5. Failure to update regulations to keep up with the tremendous pace of financial innovations 10

7.1.2: Financial Innovations

As the global financial crisis unfolded, it was obvious that many of those in the banking and investment communities did not fully comprehend how the financial system they created functioned, or the scope and severity of the crisis. The financial wizards, the best and the brightest from leading business schools, could not really explain what was happening on Wall Street and in global financial markets. Ironically,  financial innovations , designed by brilliant computer experts to manage risk and make capital less expensive and more available, ultimately led to the global financial crisis. Financial innovations, with instantaneous global impacts due to technologies that made electronic transactions faster and less expensive, raced ahead of regulations. Complex financial products created in one financial center involved assets in another and were sold to investors in a third financial market. As we saw in  Chapter 1 , governments are increasingly challenged to operate effectively in a globalized world. Whereas governments are restrained by issues of sovereignty, global financial firms enjoy relatively greater flexibility. Furthermore, many different agencies in the United States have regulatory authority, a situation that creates confusion and ineffectiveness. 11  Among the numerous financial innovations that led to the global financial crisis were securitization and hedge funds.

Prior to the widespread use of securitization, banks, many of them local, provided loans to customers they often knew, and the banks were responsible for the risks involved in making loans. This meant that bankers gave loans only to individuals and companies they believed could repay the loans. With securitization, risks inherent in granting loans were passed from the bank giving the loans to others who had no direct interest in the customers’ ability to repay the loans. Subprime mortgages, student loans, car loans, and credit card debts were securitized.  Securitization  is a sophisticated process of financial engineering that allows global investment to be spread out and separated into multiple income streams to reduce risk. 12  It involves bundling loans into securities and selling them to investors. In 2009, an estimated $8.7 trillion of assets globally were funded by securitization. 13  This innovation made vast sums of money available to borrowers. For example, securitization increased the amount of money available to individuals purchasing homes. This led to unprecedented growth in house prices. It also resulted in high default rates and the housing crisis. As we will discuss, applicants for mortgages were not carefully examined and were encouraged to obtain subprime loans.

Another financial innovation was credit  derivatives , which were bets on the creditworthiness of a particular company, like insurance on a loan. There were two types of credit derivatives: credit default swaps and collateralized debt obligations. 14  Credit default swaps were widely used, especially by insurance companies such as the American International Group (AIG). Life insurance companies invested in credit default swaps as assets. Parties involved in a credit default swap agreed that one would pay the other if a particular borrower, a third party, could not repay its loans. Credit default swaps were used to transfer credit risks away from banks. A major problem with credit default swaps was the lack of transparency. They were also unregulated. Ultimately, credit default swaps created confusion and encouraged excessive risk taking. It was difficult to determine where the risk ended up. Designed to pass on risks, loans were packaged as securities.  Collateralized debt obligations  were linked to mortgage companies, which passed on the risk. Mortgages, instead of being held by banks and mortgage companies, were sold to investors shortly after the loans closed, and investors packaged them as securities.

Similar to securitization, hedge funds grew rapidly, accounting for more than $1.3 trillion in assets globally before the financial crisis. The name  hedge funds  implies investment funds with a particular sort of hedging strategy. Created by the Investment Company Act of 1940, hedge funds allowed wealthy investors to avoid many financial regulations, and hedge funds were early participants in financial globalization. 15  Essentially, hedge fund managers created portfolios reflecting an assessment of the performance of diverse global markets. As long as the number of participants was relatively small, hedge funds avoided great systemic risks. This changed with revolutions in computer technology that allowed split-second timing on huge volumes of trades. An integral component of the hedge fund strategy is a technique known as  arbitrage . This involves simultaneously buying at a lower price in one market and selling at a higher price in another market to make a profit on the spread between the two prices. 16

7.1.3: Executive Compensation

Excessive executive compensation is widely perceived as playing a pivotal role in creating the global financial crisis. Wall Street became a magnet for the brightest Americans who wanted to make a large amount of money very quickly. Most companies rewarded short-term performance without much regard for market fundamentals and long-term earnings. Executives were given stock options, which they could manipulate to earn more money. The more an executive could drive up his or her company’s stock price or its earnings per share, the more money he or she would get. Frank Partnoy argues that a mercenary culture developed among corporate executives. They merged with or acquired higher-growth companies and, in many cases, committed accounting fraud. 17  This fraud led to the bankruptcy of companies such as Enron, Global Crossing, and WorldCom. Many executives received long prison sentences.

7.1.4: Low Interest Rates

A fundamental cause of the global financial crisis was the easy availability of too much money globally. An oversupply of money created unprecedented levels of liquidity and historically low interest rates. As we mentioned earlier, the terrorist attacks on the United States triggered a national embrace of increased government spending as well as consumer spending. To accomplish this, the U.S. Federal Reserve, led by  Alan Greenspan , lowered interest rates to around 1 percent in late 2001. The European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan also reduced interest rates to record lows. The U.S. government encouraged Americans to purchase homes and to refinance or borrow against the value of homes they owned. As consumers and the government lived beyond their means, they were able to borrow from developing countries that were accumulating huge reserves from the phenomenal growth of global trade. Much of the surplus of money in the global system also came from declining investment in the Asian economies following the 1997 financial crisis. Rising oil prices in the Middle East, Russia, and elsewhere enabled many countries to earn more money than they could spend rationally. By the end of 2008, central banks in emerging economies held $5 trillion in reserves.18 The money supply increased rapidly in China, India, Russia, and the Persian Gulf states. Whereas it was generally assumed that global monetary policies were set by central banks in the United States, Europe, and Japan, the reality was that three-fifths of the world’s money supply growth flowed from emerging economies.19 Based on their experiences with financial problems, many developing countries decided to save for a rainy day, as it were. They believed that high oil prices or trade surpluses would not last forever. Many of these countries created sovereign wealth funds to recycle their financial surpluses. 7.1.5: Subprime Loans Another major cause of the financial crisis was the availability of subprime loans, which were directly an outgrowth of easy credit. Subprime loans generally refer to credit given to individuals who fail to meet rigorous standards usually expected by lending institutions. These individuals could not really afford their loans because of inadequate income and poor credit histories. In most cases, borrowers were not required to have a down payment. With excess liquidity globally, interest rates remained low. People with weak financial histories are generally more vulnerable to being charged higher interest rates. For example, poor people pay exorbitant rates for payday loans. A basic reality of finance is that yields on loans are inversely proportional to credit quality: The stronger the borrower, the lower the yield, and vice versa.20 Driving the demand for subprime loans was the development of a culture of entitlement and a false egalitarianism that appealed to people’s egos. Home ownership was pushed by the U.S. government as an inalienable right, despite borrowers’ inability to repay loans. Fannie Mae (Federal National Mortgage Association) and Freddie Mac (Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation), both U.S. government corporations, made more money available to lenders and borrowers by purchasing loans from the lenders and selling them to investors in the secondary markets. Huge amounts of money gravitated to subprime mortgages in the United States and Europe and, ultimately, to weak borrowers globally. Given the complex interdependence that characterizes financial globalization, problems emanating from subprime loans in the United States rapidly spread around the world. Governments were largely unaware of the risks associated with new forms of financing and were unable to prevent the global financial crisis.21 As unprecedented sums of money flowed into commercial and residential real estate, housing prices escalated. For thirty years before the housing boom, the average American house appreciated at an average of 1.4 percent a year. This low return of prime loans discouraged homeowners from viewing their houses as cash machines. Home equity lines of credit were not available until recently. Things changed dramatically after 2000. Appreciation rates climbed to 7.6 percent between 2000 and 2006, and they reached 11 percent before the market crashed between 2006 and 2007. Real estate prices in California, Arizona, Nevada, Florida, and other areas grew even faster. There was a wide variety of subprime mortgages. These included adjustable-rate mortgages, balloon mortgages, piggyback loans, and interest-only loans. An adjustable-rate mortgage is a long-term loan that does not have a fixed interest rate. The interest can be changed, with low rates at the beginning and high rates at the end. It is also possible, but highly unlikely, that rates could decline. Adjustable-rate mortgages were attractive to homebuyers who moved frequently. They were less expensive, or so it seemed, than fixed-rate mortgages, which offered more protection. A variation of the adjustable-rate mortgage is a balloon mortgage. Under this arrangement, lower payments are made on a loan for five to ten years, with a final installment, or balloon payment, that is significantly larger than earlier payments. Most borrowers could not afford to pay the balloon payment. A piggyback loan allows the homeowner to take out a second mortgage that is piggybacked onto the first mortgage. This is a high-risk loan because it clearly indicates that the borrower cannot afford the down payment to purchase real estate.22 In an environment that encouraged consumption over savings, easy credit fueled the housing crisis. Interest-only loans required borrowers to pay the interest on a loan without reducing the principal balance. This enabled weak borrowers to obtain larger loans. 7.1.6: Speculation A combination of low interest rates, unprecedented liquidity, and a belief that the Internet and various computer technologies virtually guaranteed unending and ever-increasing prosperity facilitated the growth of speculative financial forces. Excessive risk taking replaced caution, which was often equated with a lack of optimism. Speculation, a deeply ingrained human characteristic, fosters the development of a herd mentality. As prices continued to rise, even the most cautious individuals get caught up in speculation. Ultimately, a speculative bubble is created. Speculative bubbles generally go through four stages: A new technology or invention changes people’s expectations and those who are well informed try to profit from it. Prices or profits continue to rise, which draws more people into the market. The boom passes into euphoria, and rational decision making is suspended. The bust is almost inevitable. Prices and profits fall, companies and individuals go bankrupt, and the economy plunges into a recession.23 Many homeowners became speculators. In addition to low-interest loans and financial innovations in the housing market, political pressures to reduce taxes, including real estate taxes, contributed to the housing boom. Congress passed the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997, which, among other things, exempted profits realized from the sale of a home if the home was owned and used as a principal residence for two of the past five years before it was sold. This new provision enabled homeowners to exclude up to $500,000 for couples and $250,000 for singles from capital gains tax. In many cases, removal of the capital gains tax encouraged home buyers to engage in a form of speculation known as flipping. The buyer would own the house for a short period with the sole intention of selling it very quickly for a higher price, thereby gaining a significant profit without much effort and by using very little of his or her own money as an investment. When the stock market crashed in 2000, real estate became more attractive to investors. Because of the huge amounts of money that went into real estate globally and the preponderance of subprime loans and excessive risk taken in home mortgages, the housing crisis was at the epicenter of the global financial crisis.

7.2: The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis 7.2 Review the impact of the global financial crisis on different world economies, business, employment, and global power shifts Housing prices crashed; foreclosures became commonplace; unemployment reached 10 percent in the United States and higher levels in Europe and elsewhere; manufacturing declined sharply, especially in the automotive industry; students were faced with higher costs as colleges suffered financial losses; finding jobs after college became more challenging; and a global recession created widespread hardships. On the other hand, many developing countries that took a prudent approach to finance and saved money were not as badly damaged. In fact, countries that did not HOUSING WAS AT THE EPICENTER OF THE FINANCIAL CRISIS. Falling house prices directly affect government revenues, including spending for education. fully embrace financial liberalization were less affected than those that gave in to American pressure to fully engage in financial globalization. We also saw a global power shift, with the United States losing ground to China, India, Brazil, and other developing countries. 7.2.1: Foreclosures Plunging real estate prices affected virtually all areas of the economy. People could no longer afford to purchase homes, which meant that homebuilders were forced to abandon construction projects. Think of all the products that are used in building and furnishing a home; all of the industries that produced these products generally experienced declining sales. Because houses became primary sources of wealth or perceptions of wealth, falling real estate prices made homeowners feel less economically secure. In a vicious circle, the economic recession, fueled by declining real estate markets, further eroded demand for real estate. But mortgages must be repaid, or the consequences can be severe. Despite decreasing home values, homeowners must continue to pay real estate taxes and spend money on maintenance. Many homes were bought at prices much higher than their actual worth just two or three years later. Rising levels of unemployment also pushed homeowners with strong credit into foreclosure. One in forty-five U.S. households, or 3 million, received a foreclosure filing, and banks repossessed 1 million homes in 2010.24 The mortgage crisis inevitably spread to financial institutions, causing reputable Wall Street firms such as Lehman Brothers to collapse overnight. Because of Lehman’s pivotal role in finance, its demise in September 2008 is generally perceived as the most tangible evidence of the financial crisis on Wall Street. Iceland, which had a very successful banking system, saw its economy and currency collapse along with the banking system. Ireland, widely regarded as the Celtic Tiger for its rapid economic growth, experienced a deep recession. American consumers, the backbone of the United States and, to some extent, the global economy, had exhausted their resources and had a savings rate that was close to zero. 7.2.2: Decline in Manufacturing and Trade Manufacturing, already in decline, fell dramatically. This especially was the case in the automotive industry, with General Motors and Chrysler declaring bankruptcy after closing many factories and dealerships, despite unprecedented financial support from the U.S. government. Industrial production was down by 12 percent in Europe, 11 percent in the United States, and 43 percent in Taiwan. Tightening credit and consumer fear ultimately created a downward spiral that significantly diminished global trade. Germany saw its exports drop by 20 percent and China’s exports fell by more than 25 percent. Both economies rebounded, with China surpassing Japan to become the world’s second-largest economy and Germany experiencing the highest economic growth rate in Europe. 7.2.3: High Youth Unemployment Unprecedented high youth unemployment is one of the most significant global challenges, with far-reaching implications. An estimated 290 million young people are neither working nor studying. Many recent college graduates globally are unemployed or underemployed. In 2013, less than half of China’s college graduates found jobs. Japan’s financial crisis in the early 1990s caused high levels of unemployment among the young and has created a permanent class of unemployed youths, known as hikikomori, who live with their parents and have essentially withdrawn from society. In Europe and America, many unemployed and underemployed youths are living with their parents or have become homeless. This problem is most severe in South Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, where roughly half of the world’s young people live. The implications of high youth unemployment are profound. It undermines the confidence of a large part of society in future progress and upward mobility, thereby creating a sense of alienation and hopelessness. It weakens the foundations of the intergenerational contract, under which children are expected to take care of aging parents, that is prevalent in developing countries. As Chapter 9 shows, many poor people pass on poverty to future generations, thereby expanding and reinforcing inequality. Youth unemployment contributes to popular uprisings, instability, and violence. Joblessness fuels global protests. Violent crimes have risen significantly in countries with high unemployment such as Egypt, Spain, South Africa, Italy, and Portugal. Youth unemployment rates are as high as 59 percent in Greece and 56 percent in Spain. The global financial crisis and its aftermath played a pivotal role in creating high youth unemployment. Economic recessions usually drive up youth unemployment because young people lack job security compared to older workers. Many lack skills required for available jobs. For example, China quadrupled college enrollment in the past decade. But China’s economy is based largely on manufacturing, which produces many blue-collar jobs. As in many developing societies, most college graduates are not trained for or interested in these jobs. Whereas only 4 percent of Chinese with just basic education are unemployed, an estimated 16 percent of college-educated Chinese between the ages of 21 and 25 are unemployed.25 The financial crisis and recession brought into sharper focus other underlying causes of high youth unemployment. These include (1) inflexible labor regulations that make it difficult for young people to enter the job market, (2) high minimum wages, (3) high taxes on hiring, and (4) the lack of apprenticeship programs that combine high school education with on-the-job training. These problems need to be addressed to reduce high unemployment. Governments can play a more active role in finding jobs for young people. Many young people are solving the problem by migrating to countries such as Germany and Australia that offer more economic opportunities. 7.2.4: Global Power Shift Another major impact of the global financial crisis is a global power shift. Although most countries were negatively affected by the financial crisis and global recession, some emerged stronger than others. Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, also known as the BRICS countries, enhanced their power vis-à-vis the United States, Western Europe, and Japan. Within the European Union, Germany emerged with the strongest financial and economic system and greater political and economic power. In sharp contrast to the policies adopted by the U.S. Federal Reserve under Chairman Alan Greenspan, the Reserve Bank of India, led by Yaga Venugobal Reddy, rejected many financial innovations and limited the participation of foreign investors in India’s financial system. Instead of believing that markets are self-regulating, as many Americans do, the Indian government favored regulations and was quick to recognize financial bubbles. Reddy restricted bank lending to real estate developers, increased the amount of money banks had to set aside as reserves, and blocked the use of some derivatives. This conservative approach enabled India to largely avoid the global financial crisis.26 Given America’s role in pressuring the world to adopt a financial system that failed, BRICS countries perceive the financial crisis as a serious economic and political setback for the United States and free-market capitalism. All of these countries, sensing America’s vulnerabilities, are becoming more politically and financially assertive. From their perspective, America is declining. It has escalating budget deficits, it is extremely dependent on foreign creditors such as China, and the dollar’s status as the main global reserve currency has eroded. As we saw in Chapter 2, America’s economic power following World War II enabled it to shape global financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. However, the BRICS countries are now challenging America’s leadership. Economic power has shifted from the G-7 to the G-20, the group composed of countries with the largest economies, many of them in the developing world. However, growth in emerging economies has slowed sharply while the old economies of the United States, Europe, and Japan have grown. Power is clearly shifting back. In 2014, the BRICS created the Development Bank, funded with $100 billion, as an alternative to the World Bank and the IMF. The bank, which will provide loans to developing countries, will be headquartered in China (the major donor) and India for the first five years, followed by Russia and Brazil. Other countries can become members.

7.3: Global Responses to the Financial Crisis

1. 7.3 Evaluate the concerns that made different countries respond in different ways to the financial crisis

7.3.1: America’s Response

Responses to the global financial crisis varied from country to country, with the strongest actions occurring in the United States. Being largely responsible for the crisis, the United States was not only the most severely affected but also the most shell-shocked and anxious to find solutions. In a sharp reversal of its strong commitment to economic and financial liberalization and free-market capitalism, the United States has led efforts to nationalize its financial and some aspects of its manufacturing sectors to an unprecedented degree. There was general consensus among Republicans and Democrats that a massive financial and economic  stimulus package , engineered primarily by Secretary of the Treasury  Henry Paulson , was essential not just to rescue America’s financial institutions but also to reassure Americans that their savings and investments were secure. The $475 billion  Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)  was passed by Congress to allow the U.S. Treasury to help stabilize the U.S. economy through purchasing or insuring troubled assets in five program areas: banking, credit markets, the auto industry, the American International Group (AIG), and housing. Because the financial crisis was reminiscent of the Great Depression, with its high levels of unemployment and massive withdrawals from banks, the U.S. government responded to avoid repeating the mistakes of the 1930s. Despite various protections implemented to ensure the safety of deposits, such as the FDIC, Americans withdrew $150 billion from money market funds over a two-day period in September 2008, compared with average weekly outflows of roughly $5 billion. The huge amount of money poured into credit markets and banks was designed to restore confidence in financial institutions and to expand credit. Concerned about high unemployment rates and stagnant economic growth, the U.S. Federal Reserve enacted a type of monetary stimulus known as  quantitative easing  (QE). It bought $600 billion in long-term Treasury bonds to push down long-term interest rates. 27  That depreciated the value of the dollar, thereby making American exports less expensive and raising the cost of imports. That, in turn, fueled debates about currency wars. America also responded by electing Republicans in 2010 to replace Democrats who controlled the House of Representatives. A greater emphasis was placed on reducing budget deficits at both the national and state levels. Many public service employees lost their jobs, and public sector unions were severely weakened.

7.3.2: European Responses

Although other countries also implemented stimulus packages, their concerns differed to a significant degree from those of the United States. Germany, for example, resisted American pressure to adopt a more comprehensive, coordinated global stimulus package, partly because many Germans believe that the crisis was primarily an outgrowth of American financial policies and would have to be solved domestically. Germans worry about the possibility of hyperinflation, which the country experienced in the 1920s. Germans are also more frugal than Americans and are reluctant to impose huge deficits on future generations, especially in light of Germany’s shrinking population. Europeans in general took a less frantic approach to the financial crisis because in normal times, their governments had created numerous  safety nets . European governments provide national health insurance and generous pensions, and they have implemented programs to reduce unemployment and lost wages. Because they save a greater percentage of their income, they have avoided losing their homes on such a massive scale as is the case in the United States. However, faced with mounting debts and a worsening financial crisis, many governments implemented austerity programs that cut government budget deficits and raised the minimum retirement age. These changes caused protests in France, Greece, Portugal, Britain, and elsewhere. Leaders of the “euro zone” countries, in which

THE BRICS COUNTRIES, BRAZIL, RUSSIA, INDIA, CHINA, AND SOUTH AFRICA, BENEFITED FROM THE GLOBAL POWER SHIFT CAUSED BY THE FINANCIAL CRISIS. From left, Russian president Vladimir Putin, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi, Brazilian president Delma Rousseff, Chinese president Xi Jinping, and South African president Jacob Zuma joined hands during the 2014 BRICS summit in Brazil.

the single European currency is used, struggled to create an overall policy to deal with the region’s growing debt crisis. Students in Britain protested the government’s decision to increase college tuition and fees. Similar to the United States, the government that was in power in Britain during the financial crisis (Labor), lost its majority to a coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

7.3.3: China’s Response

China’s response involved taking measures to strengthen its power vis-à-vis the United States. Unlike the United States, China regulates its financial institutions, has more than $2 trillion in reserves, and continues to have economic growth rates in excess of 7 percent, and the Chinese save more than 40 percent of their income. Despite rising unemployment and declining exports, China emerged from the financial crisis in a strong position and is taking advantage of new opportunities created by the crisis. China is using its $600 billion economic stimulus package to improve its infrastructure, to help its companies become more competitive domestically and globally, and to enhance research and development. It is also gaining greater access to resources and augmenting its relations in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and elsewhere, even as the United States is preoccupied with its financial and economic crises as well as with fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. China is also acquiring European and American companies in the automotive, textile, food, energy, machinery, electronics, and environmental protection sectors. One of the most visible acquisitions is the Hummer from General Motors.

7.3.4: Financial Regulations

In light of the general consensus among experts that deregulation and the lax enforcement of regulations in the financial sector contributed significantly to the global financial crisis, an immediate response to the crash was to try to strengthen and update regulations. The chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve,  Ben S. Bernanke , was particularly aware of the need for new regulations. As a professor at Princeton University, Bernanke focused his research on the Great Depression. The American government was now determined to avoid mistakes made during that financial and economic crisis. Efforts to enact international banking regulations began with the creation of the  Bank for International Settlements , based in Basel, Switzerland. In 1988, the banking community signed the Basel Capital Accord, which attempted to harmonize banking standards, especially those requiring banks to set aside capital to cover the level of risk they faced. However, due to the dominant influence of bankers, the Bank for International Settlements was not very focused on regulations. 28  Since 1999, there has been a greater effort to develop a stronger regulatory framework, known as Basel 2. The accord gave credit-rating agencies an explicit role in determining how much capital is enough to cover certain risks. An agreement known as Basel 3 created new international rules for banks. They raised the amount capital lenders are required to have as a cushion against unexpected financial losses to 7 percent of their capital. 29  But the failures of financial institutions in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere demonstrate that individual countries’ unwillingness or inability to supervise their financial sectors was at the heart of the problem. Consequently, domestic regulatory reforms are likely to be more effective than global regulations. Financial innovations such as derivatives and executive compensation are the primary targets for greater supervision. However, the complex nature of the global financial system and strong reservations in the United States about the government’s role in the economy will most likely diminish the effectiveness of regulations.

7.3.5: Austerity Policies

Excessive borrowing and spending by governments in Western Europe and the United States led to the implementation of austerity policies in the wake of the global financial crisis and economic recession.  Austerity  is the raising of taxes combined with severe and immediate reductions in government expenditures to bring them more in balance with income. 30  It also involves reducing wages and restructuring costly health and retirement programs to achieve savings. In the case of Greece, for example, foreign lenders, especially Germany, demanded severe cuts for Greece to obtain financing to avoid a potentially damaging default. Faced with huge budget deficits and the inability of congressional Democrats and Republicans to collaborate to reduce the national debt, the United States adopted austerity policies in the form of across-the-board spending cuts known as  sequestration .

The poor and the middle class are the most vulnerable to the negative effects of austerity because they are more dependent on government programs and have few resources in reserve to maintain their standard of living. This problem is compounded as major trading partners cut spending simultaneously. Their economies stagnate or contract and, as discussed earlier in this chapter, unemployment rises significantly, especially among young people. In many ways austerity widened the gap between rich and poor. Poverty has grown in America as the Federal Reserve and several state governments have cut unemployment benefits, nutrition subsidies for pregnant women and infants, and public housing budgets. Since health insurance is linked to employment, the more than five million Americans who lost their jobs also faced difficulties obtaining preventive medical care and ended up in hospital emergency departments with life-threatening illnesses. Suicide rates, depression, and drug and alcohol use increased. National health insurance reform that went into effect in the fall of 2013 began to address the problem of uninsured Americans.

Greece has suffered most from austerity policies. Under the terms of a loan agreement with the IMF, the European Commission, and the European Central Bank, Greece laid off roughly thirty-five thousand doctors, nurses, and other health care workers. It also reduced health care benefits for the unemployed to a maximum of one year. The result has been a health care catastrophe. People delay seeking medical treatment for serious diseases such as cancer until it is too late. Infant mortality rose by 40 percent, children are malnourished, and malaria is now in Greece for the first time since 1970 because funding for mosquito-spraying programs was eliminated. 31

Case Study Ireland: The Decline of the Celtic Tiger

Ireland, the second-richest country in Europe before the global financial and economic crisis, now has one of Europe’s weakest economies. What makes the Irish case different and of special interest is that after such a long history of hardship and poverty, Ireland was radically transformed into a highly successful country, becoming the Celtic Tiger in the 1990s, only to see prosperity decline precipitously by 2007. Massive public debt, due largely to the banking crisis, forced Ireland to turn to the European Union and the IMF for financial assistance. Unemployment rose to 14 percent, and consumer spending and incomes fell. Abandoned housing developments proliferated, homelessness increased, and younger Irish emigrated to the United States, Canada, Australia, and elsewhere to find employment.

Ireland endured severe economic problems in the 1980s. Emigration, an integral part of the Irish experience for more than 150 years, rose sharply, draining the country of many talented individuals. High tax rates discouraged foreign investment, and high inflation and high interest rates made it difficult for the economy to recover. Ireland’s entry into the European Union and its adoption of the euro marked a major step toward Ireland’s integration in the global economy. Ireland gained access to low interest rates, and the Anglo Irish Bank and other financial institutions borrowed heavily in the euro interbank market to finance property loans. Ireland’s rapid economic growth was aided by policies implemented by the government led by Charles Haughey. Those included cuts in public spending to reduce the budget deficit, a three-year freeze on wages, and lowering inflation and interest rates. Ireland attracted many companies, especially high-tech industries like Intel, that wanted to gain entry in the European Union before the removal of trade barriers among member countries in 1992. Ireland in many ways resembled South Korea, Taiwan, and other Asian Tigers. It offered a relatively low-wage workforce, highly educated individuals, low tax rates, and concessions to companies that invested. It also had the advantage of being an English-speaking country with a global diaspora. Ireland’s economic prosperity was closely linked to America’s. Many in the Irish diaspora, especially in the United States, returned to Ireland during the boom in the 1990s, bringing with them skills and capital. Ireland also became a magnet for immigrants from Eastern Europe and elsewhere, many of whom worked in the booming construction industry and in the service sector. Between 1993 and 2000, average GDP growth rates were around 10 percent, similar to rates in China and other Asian countries. Ireland became a Celtic Tiger during this period. But a financial bubble was also developing. Wages and prices rose faster than those in Ireland’s trading partners, which diminished Ireland’s competitiveness. Imports became less expensive, and government deficits grew, as was the case in the United States. At the same time, the cost of living escalated. Ireland had become Europe’s second-richest country overnight. Ireland, like the United States, turned to investing in real estate following the dot-com bust. The general belief among many Irish was that real estate was a safe investment that would continue to appreciate. Low interest rates, the lack of stringent government regulations, and government corruption fueled a construction boom. Small down payments enabled financially vulnerable individuals to purchase homes. Buyers routinely secured loans worth more than 90 percent of the home’s value, which pushed them into negative equity when property values declined. Speculation was common. People wanting to make money quickly invested in second homes and commercial property. The number of people employed in construction reached 272,000 in 2007, accounting for one eighth of the workforce. When employment in areas related to housing is considered, such as real estate agencies, mortgage brokers, and banks, the housing sector employed a fifth of Ireland’s population. Housing problems were the main cause of the decline of the Celtic Tiger. Ireland experienced a precipitous drop in housing prices. In an effort to solve its economic problems, Ireland borrowed money, primarily to bail out banks. Germany, the leading EU economy and the biggest creditor, opposed lowering interest rates on Ireland’s debt, favoring instead fiscal discipline. But austerity programs and high unemployment rates lessen the likelihood that consumers will be able to reinvigorate the economy. By keeping corporate taxes low, Ireland is attracting foreign investment as the global economy improves. Ireland’s young and talented workforce will continue to be a major asset that will assist in the country’s economic recovery.

Summary

The global financial crisis ushered in the most severe global recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Given the central role played by finances in globalization, the crisis has serious implications for virtually all global issues and for globalization itself. Although this chapter argued that financial crises seem to be an integral component of capitalism, human beings are ultimately responsible for creating them. Revolutions in computer and telecommunications technologies fostered the development of complex financial engineering that radically altered the global financial system. An emphasis on government deregulation, the growth of a culture that encouraged quick profits and excessive executive compensation, and the availability of low interest rates played significant roles in creating the financial crisis. But a crisis presents both dangers and opportunities. While the United States has suffered severe setbacks, China has gained, thereby shifting global power. The financial crisis has significantly reduced global trade and caused unprecedented home foreclosures and high levels of unemployment, especially among young people. The global response has centered around regulating some of the financial innovations, paying greater attention to risk management, monitoring executive compensation, and adopting austerity policies. Overall, the financial crisis has diminished support for financial liberalization and strengthened the role of governments around the world in economic affairs.

10.1: The Globalization of Environmental Problems 10.1 Recall the intimate connection between human activity and its adverse effects on the environment Ancient civilizations confronted some of the environmental challenges that are familiar to modern societies. For example, almost 3,700 years ago, Sumerian cities in the southern part of Mesopotamia (now modern Iraq) prospered because high levels of agricultural productivity supported permanent human resettlements. But these agricultural surpluses that helped develop the cradle of civilization came at a cost: extensive irrigation, which ultimately resulted in fields that were saline and waterlogged. Environmental decay forced people to abandon the Sumerian cities. Air pollution from burning coal in medieval England was so bad that by 1661, the naturalist John Evelyn compared London with the “Court of Vulcan or the Suburbs of Hell.”2 Despite obvious environmental problems, environmental movements did not germinate until 1865, when a private group called the Commons, Footpaths, and Spaces Preservation Society was founded in Britain. By the late 1890s and the turn of the century, groups in the United States that were committed to wilderness preservation and resource conservation emerged and were strongly supported by President Theodore Roosevelt.3 Globalizing environmental issues is always a gradual, controversial, and complex process. In the past, most attempts to diminish environmental damage were primarily at the local and national levels. Before World War II, concerns about endangered wildlife and growing threats of ocean oil pollution led to bilateral and limited international environmental agreements. The globalization of environmental issues reflects the growth of global interdependence after World War II and the emergence of the United States as a superpower. The global environmental movement emerged principally in Western Europe, the United States, and Canada. A catalyst for growing concerns about how we are destroying our environment, and ultimately ourselves, was the publication of Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring in 1962. The book focused on how the widespread use of pesticides was devastating birds and other wildlife. Furthermore, space exploration reinforced perceptions of the oneness of the Earth as well as its fragility. Exploding population growth and rapid industrialization, often with reckless disregard for environmental ramifications, focused more attention on resource scarcity, deforestation, and deteriorating health standards. Nuclear weapons proliferation, especially by the United States and the Soviet Union, also helped reinforce our vulnerability to the environmental threats that result from our activities. Images of “spaceship Earth” facilitated a deeper understanding of global interdependence of environmental issues by illustrating that national boundaries are artificial and national issues are ultimately global issues. Like our example of the Boston Common, the world was increasingly being perceived as a global common. Oil pollution, because of its immediate and drastic impact on coastal areas, clearly showed the dangers of environmental disasters. When the oil tanker Torrey Canyon was wrecked on the coast of England and spilled about 875,000 barrels of crude oil in 1967, public opinion worldwide generated support for globalizing environmental issues. Globalization of the economy further reinforced environmental globalization by stimulating trade in endangered species, tropical hardwoods, and various metals. The production and distribution of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) around the world for use as a propellant in spray cans, as a refrigerant, and as cleaning solvents caused significant damage to the protective ozone layer in the Earth’s upper atmosphere.4 International agreements were made in response to specific environmental problems. The earliest ones concentrated on protecting wildlife in Africa and in the Western Hemisphere, Pacific fur seals, and whaling. Ocean oil pollution and the proliferation of nuclear weapons became major priorities of the environmental movement after 1945. The Biosphere Conference, held in Paris in 1968, focused on how human activities—such as air and water pollution, deforestation, the drainage of wetlands, and overgrazing—affected the biosphere. The UN Conference on the Human Environment (also known as Stockholm Conference), held in Stockholm in 1972, is often viewed as the beginning of serious global cooperation on the environment. Developed countries in particular acknowledged that multilateral efforts were essential to adequately address transboundary environmental problems.5 The Stockholm Conference created the UN Environmental Program (UNEP), an institutional framework to address the issues discussed in the conference. The 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (also known as the Rio Summit or the Earth Summit) and the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (also known as the Johannesburg Action Plan) emphasized the priorities of developing countries. States may join international agreements as a way of pressuring neighboring states into doing the same, thereby enhancing chances of widespread cooperation to protect the environment. Domestic political and economic considerations also play a role. Governments often respond to pressure from environmental activists. Industries that must comply with environmental laws in their home countries often support international agreements to prevent companies in other countries from gaining a competitive advantage.6 Even though states recognize the need to cooperate, political and economic considerations often weaken the effectiveness of environmental agreements. These include disagreements between rich and poor countries about the economic implications of environmental agreements and efforts by economic interests and governments to avoid compliance.7 The implementation of and compliance with environmental agreements are influenced by at least four factors.8 First is the nature of the substances or activities that are regulated. At the heart of many environmental debates is how international agreements will affect economic activities and the costs and benefits of complying with the agreements. Second is the characteristics of the agreement. This relates to the process of reaching the agreement. Who initiates the treaty? What is required of the countries that sign it? Is the agreement vague, or does it spell out clearly the conditions for compliance? Third is the global environment. How major countries, international organizations—such as the World Bank, the United Nations, the World Trade Organization (WTO), and environmental NGOs—view the agreement will impact its implementation. Fourth are domestic factors. Ultimately, the effectiveness of an environmental agreement depends on the nature of the society in which it is being implemented. 10.1.1: Nongovernmental Organizations and the Environment Older environmental groups, such as the National Wildlife Federation and the National Audubon Society, were joined by numerous other environmental organizations, many having originated on college and university campuses in the 1960s and 1970s. The Environmental Defense Fund, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Greenpeace, Environmental Action, and Friends of the Earth were among them. Scientific groups, such as the Union of Concerned Scientists and Physicians for Social Responsibility, strengthened and broadened the environmental movement. While most environmental groups operate on a local or national level and concentrate on specific problems facing particular communities, many of them have a global reach. For example, many NGOs participate in global conferences on behalf of small, ecologically vulnerable Pacific islands. There are also NGOs—such as the Global Climate Coalition and the Alliance for Responsible CFC Policy—that represent industries and attempt to limit the effectiveness of other environmental organizations. 10.1.2: Women and the Environment The connection between women and environmental issues is acknowledged by UNEP, which has held conferences on women and the environment and established a committee of senior women advisers on sustainable development. The general emphasis on the gendered nature of environmental issues arises from the leading roles women have in environmental NGOs and numerous grassroots movements worldwide. Women in Kenya organized the Green Belt Movement to prevent further deforestation and to restore the land through reforestation. Wangari Maathai, an environmentalist involved in the planting of more than 30 million trees, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work. Women’s participation in environmental NGOs and at the grassroots level has resulted in three main arguments about the connection between women and the environment: (1) women are disproportionately disadvantaged by environmental problems, (2) gender bias is an impediment to achieving sustainable development, and (3) women’s participation is vital to efforts to achieve sustainable development.9 10.1.3: Indigenous Peoples and the Environment Global warming is melting sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, and the ice cap in Greenland is receding. It is estimated that the Arctic contains 90 billion barrels of oil and 12 trillion cubic feet of gas. That can be exploited because of thinning ice. For the Inuit and other indigenous peoples, who comprise the vast majority of that area’s population, climate change has both positive and negative consequences. Income from natural resources could make them wealthy. The loss of pack ice extends shipping, and fish stocks are increasing. On the other hand, rising sea levels are forcing many of them to leave their homes, and melting permafrost is damaging roads and runways. Furthermore, economic gains will be accompanied by the loss of some aspects of their culture. Because the lives of indigenous peoples are intertwined with the natural environment, development in general has far-reaching consequences for them. Indigenous populations have declined sharply, and most of their land has been confiscated. Ironically, some environmentalists are so focused on protecting the animals of the forest that they contribute to the destruction of the people who have lived there for thousands of years. For example, when the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest in the Great Lakes region of East Africa was made into a national park to protect its mountain gorillas, an estimated four thousand indigenous people were expelled. Like many indigenous people throughout the world, they are poor, alcohol abuse is prevalent, and life expectancy is low. They are losing their language, religion, and culture. The global ban on killing baby seals and selling their fur, strongly supported by Greenpeace, severely damaged the livelihood and culture of indigenous people in Greenland. The precipitous decline in global demands for seal fur is unlikely to be reversed. Because of the economic hardship created by the ban, indigenous people can no longer afford to purchase equipment and supplies essential for hunting seals for their own use. Efforts by the Inuit to persuade the European Union to lift the ban have been unsuccessful. Deforestation in the Amazon has long been a major global issue for environmentalists and others concerned about indigenous people. Brazil’s rapid agricultural growth, in particular, and development, in general, came at an extremely high cost to the inhabitants of the Amazon. Indigenous people in Bolivia protested the construction of a Brazilian-funded road through a rainforest reserve because of the deforestation and illegal settlement it would bring. After the protesters’ two-month march from their Amazon lowlands home to Bolivia’s capital, Bolivian president Evo Morales, the country’s first indigenous president, canceled plans for the road. Global efforts to diminish carbon emissions through forest preservation are helping indigenous peoples. Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) programs, which pay people to preserve forests, could potentially improve the lives of indigenous peoples.10 Although Britain, the colonial power, recognized that Canada’s indigenous peoples had rights to their lands in 1763, the Canadian government increasingly ignored such rights and promoted the development of natural resources without the approval of Native Americans. However, in 2014, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled that the Tsilhot’in First Nation owned roughly 650 square miles of land in British Columbia and invalidated logging rights acquired by a Canadian company. 10.1.4: Strategies Used by Nongovernmental Organizations At the global level, NGOs must spend considerable resources to develop regimes; that is, the rules, codes of conduct, principles, and norms necessary to govern the behavior of both states and nonstate actors. Environmental NGOs that operate primarily on the global level encounter three major impediments. First, there is no common authority or power that can effectively force members of the global community to comply with rules. Second, the decentralized nature of international bureaucracies and their dependence on states make it difficult for NGOs to get international rules implemented. Third, global agreements and organizations are primarily produced by governments. Environmental NGOs are required in many cases to work through those governments to influence agreements and global institutions. There are several major strategies that environmental NGOs use to accomplish their objectives: Get media coverage and publicity for their issues. Generating domestic and global public awareness and

1. Get media coverage and publicity for their issues. Generating domestic and global public awareness and support is crucial to NGOs’ efforts to persuade policymakers to take action.

2. Share information among groups to educate each other on the issues, coordinate strategies and activities, and provide each other with needed support.

3. Lobby government officials and intergovernmental organizations, such as the World Bank.

4. Acquire and manage property to protect the environment.

5. Pressure companies to protect the environment.

10.2: Biodiversity 10.2 Relate the benefits of biodiversity to the need for its conservation Biodiversity is defined as the number and the variety of living organisms on Earth. It includes genetic diversity, species diversity, and ecosystem diversity. Crucial to biodiversity is the interdependence of species and ecosystems and how their complex relationships affect the environment. Biodiversity is concentrated in the forests of developing countries, especially Brazil, China, Colombia, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Zaire, Peru, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Malaysia. Australia is the only developed country that has a large variety of species. The United States, Canada, and Europe are relatively poor in biodiversity. Biodiversity is at the heart of environmental globalization because it affects so many groups and individuals, including those interested in deforestation, agriculture, biotechnology, anthropology, pharmaceuticals, sustainable development, global trade, and ethics. Biodiversity provides many benefits. Ecosystem functions—such as carbon exchange, watershed flows of surface and ground water, the protection and fertility of soils, and the regulation of surface temperatures and local climates—are influenced by biodiversity. Diversity lessens the vulnerability of agricultural crops to diseases and pests. This is increasingly important for large-scale, specialized agriculture. Through crossbreeding of diverse genetic stock, crops become more resistant to disease and pests. Crops depend on insects. Since 2006, American honey bees that used to pollinate hundreds of crops have been dying in record numbers, a development often referred to as colony collapse disorder. Europe, facing similar problems, banned the use of pesticides, which were believed to be killing bees. Biodiversity is especially important for medicinal and pharmaceutical product development. Preserving biodiversity is regarded as an ethical obligation. The basis of the ethical argument is that biodiversity is an intrinsic value and people should avoid destroying other species. The destruction of rain forests in Brazil, for example, directly affects biodiversity, especially since Brazil alone contains almost 25 percent of the world’s plant species. Perhaps the most widespread causes of damage to biodiversity are pollution and global environmental change. Because the economic benefits derived from biodiversity, especially involving pharmaceuticals, are significant and potential benefits are even greater, governments are imposing strict controls on medicinal plants. In 2002, the Group of Allied Mega-Biodiverse Nations was created to certify the legal possession of biological material and to negotiate terms to transfer it. Developed countries attempted to reduce the destruction of the world’s biodiversity by calling for the establishment of an international regime. Negotiations for such a regime, known as the Convention on Biological Diversity, began in 1991. Whereas the developed countries viewed genetic resources as belonging to all, as common heritage, developing countries saw these resources as national resources. The rich countries of the North wanted unimpeded access to these resources, particularly for their pharmaceutical and agricultural resources. The poor countries of the South wanted to control genetic resources to derive economic benefits from them. The Convention on Biological Diversity provides for (1) national identification and monitoring of biological diversity, (2) the development of national strategies and programs for conserving biological diversity, (3) environmental assessment procedures to take into account the effects of projects on biological diversity, (4) sharing of research findings in a fair and equitable way, (5) the provision of technology for the conservation and use of genetic resources by the industrial countries, and (6) the facilitation of participation in biotechnology research by countries that provide genetic resources. The UN Climate Conference in Cancun, Mexico, in 2010 contributed to the preservation of biodiversity by providing monetary rewards for countries to preserve their forests under a program known as Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD).11 10.2.1: Endangered Species and Wildlife Protection Many governments, environmental NGOs, and most Americans oppose whale hunting and eating whales—especially after Greenpeace’s successful campaign called Save the Whales. In Japan, however, eating whales is viewed as part of the national culture, especially by older Japanese who survived on whale meat provided by the government after World War II. Whales have received widespread attention partly because of the popularity of Moby-Dick, a book by Herman Melville about the whaling industry in the first half of the nineteenth century. At that time, Americans sailed the Pacific for up to four years at a time searching for whales. They returned to America with great wealth, since whales provided oil for lubricating industrial machinery and for making soap and margarine, baleen for manufacturing corsets and umbrellas, and food. Whaling was also important for making glycerin, which was an essential component in the nitroglycerin that was used in manufacturing dynamite. Military competition among European countries and the outbreak of World War I created a great demand for glycerin. This, in turn, led to an expansion and intensification of whaling. The development of the harpoon cannon between 1864 and 1868 and the invention of factory ships that could process whales at sea hastened the depletion of whales.12 One of the earliest attempts by the international community to prevent the decline and extinction of whales, especially the widely hunted blue whale, came in 1935 when the League of Nations tried to regulate their exploitation. By 1946, the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, called for by nations involved in the whaling industry, established the International Whaling Commission (IWC) to protect the price of whale oil. For the most part, whales remained unprotected until 1964, when the IWC specifically advocated for the preservation of humpback whales. Blue whales were designated as a protected species a year later. The 1975 Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) effectively prohibited trade in whale products. By 1982, the IWC had agreed to a moratorium on whaling, except whaling done by the Inuit of Alaska and Canada, whose diet and culture depended on hunting whales. An exception was also made for catching whales for scientific purposes, a provision that provides a loophole for Japan to continue harvesting a limited number of whales for consumption. In 1986, the moratorium came into effect, and in 1994, the IWC created a whaling sanctuary in the Southern Atlantic and Antarctica.13 However, in 2006, Japan was able to secure a majority on the IWC, a development that facilitated Japan’s resumption of commercial whaling. Japan escalated its whaling activities. However, in 2011, Japan’s annual whale hunt in the Antarctic Ocean was terminated early when the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an environmental group, prevented the Japanese from killing whales. Another major threat to whales that is receiving more attention is ships and boats. Many whales are killed or wounded in collisions with oceangoing vessels. Dolphins, considered an endangered species, especially by the United States, are widely regarded as having human-like qualities. Environmental campaigns, movies and other media, and aquariums have strengthened the perception of dolphins as friendly creatures that must be protected. Threats to dolphins were a by-product of fishing with purse seine nets for tuna that schooled beneath the dolphins. Many dolphins drowned or were severely injured in the nets. Global environmental NGOs pressured consumers to boycott tuna that was caught in such nets. Because the United States is the world’s largest market for tuna, environmentalists in America used the power of consumers to force tuna producers to adopt dolphin-safe measures for catching tuna. The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission (IATTC), under American leadership, adopted regulations to prevent the endangerment of dolphins, a development that has helped protect dolphins globally.14 Sea turtles are also listed as an endangered or threatened species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. While overfishing of turtles and harvesting their eggs continue to be serious concerns, one major threat to turtles comes from shrimp trawlers. Turtles caught in shrimp nets usually drown. To eliminate this problem, the U.S. government required shrimp trawlers to use turtle extruder devices (TEDs) on their nets. Essentially, these devices are trap doors through which turtles can escape if caught in the net. Apart from arguing that TEDs were a financial burden and that they were losing almost half of the shrimp they caught, shrimp fishers pointed out that foreign fleets did not face similar restrictions, a fact that put U.S. shrimpers at a competitive disadvantage. American environmentalists ultimately succeeded in getting foreign shrimpers to comply with U.S. laws protecting turtles by agreeing with domestic shrimpers that all shrimpers should play by the same rules to ensure fair competition. Another threat to endangered turtles—especially the leatherback turtle, which can weigh up to 1,400 pounds and grow to a length of 7 feet—comes from long-line fishing. Long-line fishing involves a main line that can be as long as thirty miles. The line has branch lines that are roughly two hundred feet apart and are equipped with baited hooks. Some turtles swallow the hooks or become entangled in the lines. Sharks play a crucial role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem. Coral reefs that are inhabited by sharks have more fish and a wider variety of them. Furthermore, reefs with greater biodiversity, including sharks, tend to recover faster from storms and bleaching. When shark numbers are reduced, midsized predators they eat multiply faster and reduce the number of smaller prey like parrotfish. Since parrotfish limit the proliferation of seaweed by eating it, they help to keep coral reefs healthy, and coral reefs protect marine life and the seashore. It is estimated that globally between 100 million and 275 million sharks are killed each year, many of them for their fins. Shark fin soup is considered a delicacy, especially in China. Shark numbers are declining by roughly 6 percent a year, and some species are facing extinction. Global concerns about the preservation of sharks influenced delegates at the CITES meeting in Bangkok in 2013 to add five species of sharks to the endangered species list.15 The African elephant, hunted mostly for ivory tusks for export, is also an endangered species, a designation that drew opposition from some countries, such as Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, South African Zambia, and Zimbabwe. These countries had carefully managed their elephant herds and believed that restrictions on ivory exports would unfairly penalize them economically. Compared with African states that depleted their elephant herds, Botswana and the other countries had too many elephants. Conflicts in Africa, combined with demand for ivory in China and elsewhere, influence poachers to slaughter many elephants in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, and other African countries. In a major shift, the Chinese government destroyed about six tons of ivory to discourage poaching of elephants. Other animals in peril are gorillas, chimpanzees, and rhinoceros. Roughly 80 percent of the world’s gorillas and most of its chimpanzees inhabit Gabon and the Republic of Congo. These great apes, our closest relatives, face severe threats from hunting, deforestation, and infectious diseases. The ongoing violence and endemic poverty in Congo continue to contribute to their destruction. In China, Southeast Asia, and elsewhere, rhinoceros horns are believed to have medicinal and aphrodisiac qualities, a belief that makes them more valuable than gold. Consequently, many rhinos are killed illegally for their horns.16 Worldwide, rare and exotic animals are threatened with extinction because of escalating exotic animal trade in them, aided by the Internet and a global network of traffickers.

10.3: Deforestation 10.3 Identify the causes of deforestation and global efforts to stop it One of the principal threats to biodiversity is the accelerating rate of global deforestation. The Amazon rainforest is estimated to be disappearing at the rate of 3 million acres a year. The Congo Basin—comprised of Cameroon, Gabon, the Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo (former Zaire), and Equatorial Guinea, which had the second largest tropical forests in the world—is losing about 8.9 million acres a year to deforestation. Similarly, Russia, which has roughly 22 percent of the world’s forests, is depleting its natural forests. Deforestation is also a major concern in many parts of Asia, especially in light of China’s rapid economic growth and its demand for forest products.17 Forests are essential in biodiversity and to preserve the quality of life, and life itself, for human beings. Forests, especially large rain forests such as the Amazon, have an impact on the global climate. Air quality, water supplies, climate stability, agricultural productivity, and countless human communities are affected by deforestation. Deforestation also reduces the energy produced by hydroelectric plants by diminishing rainfall. It is widely believed that protecting existing forests and planting more trees are essential to diminishing some environmental problems, such as global warming and climate change, because forests soak up between 10 and 20 percent of the heat-trapping carbon dioxide released by industrial smokestacks and automobiles. 10.3.1: Causes of Deforestation The most pervasive cause of deforestation is the combination of population pressures and poverty. Throughout most of the world, poor people rely on forests for fuel, shelter, agricultural land, and grazing for their animals. The relationship between population pressure, poverty, and deforestation is demonstrated by developments in Chiapas, the poorest state in Mexico. Destitute villagers in hundreds of communities in Chiapas cut down trees and burn the undergrowth to create fields for cultivation and grazing cattle. Soon after, the thin layer of topsoil is planted with corn, and the land is left to return to pasture, which is often overgrazed. The exposed soil becomes vulnerable to erosion during heavy tropical rains. Somalia, on the Horn of Africa, provides another example of how poverty accelerates deforestation. Somalia, which lacks an effective central governmental authority to protect the environment, exports tons of charcoal to Middle Eastern countries. The unmanaged logging of Somalian acacia groves and forests that produces the valuable charcoal has resulted in deforestation. Deforestation is also caused by the deliberate setting of fires by small farmers, commercial farmers, cattle ranchers, logging companies, and governments. Selective logging involves cutting down large and particular types of trees in an effort to manage exploitation of forest resources and to promote sustainability. Selective logging contributes to forest fires because as forests are thinned out, humidity decreases, and drier conditions in the forest facilitate the spread of both natural and human-made fires. The forces of economic development play a significant role in global deforestation. Development involves building an extensive infrastructure, which includes roads, highways, electrical plants, airports, harbors, railways, large reservoirs, and dams. Another cause of deforestation is the commercial logging practices that disregard sustainable development of forest resources. The demand for tropical hardwoods, such as mahogany and teak, is contributing to deforestation in Southeast Asia, Central America, Africa, and elsewhere in the developing world. Government policies have aggressively promoted deforestation in an effort to relocate people to less crowded areas in order to diminish population pressures and encourage economic development. Brazil has used this strategy. Opening up the Amazon was viewed in Brazil as important for national economic growth as well as a way to strengthen the country’s strategic position in South America. Environmental protection was not a priority of the military governments that ruled Brazil. Consequently, between 1970 and 1974, the government implemented its Plan for National Integration. This plan included the construction of the Trans-Amazon Highway and offered incentives to agribusiness enterprises and landless peasants, especially from the northeast, to encourage them to settle in the Amazon. 10.3.2: Efforts to Prevent Deforestation In Brazil, the transition from military rule to democracy has been accompanied by government programs aimed at halting deforestation. The Brazilian government’s perception of the environment has shifted from frontier development toward environmental protection. This change is partly due to growing global awareness of the Amazon’s importance to environmental health and increased global and domestic pressures for change. It is also a result of Brazil’s emphasis on using scientific techniques to greatly improve agricultural production, thereby diminishing the need to cultivate more land. In 1989, the Brazilian government announced the development of its Nossa Natureza (Our Nature) Program to reduce the destruction of the Amazon rain forests. The program included (1) suspending fiscal incentives for developing forest resources, (2) limiting log exports, (3) creating national parks, and (4) increasing the emphasis on environmental protection and research. An important component of this effort was the formation of IBAMA, the federal environmental protection agency, to monitor environment problems and to enforce environmental laws. Brazil continues to implement measures to prevent deforestation. Efforts such as REDD, discussed earlier, also are helping restore forests.18 Deforestation in Brazil has declined significantly, making that country the world’s leader in efforts to diminish climate change. Another example of government involvement in efforts to diminish deforestation is the agreement reached in 2000 by logging companies, the government of Gabon, and several environmental NGOs to preserve 1,900 square miles of forests that comprise Gabon’s Lope Reserve. This area contains very valuable trees and the highest density of large animals, including elephants and gorillas, ever recorded in a tropical rain forest. One of the most successful grassroots reforestation efforts is by the Green Belt Movement of Kenya. Its objectives include (1) raising awareness of the connection between the environment and poverty; (2) promoting the planting of multiuse trees to meet fuel needs, provide employment, protect the environment, and provide food for the community; and (3) disseminating information on environmental protection through research, seminars, and workshops. Another approach to addressing the problem of deforestation is forest certification. The basic idea is to inform consumers about the origin of wood products and how their production affects the environment. This approach, which aims to promote eco-friendly lumber, has been championed by the Forest Stewardship Council, a coalition of environmentalists and lumber executives. The guidelines for gaining certification include complying with national laws aimed at (1) protecting forests, (2) protecting the rights of indigenous peoples, and (3) promoting economic development. Similar efforts have been made by Greenpeace in Indonesia to preserve the forests from companies such as Unilever and Kraft that produce palm oil, used in many consumer products. Palm oil production endangers wildlife and releases carbon dioxide as forests and peatlands are destroyed. Greenpeace pressures companies and their suppliers to implement environmentally sustainable practices. 10.3.3: Ocean Resources—Fishing Concerned about proper nutrition, more people around the world—especially in Europe, Canada, and the United States—are eating more seafood. The modernization of fishing fleets has made more fish available to global markets. This modernization involves using technology such as electronic fish locators, satellite navigation, temperature depth gauges, purse seine nets, and long-line fishing gear. More than any other food commodity, seafood crosses national boundaries daily. Most fish are exported from Africa and Southeast Asia to Europe and the United States. Fish remained abundant throughout much of the world until relatively recently. John Cabot, the fifteenth-century explorer, claimed that cod were so abundant off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, that he caught them simply by putting a bucket over the side of his ship. The cod fishing grounds in that area supported the fishing fleets of the United States and Canada for hundreds of years after John Cabot was there. By 1992, however, the cod had essentially disappeared. A ban on cod fishing, imposed to rejuvenate the stock, appeared to be futile. There are numerous examples of overfishing and the eventual collapse of fisheries. California’s sardine industry, popularized by John Steinbeck, declined rapidly in the early 1940s and died out three decades later. Faced with declining catches of fish, communities have historically attempted to regulate fishing. Countries that share North Sea fisheries have been very aware of the dangers of overfishing and have tried to adopt measures to limit the problem. Coastal states with rich fishing grounds often clash with countries that support long-distance fishing fleets. To protect their resources, coastal states successfully pushed for the establishment of exclusive economic zones, which extend to two hundred miles and over which coastal states exercise jurisdiction. These sovereign rights of coastal areas are recognized by the Law of the Sea Treaty. However, many poor countries, especially in Africa, are unable to protect their fisheries from exploitation by foreign commercial fishing fleets. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization Committee on Fisheries attempted to mobilize global support for reducing overcapacity in the fishing industry by adopting the International Plan for the Management of Fishing Capacity (IPMFC). But this is a nonbinding agreement. Most states have few incentives to comply with it. Another approach to protecting global fisheries is boycotting restaurants that serve fish that are being severely depleted. For example, there is growing controversy over the depletion of sharks. Many restaurants are pressured to refrain from serving shark in order to conserve those fish. Approximately 80 percent of Mediterranean fish stocks and 47 percent of Atlantic stocks have been overfished. Faced with the reality that commercial fishing would soon be unsustainable if left unchanged, the European Union agreed to end overfishing by setting quotas at levels consistent with scientific advice and bringing fishing fleet capacity in line with available fish stocks. It also decided to stop the wasteful practice of fishing fleets discarding unwanted fish at sea.19 Many countries have responded to public pressure for ocean conservation by creating marine protection areas (MPAs), mostly in coastal waters. In 2014, both Britain and the United States created huge MPAs. Britain established an MPA of approximately 320,000 square miles around Pitcairn, its 18-square-mile island dependency in the Pacific that is home to roughly sixty-five descendants of the mutineers of the ship Bounty. This prevents fishing fleets from entering the area. The United States expanded its Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument to encompass 490,000 square miles of ocean.

10.4: Ocean Pollution 10.4 Report the causes of ocean pollution Long perceived as an almost bottomless sink, the seas have been used as dumping grounds for centuries. Major oil spills, rapid development of coastal areas, increased use of petroleum products, the dramatic increase in shipping to meet demands for global trade, and economic globalization and the rise of leisure travel on cruise ships, among other factors, have contributed to significant increases in the pollution of the oceans by oil. Oil spills by tankers, such as the one caused by the Exxon Valdez in 1989 off the Alaskan Coast, often generate a sense of urgency about actions to prevent ocean pollution. The massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, caused by an accident on the Deepwater Horizon rig operated by BP, attracted global attention. The toxic and carcinogenic properties of petroleum and the damage it causes to sea life, most of which is immobilized when soaked with oil, are the most obvious negative effects of oil spills. But the longer oil remains on the surface of the oceans, the more it blocks sunrays and oxygen essential for the health and survival of marine life. When an Ecuadorian tanker spilled 243,000 gallons of diesel and bunker fuel in the Galapagos Islands, located about six hundred miles off the Pacific Coast of South America, there was global concern about the impact of the spill on the environment. Apart from the economic consequences, environmentalists, scientists, and others worried about the effects of oil pollution on the species of marine iguanas, giant tortoises, and penguins that are found nowhere else. The unusual diversity of wildlife in the Galapagos Islands was popularized by Charles Darwin, who visited the area in 1835 and developed his theory of natural selection. Although major oil spills receive global attention, these accidents account for around 20 percent of global oil pollution at sea. Far more damaging is pollution caused by the deliberate dumping of oil used in shipping operations in the oceans. Oil tankers, container ships, and cruise ships, for example, use ballast water, which is sea water that is pumped into the bottom of the ship to keep it stable when it is not loaded with cargo. Because cargo serves as ballast, ballast water is pumped out when a ship is being loaded. Ballast water is often contaminated by oil. The most important source of marine oil pollution is from land-based activities in which most of us engage. As your car drips oil onto the driveway, the streets, and the parking lot, you are likely to think of it as a minor inconvenience. Small amounts of oil from your outboard motorboat and jet skis are responsible for roughly 70 percent of marine pollution. These tiny amounts of oil are washed into lakes, streams, and rivers and eventually make their way to the sea, where they damage coastal ecosystems and marine life far beyond the coasts. Oil spills have influenced the development of international law on environmental pollution. The first significant international agreement aimed at reducing ocean pollution was the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Sea (ICPS) by Oil in 1954. The 1973 International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution by Ships (ICPPS) limited the amount of discharges from both land and sea for specific pollutants, including oil. While oil spills attract global attention, chemicals pose an even more serious threat to the oceans. Farmers depend heavily on fertilizers to produce abundant crops, and homeowners try to grow the greenest lawns by liberally applying chemicals. These fertilizers wash into rivers and streams and eventually into the ocean, where they cause the explosive growth of algae. Some algae produce toxins that destroy fish and can poison individuals who consume contaminated seafood. The decomposition of algae creates expansive dead zones in oceans by robbing them of oxygen. Heavy metals that are released from burning coal are major pollutants. Ordinary things like plastic bags and bottles and cans drift into the oceans or are dumped there The Haze of Pollution Hung Over Tiananmen Square in China. by ships. This garbage forms islands of floating waste such as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which stretches hundreds of miles across the North Pacific Ocean.20 Adidas and G-Star Raw, a Dutch retailer, collaborate with Parley, an environmental group, to reduce plastic waste in the ocean by recycling it to develop materials that can be used in their products. Adidas, H&M, and other global companies are phasing out the use of plastic bags. In the United States, many municipalities have passed ordinances either banning or establishing a fee for the use of single-use plastic carryout bags in stores and restaurants.

10.5: Global Warming and Climate Change 10.5 Relate the effects of global warming to the worldwide catastrophic effects of climate change There is a consensus among scientists that greenhouse gases are altering the atmosphere in ways that ultimately contribute to climate change and higher temperatures. The basic assumption is that human activities are the main causes of these climatic developments. But determining human influence on global warming and climate change is complicated by a relative lack of accurate information about climate change over past centuries. Historically, climate has varied significantly. Natural forces such as volcanic eruptions can create climate changes, as was evidenced by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1991. Ocean currents also change temperatures. Climate change is linked to accelerated melting of Greenland and Antarctica’s floating ice shelves. Apart from greenhouse gases, factors such as deforestation, urbanization, and agricultural activities also affect the climate. Evidence of global warming and climate change continues to mount, and because they are directly affected by it in very dire ways, more people around the world believe that the climate is changing. Scientists generally agree that the average global temperature has climbed over the past one hundred years by about 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Think of the extremes of weather you have seen the past few years. Hurricane Sandy caused major damage in New York; drought devastated agriculture in America’s Great Plains and elsewhere; Britain experienced unprecedented floods; Australia suffered from forest fires, droughts, extreme heat, and floods; and Russia had its coldest winter in seventy-five years. The United States experienced the hottest recorded weather, and Artic air drove temperatures to record lows across the entire country. With more than 110 inches of snow in the winter of 2014–2015, Boston had its snowiest winter on record. At the same time, California experienced severe, prolonged drought. Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest recorded storm to make landfall, devastated the Philippines, and Cyclone Pam devastated Vanuatu. Insurance companies, whose survival depends on scientific forecasting, have limited their liabilities by abandoning some coastal areas in the United States because of rising sea levels and severe storms. Natural catastrophes in the United States in 2012 caused $35 billion in privately insured property losses, $11 billion more than the yearly average over the previous ten years. Millions of people are displaced by drought, floods, rising seas, hurricanes, and other extreme weather events that are generally linked to global warming. Climate change is producing a new category of migrants known as climate refugees.21 When our ancestors discovered how to make fire and how to use it, they set into motion a chain of events that would ultimately alter their environment and ours. However, it was the Industrial Revolution that marked a radical step toward the current problems of global warming and climate change because of its use of massive amounts of fossil fuels—coal, oil, and natural gas. More than a hundred years ago, Svante Arrhenius, a Swedish chemist, and T. C. Chamberlain, an American geologist, independently discovered that industrialization could lead to increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This could ultimately raise the atmosphere’s temperature by trapping solar radiation that would otherwise be reflected back into space, creating a greenhouse effect. The U.S. government issued a report in 1965 that raised concerns about global warming and climate change. However, national security during the Cold War took precedence over more distant threats such as environmental problems. Congress, under the leadership of Representative Al Gore, held hearings in the early 1980s on global warming. In 1988, after National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) scientist James Hansen told Congress that he was 99 percent certain that the greenhouse effect had been detected and that it was already changing our climate, Congress established the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) to study human-induced climate change and stratospheric ozone depletion from industrial emissions. Tables 10.1 and 10.2 show the implications of global warming and regional climate change, respectively. Acid rain and ozone depletion preceded global awareness and concern about global warming. Air pollution from Europe’s industrial societies, especially Britain and Germany, was identified by Svante Oden, a Swedish scientist, as a leading cause of the increasing acidification of precipitation, known as acid rain, in the Scandinavian countries in the late 1960s. Acid rain caused by industrial activities in the United States was also a major concern for Canada, where more than sixteen thousand lakes were affected. Acid rain, composed of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and volatile organic compounds, is caused primarily by burning coal. By increasing the acidity of lakes, rivers, and streams, acid rain damages animal and plant life. It has also destroyed buildings in Greece, Italy, and other parts of Europe. Ozone depletion was also identified as a serious environmental problem resulting from air pollution. The ozone layer of our atmosphere protects us from ultraviolet (UV) radiation that causes skin cancers, genetic changes in animals and plants, eye disorders, and suppression of our immune systems. Agricultural productivity and fisheries are also affected. Ozone depletion is most severe in Antarctica and the Northern Hemisphere. The major cause of ozone depletion was discovered to be CFCs, synthetic products developed by DuPont and used in a wide range of products, including air conditioning, refrigeration, foam packaging, and aerosols. CFCs, when released into the atmosphere, react with UV light to form chlorine. It is this chlorine that destroys the ozone. Table 10.1 Global Warming Sources: U.S. News and World Report, “10 Ways Global Warming Could Hurt Your Health,” 2011, http://health.usnews.com/health-news/ (accessed April 29, 2011); “WWF: Impacts of Global Warming on Corals,” http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/aboutcc/problems/impacts/coral_reefs/ (accessed April 29, 2011). Effects of Global Warming Implications Areas Most Affected Floods Rising sea levels and heavy rains could displace millions of people and leave many areas under water More refugees Coastal United States, Australia, Pacific Islands, Holland, Philippines, Bangladesh, China, Mozambique, Nigeria Heat waves Increase in deaths from heatstroke, forest fires, and skin cancer Southern Europe, United States, China, Brazil, Indonesia, Russia Diseases Warmer, wetter weather could increase insect-transmitted and waterborne illnesses United States, Central and South America, Africa, Asia Coral bleaching Depleted fisheries and coastal flooding Caribbean, Australia, Philippines, India Pollution Coastal flooding Decline of tourism More respiratory problems, cancer, lung and heart diseases United States, Mexico, India, China, Egypt, Russia Drought Crop failure Malnutrition Forest fires Water-related conflicts United States, Mexico, Brazil, China, India, Africa, Middle East, Spain Table 10.2 Regional Climate Change in the United States Sources: Guardian.co.uk, “Carbon Levels Hit New Peak, Research Shows,” http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/31/carbon-levels-peak (accessed 31 May 2011); “A Warming Planet Struggles to Feed Itself,” New York Times, June 5, 2011, A1. Region Likely Climate Changes Northeast Decline in winter weather extremes; more flooding; hotter summers; changes in forest species Southeast Rising sea levels; disappearance of some coastal wetlands, barrier islands, and beaches; increase in water quality problems Great Lakes Declining water levels due to increased evaporation; increased transportation and shoreline problems due to lower water levels; shipping lanes open longer due to warmer weather Midwest–Great Plains Extreme summer heat; milder winters; longer growing season; heavier rainfall; flash flooding; more droughts Mountain West Warmer winters; less snow; water problems; drier mountain regions; loss of mountain ecosystems Southwest Increased moisture; increased crop diversity; more flooding and fire risks; changes in desert ecosystem Northwest–Alaska Salmon could migrate northward due to warmer water temperatures in the Pacific; more rain in summer; rising sea levels; permafrost thawing will increase and more roads and buildings will be damaged due to warmer weather in Alaska; shipping lanes will be open longer due to warmer weather Each year, parts of Southeast Asia are covered with thick haze generated from numerous forest fires, most of which are in Indonesia. These fires are caused primarily by the lucrative palm oil industry. Neighboring Singapore and Malaysia are usually so polluted that the air is a health hazard. Throughout the developing world, wood and coal are used to cook and heat homes. Many people use kerosene lamps because they do not have electricity. Diesel engines are used throughout the world. All of these sources produce particles known as black carbon, or soot. Black carbon is the second most important contributor to global warming and climate change after carbon dioxide. Black carbon absorbs heat and darkens clouds, which impact climate. It plays a major role in changing precipitation patterns. When it falls on glaciers or in the Arctic, it melts the ice faster. To reduce the effects of black carbon, groups such as the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition help provide modern stoves that produce less black carbon to people in the developing world. Installing diesel engine exhausts that trap carbon particles and eliminating old vehicles that pollute would immediately reduce black carbon. Lessening black carbon is seen as the most practical and cheapest way to diminish global warming and climate change. Coral reefs around the world, from Great Barrier Reef of Australia (which stretches 1,500 miles along the country’s east coast) to Caribbean reefs, are dying, due partly to rising sea temperatures linked to global warming. The Great Barrier Reef was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1981. Reductions in the production of greenhouse gases are widely perceived to be the solution to diminishing global warming and climate change and their effects. The Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, generally known as the Kyoto Protocol, is clearly the most important global environmental agreement and reflects an increasing awareness of environmental globalization. But economic, scientific, and ideological disagreements have weakened the Kyoto Protocol’s effectiveness. The United States opposed the agreement on the grounds that the imposition of emission controls would be detrimental to its economy. Developing countries that are energy exporters give four main reasons for opposing global efforts to reduce emissions: (1) emission controls will reduce their revenues by decreasing energy consumption, (2) imports from industrialized countries would be more expensive because of measures taken to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, (3) the development of new fuels to help cut down emissions is likely to reduce demand for their exports, and (4) oil, gas, and coal resources are part of their heritage. Following the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol by more than ninety-six countries, many developing countries supported the Delhi Ministerial Declaration on Climate Change and Sustainable Development, which supports the right of poor countries to develop their own appropriate strategies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Meeting in Warsaw in 2013, delegates to UN climate change talks agreed to the broad outlines of a proposed system for pledging emissions cuts and supported a treaty to deal with human costs of rising seas, floods, and storms.22 The European Union agreed on a goal to reduce carbon emissions by 40 percent by 2030. The Kyoto Protocol allows countries to use market forces to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Targets are determined for lower levels of emissions, and then permits are issued for that set level. Companies that exceed their target by not producing so much pollution can sell extra permits to companies that need to meet their targets. This approach is referred to as emissions trading, or cap-and-trade. Many European countries use this approach. Britain and Denmark, for example, trade greenhouse gases to reduce climate change. The Chicago Climate Exchange is the first attempt to decrease greenhouse gases through a market approach. The International Civil Aviation Organization and airline representatives from around the world agreed to develop global rules to reduce airline emissions. Another approach, favored by the United States, is to rely primarily on forests to reduce the effects of emissions from industries and automobiles. But the long-term effectiveness of using forests instead of taking other major steps to reduce greenhouse gases is debatable. Although the world is far from meeting global goals on reducing emissions and the use of coal continues to grow, there is a decrease in the growth of emissions. This is due to greater reliance on natural gas in the United States, more hydroelectric power in China and elsewhere, tougher mileage standards for new cars and trucks, and slower economic growth globally.23

10.6: Water Scarcity 10.6 Review the issue of water scarcity as an important component of the broader issues of environmental and global security At the foundation of human existence and life on Earth is water. The most common and abundant liquid in the world, water is at the heart of global environmental issues. Water, particularly potable water, is fueling conflicts globally. Increasing demands for water by the world’s growing and increasingly more affluent populations threaten to create widespread shortages of freshwater. Water, in many ways, defines how we live and determines the limit of sustainable development. Imagine life without adequate water. Think of all the adjustments you would have to make just to survive. Parts of the United States—especially Arizona, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, and Wyoming—experience severe water shortages. Tensions routinely flare up between the United States and Mexico over water rights to the Rio Grande and the Colorado River. There are disputes between India and Pakistan over the Ganges and Brahmaputra Rivers, between China and neighboring Southeast Asian states over the Mekong River, and between Egypt and Ethiopia over the Nile River. Increasing urbanization, industrialization, and the environmental problems we have discussed are likely to accelerate these problems. Southern Europe, Australia, South Korea, China, and parts of Africa are experiencing severe water shortages. India faces severe water problems that seriously threaten to undermine its economic growth and public health. Nearly one billion people do not have safe drinking water.24 Water scarcity—defined as a lack of secure, uninterrupted, and long-term availability of adequate amounts of freshwater of required quality—is becoming an important component of the broader issues of environmental and global security. As we saw in Chapter 1, security issues go beyond traditional military threats. When a country that is extremely dependent on water coming from rivers or streams in another country perceives that its supplies are threatened, it could use military force to resolve the problem. For example, when Lebanon decided to begin pumping water from the Wazzani Springs in late 2002, tensions with Israel intensified. The Wazzani Springs supply the Hasbani River, which is a tributary of the Jordan River. Israel depends on the Jordan River for water. Concerned about tensions over water erupting into war, the United States dispatched a water expert from the U.S. Department of State to try to resolve the conflict. The struggle to control water supplies is an important component of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Rapid population growth and more opulent lifestyles put great pressure on water in an area with some of the world’s lowest supplies of water Natural Disasters, Often Overlooked by Environmentalists, have Significant Environmental, Economic, Social, and Political Implications. Residents dug through the rubble of their homes in Nepal following the 2015 earthquake. per capita. While Israeli settlers in Palestinian territories have water for sprinklers and swimming pools, Palestinian water supplies are controlled by Israel and are severely restricted and polluted. In coastal areas and on islands worldwide, rising seawater, due in part to global warming, is likely to contaminate freshwater supplies. In Indonesia, Vietnam, and other parts of Southeast Asia, rising seawater is creating numerous problems, including reduced rice harvests and the relocation of millions of people. Faced with severe water shortages that sharply diminished agricultural productivity, forced ranchers to thin their herds, idled industrial and agricultural production, and threatened power plants, states in America such as Texas have allocated billions of dollars to ensure that they have adequate water supplies in the future. Global companies, which depend heavily on water, view water scarcity as a leading problem. More than ninety-three corporations have joined the UN Global Impact’s CEO Water Mandate, a public-private partnership to promote water sustainability. Companies such as Pepsi, Caterpillar, Levi Strauss, IKEA, Merck, and SAB Miller are increasing their water-related investments. Countries such as India are focusing on harvesting rainwater in ponds to replenish wells and springs. Harvesting rainwater from the roofs of houses and other buildings is seen as part of the solution to water scarcity. Case Study The Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan On March 11, 2011, an earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0, estimated to be as powerful as thirty thousand Hiroshima atomic bombs, struck off the northeastern coast of Japan and triggered a tsunami that caused widespread destruction. Approximately 15,856 people died and another 2,643 were missing. The damage was estimated at a cost of $235 billion. Although environmentalists are predominantly preoccupied with damage to the environment by human activities, the earthquake and tsunami clearly underscore human vulnerability to natural forces beyond our control. This natural disaster, the most expensive in history, also demonstrates limits to solutions to environmental challenges. Japan, which invented the word tsunami, is the best-prepared country in the world for earthquakes and tsunamis. Still, it suffered unprecedented destruction. These realities reinforce the importance of focusing on human security, discussed in Chapter 1. Developments in Japan also illustrate that attempting to solve some environmental problems can make the world even more vulnerable to others. Nuclear power, widely viewed as a clean source of sustainable energy that would diminish dependence on polluting fossil fuels and reduce carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, reinvigorated environmental groups and others concerned about the dangers of radiation from nuclear power plants. Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster became a major global issue partly because of the rapid expansion of the construction of nuclear power plants globally, especially in China and India, to deal with increasing energy demand. The Fukushima nuclear disaster influenced environmental activists in China to demonstrate against the government’s expansion of nuclear power. The 1968 nuclear power disaster at Chernobyl, in Ukraine, that spread contamination across Poland, Belarus, Latvia, Lithuania, and other countries in Europe, provides a prism through which Japan’s problems can be seen. Experiences gained from this earlier environmental catastrophe prompted the Japanese government to act quickly to evacuate people closest to the nuclear power plant, to advise others to remain indoors, and to distribute potassium iodide tablets to protect residents from getting thyroid cancer. Soldiers used power shovels and other heavy construction equipment to cut through mountains of debris. Roughly one hundred thousand troops, the largest number since World War II, were mobilized to help deal with the consequences of the natural disaster. The global response to environmental problems in Japan included critical examinations of nuclear power. China, which is also vulnerable to earthquakes, reaffirmed its policy of not building nuclear power plants close to urban areas or earthquake fault lines. Germany announced a permanent phasing out of nuclear power, and the European Union tested all the nuclear power plants in twenty-seven countries to ensure preparedness for emergencies such as floods, tsunamis, and terrorist attacks. Japan’s problems rekindled American fears of a repeat of the Three Mile Island nuclear power accident in 1979 and eroded public support for building more nuclear power plants to enhance energy independence and reduce global warming. Americans also purchased potassium iodide capsules and called on the U.S. government to implement the law that provides for giving potassium iodide tablets to people living near nuclear power plants. The earthquake and tsunami had significant global economic and financial consequences. The epicenter of the tsunami was Sendai-Shiogama, one of Japan’s largest ports and the point from where Sony, Canon, Pioneer, and other global companies ship their products. Shipping stopped due to damaged infrastructure, including ports, roads, and railways. Automobile factories around the world experienced production problems as a result of shortages of various components made in Japan. The cost of chips used in cameras, smartphones, and computers increased dramatically. Toshiba, which manufactures about one-third of chips globally, closed some of its factories, thereby reducing production. The disaster interrupted Japan’s supply chain, which severely affected many aspects of global trade. It created doubts about the just-in-time approach to business discussed in Chapter 8. Financial markets declined sharply, led by a 16 percent drop in shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Huge financial losses were borne by insurance and reinsurance companies globally and by the Japanese government. China expressed concern about radiation contaminating its coastal waters and affecting marine life. The United States, South Korea, and Singapore inspected food imported from Japan for radiation. America banned imports from areas near the nuclear power plant. Combined with the turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa that increased oil prices, the natural disaster in Japan created fears of a slowdown of the fragile global economy. This case study clearly demonstrates that human solutions to environmental problems are sometimes overwhelmed by the awesome power of nature. Roughly ten thousand miles of Japan’s coastline had concrete seawalls (some as high as forty feet), breakwaters, and other structures to protect the country from high seas, tsunamis, and typhoons. Some coastal cities installed networks of sensors that set off alarms in individual residences and automatically close floodgates. There are routine earthquake and tsunami drills. Buildings are constructed with extra steel bracing, giant rubber pads, and embedded hydraulic shock absorbers to withstand earthquakes. Following the Kobe earthquake in 1995, which killed about six thousand people, Japan invested billions of dollars developing the most advanced building technologies. Still, all of these efforts did not prevent devastation. But the damage would undoubtedly have been more massive without them.25 Radiation from the nuclear power plant has reinvigorated debate about finding other, less dangerous, sources of sustainable clean energy and ways to reduce energy consumption. However, Japan restarted its nuclear power plants and renewed its reliance on nuclear energy.

Summary Environmental problems illustrate how much developments in other parts of the world can impact our lives. Environmental problems cannot be contained by arbitrary national boundaries. Environmental factors have played an important historical role in the rise and fall of great civilizations, the spread of infectious diseases, war, economic prosperity, and many other international issues. Environmental problems are intertwined with politics, economics, and culture. Despite the importance of the environment in our lives, however, movements to protect the environment are relatively new. The global environmental movement emerged principally in Western Europe, the United States, and Canada. Attention to the environment was spurred, in large part, by a tremendous population growth and rapid industrialization that took place with little regard for the serious environmental ramifications, such as deforestation and deteriorating health standards. Nuclear weapons proliferation in the United States and Soviet Union also increased concern for environmental issues. Biodiversity is a fundamental preoccupation of environmentalists and NGOs. This is such an important issue because the destruction of some species could upset the balance of the ecosystem, resulting in the loss of other species and the alteration of the ecosystem. Biodiversity affects many groups and individuals, such as those interested in deforestation, agriculture, biotechnology, anthropology, pharmaceuticals, sustainable development, global trade, and ethics. Another major concern of environmentalists is water, the foundation for human existence. The planet’s increasing population is threatening to create widespread shortages of freshwater. Roughly two thirds of freshwater consumed each year goes to irrigate farms. Compared with other environmental problems, global warming is sometimes perceived as being a less immediate issue. While there is evidence that human activities cause most climate changes, determining how much human activity influences global warming and climate change continues to be debated, partly because there is little information about climate change over past centuries. However, global warming is generally viewed as contributing to rising oceans, more destructive hurricanes, and extensive flooding.

11.1: Population 11.1 Evaluate the causes as well as negative consequences of high and low population growth rates At the heart of population as a global issue is the extent to which population growth threatens the Earth’s carrying capacity. Overpopulation (i.e., too many people living in an area that has inadequate resources to support them) has been a global preoccupation for centuries. Population problems must be seen in the context of consumption. In this context, the population of the developed world, which consumes much, is seen as a bigger problem for the world’s resources than the population of the developing world, which consumes little. Often, population problems can be avoided if population growth remains stable, assuming that resources are also carefully managed. The rate at which the population remains relatively stable is referred to as the replacement rate. To achieve this, fertility rates must average 2.1 children per couple. Migration influences the replacement rate, population growth, and population decline. Thomas Malthus (1766–1834), an English economist, sociologist, and pioneer in demographics, wrote An Essay on the Principle of Population in 1798. In it, he argued that because population increases by a geometrical ratio and food supplies increase by an arithmetical ratio, the world would have high rates of population growth and suffer from poverty and starvation. The widespread practice of family planning and technological and scientific revolutions in food production, transportation, and storage essentially rendered these dire predictions false. The invention of genetically modified crops and other agricultural scientific breakthroughs further challenge Malthus’s argument. However, food shortages and higher prices, due partly to the use of corn to produce biofuels, complicate the discussion on food and population. High population growth remains a serious threat to most developing countries and, as we discussed in Chapter 9, frustrates efforts to reduce global poverty and economic inequality. Malthus was concerned about the Earth’s carrying capacity. Carrying capacity refers to the maximum number of humans or animals a given area can support without creating irreversible destruction of the environment and, eventually, humans and animals themselves. Combined with fervent nationalism and a perception that survival itself is at stake, population pressures often result in military conflict. The Palestinian-Israeli struggle is an example of how demographic changes are perceived as determining destiny. Jews now comprise roughly 50.5 percent of the population in Israel and the Palestinian territories. By 2020, the proportion of Jews will decline to 42.1 percent, whereas the Palestinians, who now make up 44.3 percent of the population, will see their share of the population grow to 52 percent. The birthrate for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza is 40 for every 1,000 people. The birthrate for Palestinians in Israel is 36 per 1,000 people. Compare this with a birthrate for Jews of 18.3 per 1,000, and you will see why demographic changes are perceived as threats to Israel’s security. 11.1.1: Population Issues in Developing Countries Most developing countries have high population growth rates and suffer from vast differences in income. Inadequate education, low rates of contraception usage, cultural norms that value large families and male virility, the need for labor in subsistence economies, and the need to have children to support parents are some of the reasons population growth is higher in poorer countries. Most of the countries with the largest populations and the highest growth rates are in the developing world. Roughly 97 percent of the increase in the global population is occurring in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, with the more prosperous countries in these regions experiencing declining growth rates. Industrialized countries, on the other hand, are experiencing declining growth rates and even depopulation in some cases. In India, more than 400 million people—roughly the combined populations of the United States and Britain—live in dire poverty and are illiterate. Nonetheless, the population in India grows by about three people a minute, or two thousand an hour, or forty-eight thousand per day. In other words, the growth of India’s population each day is equivalent to that of a medium-sized American city. By 2025, India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country, with about 1.5 billion people, compared with China’s 1.4 billion people. China and India alone account for one out of every three children added to the global population. Problems arising from rapid population growth have influenced governments, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and women to take action to limit population growth. It is generally agreed that women’s level of education strongly influences fertility rates. Education helps to determine factors that affect population growth rates, such as contraceptive usage, the age of marriage and childbearing, social status and self-perception, and employment opportunities outside of the home and residence. An interesting development is the declining birthrates in Brazil, Mexico, Bangladesh, India, the Philippines, Iran, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Egypt, where poverty and illiteracy remain serious and pervasive problems. Even women who are less educated have become more assertive about their reproductive choices. Factors influencing this change include economic and cultural globalization, greater access to education, increasing urbanization, the declining influence of religion on women’s reproductive lives, greater access to medical technologies, and the cumulative effects of satellite television and other media that stress the advantages of having fewer children. Sexism strongly influences population decisions in developing countries. In many societies, tradition supports having large families by praising the fertility of women and the virility of men. The son complex—the preference for having boys instead of girls—influences many parents worldwide to continue having children until a boy is born. Parents, especially mothers, are demeaned in many societies if they do not produce boys. In many traditional South Asian families, a boy is expected to live with his parents, be employed, inherit property, provide financial security for aging parents, and light their funeral pyres. A daughter, by contrast, is widely perceived as a financial and social liability. When she marries, her family is required, by tradition, to provide the bridegroom’s family with a substantial dowry, which can be money, property, or both. Parents often incur significant debt to provide dowries. Sexism also conspires with advanced medical technology to reduce the number of girls in some countries such as India and China. With the use of ultrasound machines to determine the sex of the fetus, many parents often decide to abort female fetuses. India passed a law in 1996 prohibiting medical staff from informing parents of the gender of a fetus, but it appears to be ignored. Based on the predominance of male births, researchers estimate that more than six million girls have been aborted in India since 2000. Those practices plus female infanticide have contributed to a widening divergence in the ratio of females to males in many parts of India and China. China’s one-child policy, initiated in 1979 by Deng Xiao Ping, China’s leader, and rescinded in October 2015, was the most controversial approach to dealing with rapid population growth. China established the state family planning bureau to formulate policies and procedures for enforcing the one-child policy. Family planning committees at the local level, a part of the Communist Party, were responsible for rewarding those who complied with the policy and punishing those who violated it. Those who complied with it received a monthly stipend until the child was fourteen years old and got preferential treatment when applying for housing, education, and health benefits for the child; they were also granted a pension in old age. Those who failed to comply with the one-child policy risked the loss of benefits for the first child, jeopardized their employment with the government, and risked having their property seized. Women often were forced to be sterilized, especially after the birth of a second child. Exceptions to the one-child policy included the following cases: (1) if the first child had a defect; (2) in the case of a remarriage; (3) if couples are involved in certain jobs, such as mining; or (4) if both partners came from families with one child. Demographic and economic implications of the one-child policy influenced more Chinese to question it, leading first to a modification of it and finally to its being rescinded.2 11.1.2: Population Issues in Developed Countries Compared with the developing world, Europe has always had a smaller population. Among the reasons for this disparity are: Europe was settled by humans who migrated from Africa into Asia. In other words, it started out with a smaller population. Geography and climate discouraged large numbers of people from settling in Europe. Confronted with overpopulation, Europe was able to conquer, colonize, and settle in North America, South America, parts of Africa, parts of Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. The Industrial Revolution and scientific advances in agriculture made Europeans prosperous and diminished the need to have large families. Europe is faced with the spread of subreplacement fertility regimes: that is, patterns of childbearing that would eventually result in indefinite population decline. The sharpest dip in population is in Russia. Widespread environmental problems, alcohol poisoning, sexually transmitted diseases, and an abortion rate that is twice as high as live births have combined to decrease Russia’s population by roughly 700,000 each year. If current demographic trends continue, Russia will see its current population of 140.4 million drop precipitously to 100 million in forty to fifty years.3 Such long-range predictions are often highly speculative and turn out to be inaccurate. Nevertheless, it is clear that Russia is going through a population implosion. Though immigration has slowed the decline of Western Europe’s populations, immigration levels are not high enough to alter the demographic realities. The United States, Canada, and Australia are actually gaining population largely due to increased immigration and rising fertility rates. As Table 11.1 shows, by 2010, the median age in the United States reached 36.6, compared to 43.3 in Italy and 44.3 in Germany, due to the rapid growth in the number of the elderly and the subreplacement problem. Three major reasons account for Europe’s aging societies: Life expectancy has climbed due to medical advancements, a healthier environment, improved nutrition, and greater concerns about safety and public health. The huge baby boom generation of the 1940s and 1950s is now entering middle age and moving into the old-age category. Declining fertility rates, below the replacement rate, increase the proportion of the population that is old. America’s aging population, while growing, will comprise a smaller percentage of the overall population because of the number of young immigrants and higher fertility rates. Japan faces not only an aging population but also subreplacement fertility rates. Developed countries face many challenges that require the implementation of difficult and controversial strategies. These strategies include the following: Substantially increasing immigration to offset declining fertility rates Postponing or abandoning retirement Table 11.1 Demographic Contrasts Between Rich and Poor Countries Adapted from UN Development Programme, Human Development Report 2010 (Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK, and New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2010). Country Median Age, 2010 (years) Total Fertility Rate, 2010–2015 (births per woman) Population Annual Growth Rate, 2010–2015 (%) Rich Countries Japan 44.7 1.3 20.2 France 40.1 1.9 0.4 United States 36.6 2.0 0.9 Italy 43.3 1.4 0.2 Germany 44.3 1.3 20.2 Poor Countries Bangladesh 24.5 2.2 1.3 Haiti 21.6 3.2 1.5 Nigeria 18.6 4.8 2.1 Zambia 16.8 5.3 2.4 Sierra Leone 18.2 5.0 2.3 Encouraging higher fertility rates Investing more in the education of workers to increase productivity Strengthening intergenerational responsibilities within families Targeting government-paid benefits to those who need them most Requiring workers to invest for their own retirements The implications of these changes are far reaching. Significant tensions within rich countries over such strategies are already evident in many European countries.

11.2: Global Migration

11.2 Recall the types, causes, and gender roles of global migration Migration—the movement of people from one place to another—is an integral component of human behavior. Our ancestors moved out of curiosity and a sense of adventure; to find food, to search for better grazing and agricultural lands; to seek protection from adversaries; to conquer land for new settlements; and to obtain religious, political, social, and economic freedoms. Contemporary migration is rooted in the earlier periods of political, military, economic, and financial globalization that we discussed in Chapter 1. Migration includes the movement of people within a country’s geographical boundaries as well as movement across national boundaries. People who migrate fall into several categories. A migrant is a person who moves from one country or area to another country or location. Migrants often move from one part of a country to another location within that country. The broad category of migrant is subdivided into refugees, displaced persons, and immigrants. Refugees are essentially migrants who live outside their country and are unable or unwilling to return because of documented cases of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution. Historically and today, conflicts, famine, natural disasters, and political, religious, and economic oppression have been dominant factors contributing to the creation of refugees. Refugees who attempt to obtain permanent residence in the country to which they fled are referred to as asylum seekers. The immigration laws of most countries distinguish asylum seekers from other categories of migrants and generally grant them preferential treatment, in accordance with international law. A displaced person is someone who has been forced to leave his or her home because of violence, conflict, persecution, or natural disaster but has not crossed an international border. Many displaced people eventually cross national boundaries, thereby becoming refugees. An immigrant is someone who goes to a foreign country to become a permanent resident. Most migration occurs in a relatively limited geographical area, despite growing transcontinental migration (i.e., the movement of people from one continent to another).

11.2.1: Gender and Migration

Men are more likely than women to migrate under ordinary circumstances. There are several reasons for this. Who migrates is determined to a large extent by the requirements imposed by countries, companies, or individuals who need labor. Much of the work to be done is culturally defined as work for men. Large numbers of men from Turkey, North Africa, and the Caribbean migrated to Germany, France, and Britain, respectively, after World War II to help rebuild these countries. Men throughout the world have been recruited to work in industry, construction, and mining. Cultural norms and sex roles within sending countries also determine whether men are more likely than women to migrate. Gender roles also influence men to migrate in search of employment. Men are generally perceived as breadwinners in most countries, whereas women are viewed as being responsible for taking care of the home. Economic development and greater access to education for women change cultural views of gender roles and provide more employment opportunities for women. Demographic changes and greater employment opportunities for women in developed countries are transforming gender migration. Women migrate to rich societies to work in factories, tourism, education, hospitals, businesses, and private homes. As more women work outside the home in rich countries, more women from poor countries are hired to do domestic work. 11.2.2: Types of Migration

Although migration, as a contemporary global issue, is often thought of primarily as movement from developing countries to rich countries, far more common is the movement of people within countries and from one country to another within a particular geographical or cultural region. Regional migration is fueled by increasing economic opportunities in a country or group of neighboring countries. For example, people in North Africa move to Spain, France, and Italy to find employment, and people from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, and Lesotho have migrated to South Africa to work in mining and other industries. Rural-to-urban migration is the dominant pattern of migration in both rich and poor countries. Many rural areas across the United States are losing population as residents seek better opportunities in urban areas. Much of the migration in the developing world is from rural areas to cities. Rural-to-rural migration (i.e., the movement of people from one rural area to another) is common in many parts of the world, despite the relatively limited economic opportunities found in most small towns or agricultural areas. Many migrants follow the planting, cultivation, and harvesting of various crops. Urban-to-urban migration is common in most countries. Families and individuals move from one city to another to find employment, to pursue a college degree, or to be in a culturally dynamic area. Urban-to-rural migration is usually designed to encourage the economic development of the countryside and to relieve population pressures on urban centers. Brazil, China, Indonesia, and Nigeria are countries that have used this strategy. Another type of migration is seasonal migration. People often move from one area to another because of the seasonal demand for labor. Agricultural industries often demand more labor at certain times of the year than at others. Harvesting fruit, sugarcane, coffee, and other crops requires intensive labor for a short period of time. Seasonal migration is also driven by other industries such as tourism. Another type of migration is transit migration. In this case, those seeking to enter a specific country pass through another country or stay there temporarily. For example, migrants use Mexico as a transit point for illegal entry into the United States. Visiting Mexico’s main immigration detention center, you see migrants from Ecuador, India, Cuba, China, Albania, Russia, Ukraine, Tanzania, Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and other countries. Similarly, migrants attempting to enter Western Europe use countries such as Italy, Greece, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic as transit points. Many migrants also stop temporarily in Europe on their way to the United States and Canada. Within Europe, France is used as a transit point for migrants attempting to enter Britain to take advantage of its asylum policies. Forced and induced migration is an integral component of human history. Various minorities have been routinely expelled from countries because of political, social, ethnic, and religious differences. The Spanish crown forced Jews to leave Spain in 1492; Africans were forcibly removed from their homeland and enslaved in the Americas, the Middle East, and other parts of the world; and the Cuban and Chinese governments have used forced migration to achieve various political and economic objectives.4 Another type of migration—one that is becoming common in an age of globalization—is return migration. For example, many American citizens retain meaningful ties with another country. Throughout history, some migrants have returned to the places they left. In the late nineteenth century, roughly a third of European migrants to the United States were returning after a few years. Immigrants from Southern Europe, particularly Italy, were most likely to return after saving enough money to build homes, start small businesses, or buy farms. This trend of migration was strengthened by the relative newness of migration from Southern Europe and by declining transportation costs and faster and more reliable means of transportation. Economic success in the new country also motivates people to return to their country of origin. India and China, for example, encourage return migration to assist economic development. The global financial crisis slowed economic growth in Europe and the United States, which influenced Latin Americans who had migrated to Spain and the United States to return home.5

11.2.3: Causes of Migration

Although the causes of migration are diverse and vary from one individual to another, demographers generally divide them into two categories: namely, push factors and pull factors.6 Push factors are negative developments and circumstances that motivate or force people to leave their homes. These include widespread abuses of fundamental human rights, political oppression, forced resettlement programs and expulsion, high levels of violence and endemic political instability, rapid population growth, high rates of unemployment, poverty, natural and environmental disasters, the relative lack of educational and cultural opportunities, globalization, and discrimination that excludes specific groups and individuals from competition for resources and power. Pull factors are positive developments and circumstances in other areas or countries that attract people away from their homes. These include economic opportunities, higher wages, political and cultural freedom and stability, a comparatively healthy environment, educational and cultural opportunities, and family reunification.

11.3: Push Factors 11.3 Identify the push factors of migration Widespread abuses of fundamental human rights, discussed in Chapter 3, have traditionally pushed people from their homes. The United States was settled by many individuals who were deprived of basic human rights. Many Jews, political dissidents, homosexuals, and others fled Nazi Germany because of the government’s systematic and profound violations of the most basic human rights, including the right to life. During the Cold War, many Central and Eastern Europeans fled oppression in the Communist countries. Cubans migrated in large numbers when Fidel Castro came to power and imposed severe restrictions on fundamental freedom. Forced resettlement programs and expulsion are significant push factors. Governments have both forced and encouraged people to migrate for several reasons. These include the following desires: To achieve cultural homogeneity. This is particularly the case in newly independent countries that were faced with incompatible ethnic groups living in their artificially constructed boundaries. Yet, the practice of achieving cultural homogeneity by expelling people perceived as different has deep historical roots. Catholic Spain expelled the Jews in the fifteenth century, and Catholic France expelled the Huguenots (i.e., French Protestants and followers of John Calvin) in the sixteenth century. To subdue a region or a people. China’s occupation of Tibet in 1950 was followed by the mass migration of Han Chinese settlers. During the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), Mao Zedong, China’s leader, sent his Red Guard storm troopers to subdue Tibet. To evict dissidents and opponents of the government. Fidel Castro, determined to build a Communist society, influenced and coerced almost a million people to leave Cuba. To achieve foreign policy objectives. Forced emigration is sometimes implemented as a component of broader foreign policy objectives. Governments use forced emigration to exert pressure on neighboring countries. For example, Castro has used emigration as an instrument of his foreign policy toward the United States. To achieve economic and national security objectives. Several governments have forcibly removed people from one area of the country to another as part of an overall economic development or national security strategy. High levels of violence and political instability are factors that push people away from home. Declining population growth rates in rich countries facilitate migration that is driven by high population growth rates in the developing world. High rates of unemployment and poverty are widely regarded as dominant and constant push factors. Natural disasters, environmental problems, and famines push people away from their homelands or force them to relocate within their countries. Globalization and discrimination are also push factors. Globalization has contributed to the creation of strong economic regions within, as well as among, countries. Globalization’s emphasis on economic liberalization, free trade, and diminished government involvement in the economy has resulted in the displacement of millions of small farmers in the developing world. Thousands of farmers in Mexico, unable to compete with subsidized agriculture in the United States and Europe, move to urban areas in Mexico or make the dangerous journey to the United States. Migration is often induced by governments that fail to provide adequate support for rural communities or alternative sources of employment. These problems are compounded by competitive exclusion, which occurs when governments allow more land to be taken by large agroexport companies to create megafarms. This generally drives up land prices and decreases the amount of land available to small subsistence farmers. Discrimination also contributed to emigration. Successful ethnic minority groups have historically been scapegoated for problems within societies, the most obvious being the Jews in Nazi Germany. Idi Amin forced Ugandans of Asian descent to leave Uganda because of their economic success. Ethnic Chinese in Indonesia and other Asian countries have had similar experiences. 11.3.1: Refugees In 2001, the European Union (EU) decided to recognize as refugees women and homosexuals fleeing violence or sexual abuse. The 1951 UN Geneva Convention stressed that individuals or groups persecuted on the grounds of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, and holding certain political opinions would be recognized as refugees and granted asylum. However, these categories have been expanded to reflect a growing awareness of other forms of persecution. In many ways, the interaction of economic problems, political instability, and violence makes it difficult to separate economically motivated migrants from refugees. Most governments are reluctant to accept large numbers of refugees and generally prefer to provide humanitarian assistance to displaced persons to stem the flow of refugees. Widespread refugee problems in Europe and elsewhere during and after World War II influenced the United States, Western Europe, the Soviet Union, and China to develop institutions, such as the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), to help with refugees. Established in 1950, the UNHCR is funded primarily by governments, NGOs, and individuals. Because the proliferation of ethnic conflicts and natural disasters has severely restrained UNHCR’s resources, other UN agencies, the International Committee of the Red Cross, and various NGOs are involved in helping refugees globally. Their task is often made even more difficult by the inability or unwillingness of some countries to separate fighters from innocent civilians in refugee camps, despite international legal guidelines for doing so. Increasingly, the United Nations is pressured to take measures to prevent the outbreak and escalation of ethnic conflicts, which are a major cause of the refugee problem. More countries, including the United States, favor selective humanitarian intervention (i.e., the military invasion of a country) to prevent or diminish human rights abuses that drive people away from their homes. Numerous ethnic conflicts and civil wars in Africa have left that continent with more than four million refugees. In the Middle East, violence against the Kurds has not only led to the growth of Kurdish refugees in the region but also influenced many Kurds to seek refuge in Europe and North America. There are more than five hundred thousand Kurds in Western Europe, with Germany and France receiving most of them. Germany has about four hundred thousand, and France has sixty thousand. America’s invasion of Iraq led to more than two million refugees and internally displaced persons. The conflict in Pakistan and Afghanistan created millions of refugees. For example, fighting in the Swat Valley in Pakistan between the Taliban and Pakistan forced nearly three million people to leave their homes. The Vietnam Conflict produced a mass exodus of Vietnamese, with most of the refugees settling in the United States. As economic conditions deteriorated, and as the Communist government consolidated its power, many Vietnamese also sought refuge in neighboring countries. More than two hundred thousand ethnic Chinese who lived in Vietnam fled to China when conflict erupted between China and Vietnam in 1978 and 1979. Another seventy thousand Vietnamese arrived in Hong Kong in small boats or were rescued from small boats by oceangoing ships on their way to Hong Kong. The wave of protests for democracy across the Middle East and North Africa and subsequent political and economic instability created new refugees as people fled from Tunisia, Libya, and Syria and elsewhere to escape violence. Conflicts in Ivory Coast, the Central African Republic, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic An Overloaded Boat of North African Asylum-Seekers Headed to Italy. The Italian Navy rescued many people making the dangerous journey in such boats. of Congo, Mali, and Somalia are major contributors to the growing number of displaced persons and refugees. The Syrian civil war is by far the major cause of the escalating global refugee problem, creating roughly nine million displaced persons and refugees. Brutal sectarian violence in Iraq by fighters from Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) forced millions of people from their homes. There are more than fifty million displaced persons and refugees globally.7 The Palestinian refugee problem is one of the oldest, most serious, and most intractable global refugee cases. Resolving this problem remains a central challenge to efforts to secure peace between the Israelis and Palestinians. The creation of the state of Israel in 1948 as well as wars and low-intensity conflicts between the Israelis and Arabs led to the creation of roughly 3.5 million Palestinian refugees. Many Palestinians have lived in refugee camps throughout the Arab world for more than half a century. Many of them were born and raised in these camps, and many have also died in these camps. Between 1947 and 1948, approximately 800,000 Palestinians became refugees. The 1967 war, during which all of Palestine was occupied by Israel, created a second wave of Palestinian refugees. Roughly 400,000 Palestinians, out of a population of 2.5 million, left Palestine to seek refuge in Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Syria, and other Arab countries. The civil war in Lebanon in the 1970s and 1980s and Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982 forced more Palestinians to become refugees again. Roughly 5.1 million Palestinians live abroad, mostly in Jordan, which has 3 million of them.8 The UN Relief Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) was established in 1949 to provide relief, education, and welfare services to Palestinian refugees.

11.4: Pull Factors 11.4 Identify the pull factors of migration Pull factors are developments and circumstances that attract people to specific areas or countries. Freedom has always been a significant pull factor, both within countries and across international boundaries. Freedom, associated with cities, enticed many individuals to leave the countryside with its relative lack of freedom. Freedom in Britain, Holland, and the United States has served as a magnet for European migrants and, more recently, for migrants from the developing world. Religious, artistic, economic, political, and scientific freedoms remain almost irresistible pull factors, which, in turn, usually enhance the degree of freedom that existed. New York, London, Paris, Sydney, Toronto, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Miami, and Boston are vibrant and dynamic because of the freedom that characterizes them and attracts talent and financial resources from around the world. Economic opportunities are one of the most powerful pull factors. People have historically migrated to industrial areas that offered employment and financial and entrepreneurial opportunities. Income inequality between rural and urban areas or between developing and developed countries generally induces people to migrate to seek higher income. Economic opportunities of an earlier period of globalization, between 1870 and 1910, influenced roughly 10 percent of the world’s population to immigrate. Millions of Europeans migrated from poor countries to industrialized societies on the Continent and to the United States, Canada, Australia, Argentina, Brazil, and other Latin American countries. It is estimated that 12 million Chinese emigrated between 1815 and 1914, many of them from the south of China. Mexicans are motivated to migrate to the United States partly because many of them can earn much more money doing similar jobs in the United States. This is a global phenomenon. Higher wages in Britain, France, and Germany, combined with labor shortages in those countries following World War II, attracted immigrants from the Caribbean, India, Africa, and Turkey. Similarly, higher wages in the mining industry in South Africa induced people from neighboring countries to migrate to South Africa. Oil wealth and jobs in the Persian Gulf countries pulled more than 3.5 million Asians to the region. Demand for inexpensive and reliable labor contributed to the development of an Indian diaspora that covers sixty-three countries and has more than 20 million people. A diaspora is a community of people living outside their original or ancestral country. Colonization and financial globalization combined to create a very powerful pull factor between 1820 and 1920. European colonization of the Americas, Asia, and Africa was accompanied by massive flows of capital. Industrialization in Europe generated a significant supply of capital, which stimulated an expansion of industrialization overseas. Colonization enticed millions of Europeans and others to emigrate. Many of these areas had been settled long before the arrival of Europeans, a reality that often resulted in the forceful removal and even death of native populations. More than sixty million Europeans migrated to the Americas, Asia, and eastern and southern Africa. Demand for inexpensive labor in the European colonies led to the migration of roughly twelve million Chinese and thirty million Indians to areas conquered and colonized by Europeans. The British, who colonized India, encouraged Indians to migrate to British colonies, including Burma (now Myanmar), Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago, British Guyana, Kenya, South Africa, and Uganda. Many Indians returned to India eventually, but a significant number, estimated to be six million, remained abroad.9 Globalization is widely viewed as one of the most significant pull factors in relation to migration. Globalization, especially economic and cultural globalization, enables poor people to see prosperity in rich countries. Movies, magazines, television, and tourism contribute to promoting glamorous and desirable lifestyles in developed countries. Globalization shrinks the world, thereby making it easier for people to compare themselves not only with their immediate neighbors but also with people around the world. Globalization creates dreams that many individuals in poor countries find irresistible. Global cities enable immigrants to blend into the population and become low-wage workers in hotels, restaurants, sweatshops, homes of American families, manufacturing and retail companies, and agribusiness. Family reunification and cultural ties are major pull factors. In many parts of the world, people migrate to places where they know someone, which gives rise to a concentration of immigrants from a particular country or a region of a country in certain areas. For example, many early Scandinavian immigrants went primarily to the United States and settled in Midwestern agricultural states, including Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Illinois, and Iowa. The largest group of migrants is composed of relatives of individuals who are already living in a specific country. Family reunification is a leading objective of immigration policies in several countries. In many cases, one family member will immigrate to a particular country and, once relatively economically secure, will encourage family members to join him or her. This phenomenon is known as chain migration. Sparsely populated areas, as we have seen, provide a significant pull factor. As we mentioned earlier, European conquest and colonization of the Americas, Asia, and Africa provided opportunities for certain parts of Europe to relieve their population pressures. North America and Australia attracted millions of European emigrants. However, anthropological evidence supports the view that the Americas had vast human populations when the Europeans arrived. Today, many European countries have declining population growth, a development that is inducing the growth of both legal and illegal migration to that region. Many countries have large areas that have few inhabitants. In Brazil, for example, the vast and sparsely settled Amazon region continues to attract settlers from other parts of Brazil and other countries. Earlier we pointed out how many states in the American Midwest have been losing population. To ease this population decline, Iowa, for example, has responded by creating an immigration enterprise zone. Iowa hopes to become a priority destination for refugees and foreigners who are willing to migrate in search of economic opportunities. Closely related to freedom and economic opportunities as pull factors is the availability of educational and cultural opportunities. Western Europe, Canada, and the United States have long been magnets for students, artists, and professionals from many countries. Globalization has facilitated educational and cultural exchanges to an unprecedented degree and, in the process, is creating a global community of individuals who are connected by common educational and cultural experiences. Many foreign-born students and professionals achieve great success in the United States, which encourages more students and professionals to immigrate to that country. For example, the unpopularity of careers in science among American students reinforces the demand for foreign students to study A Serbian Wanting to Enter the European Union Waited at the Razor-Wire Border with Hungary, Which Had Sealed Off Access from Serbia and was Arresting Migrants. science and engineering and to become part of the science and engineering workforce in the United States.10

11.5: Case Studies 11.5 Illustrate how migration and population issues are important components of human, national, and global security The following case studies provide examples of migration to specific countries. The case studies show that governments and nonstate actors regard migration and population issues as extremely important components of human, national, and global security. The way the world views migration is likely to be affected by the November 13, 2015 terrorist attack on Paris, which, in early reports, implicated Islamic terrorists from Africa and the Middle East. 11.5.1: The United States More than any country in the world, the United States is known as an immigrant country. Consequently, most Americans—with the exception of Native Americans and Americans of English and African descent—are descendants of people who migrated to the United States less than three hundred years ago. The demand for labor in the United States, together with poverty, conflict, and oppression in Europe, led to the migration of millions of Europeans to America. Rapid westward expansion and the need for a growing population to develop agriculture as well as industry attracted emigrants primarily from Western and Northern Europe until the early 1900s. Agricultural problems in Scandinavia, for example, prompted Swedes, Danes, Norwegians, and Finns to emigrate and settle in agricultural states in the Midwest.11 By 1901, most emigrants came from Southern and Eastern Europe. Chinese and Japanese immigrants came to California in the 1850s to work in the gold mines, on the railroads, and in agriculture. The United States adopted policies that excluded Asians and restricted immigrants from non-European countries. Growing fears about America’s changing ethnic composition and about competition from new arrivals among “old stock” Americans led to the passage of legislation in 1921 that initiated the national quota system, which remained in place until 1965. The national quota system was designed to preserve the ethnic or national composition of the United States as of 1920. Quotas for emigrants from any one country were calculated in terms of one-sixteenth of 1 percent of persons of that national origin already in the United States. There was an absolute ceiling of two thousand emigrants from the Asia-Pacific region.12 Improved economic conditions in Europe and the abolishment of the national quota system in 1965 changed the pattern of U.S. immigration. Most of the new arrivals are from the developing world, with various groups dominating particular parts of the country. For example, Mexicans comprise the majority of new immigrants in California, Texas, and Illinois; Dominicans, Chinese, and Indians are prominent in New York; and Cubans are the leading group in Florida. Immigrants make up a large proportion of America’s population, and demographic projections indicate that they will be largely responsible for the country’s population growth. Mexico’s geographic proximity to the United States and historical factors combine to make the growing number of Mexican migrants in the United States a contentious issue. Many Mexicans were already living in Texas, California, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, and Colorado when these areas were taken by the United States from Mexico during the Mexican-American War, which lasted from 1846 to 1848. The annexation of these territories by the United States did not significantly alter migration across the newly established borders. Economic and political problems in Mexico have traditionally served as push factors, and the demand for labor and economic opportunities in the United States have functioned as pull factors. For example, the demand for labor in the United States during World War II brought Mexicans to America under the Bracero Program. The Bracero Program was a set of agreements between the United States and Mexico that facilitated the migration of Mexican workers, on a temporary basis, to work principally in agriculture. The increase in legal migration under the program was accompanied by the growth of illegal immigration. From 1942 to 1952, roughly nine hundred thousand Mexican workers entered the United States under the Bracero Program, compared with more than two million illegal workers during the same period. In response to economic competition as well as fears about Communists entering the country through Mexico, the United States launched Operation Wetback (from 1954 to 1959) in which hundreds of thousands of Mexicans were arrested and deported. However, by the time the Bracero Program ended in 1964, the relationship between Mexican workers and American employers was so well established that controlling the flow of migrants across the U.S.-Mexican border was almost impossible. Emigration from Mexico, both legal and illegal, became a reality of American life. Mexican emigrants throughout the United States are employed in all sectors of the economy. 11.5.2: Western Europe The growing unification of Europe, manifested in the creation and strengthening of the European Union, also enables illegal immigrants to move from one country to another once they enter a member country of the European Union. Italy and Greece provide many entry points for migrants desperate to settle in Western Europe. Illegal immigrants come from North Africa, Eastern and Central Europe, the Middle East, Latin America and the Caribbean, China, sub-Saharan Africa, India, Russia, the former Soviet Republics, and elsewhere. Political turmoil in Libya and civil war in Syria contributed to an increase in migrants from those countries. Variations in immigration policies among EU members make some countries more attractive than others to migrants. For example, thousands of refugees gather in France at the entrance of the English Channel tunnel waiting for an opportunity, often fatal, to hide in trains and trucks going to Britain, which has more generous refugee policies than France even though facing economic stagnation, Britain tightened its immigration policy. Germany’s strong economy makes it a magnet for migrants from Spain, Portugal, and Italy. With the unprecedented flow of immigrants from Africa and the Middle East, xenophobic, nationalistic, and sometimes anti-Muslim political sentiment has been strengthened, represented by such parties as Ukip (UK Independence Party) in Great Britain, Golden Dawn in Greece, and Pegida (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West) in Germany. Several preliminary European plans for dealing with the flow of migrants surfaced at an emergency summit in Brussels shortly after the April 2015 deaths of 800 migrants in the worst single Mediterranean migrant disaster in history. Those possible plans included increasing sea patrols and search-and-rescue missions, systematic efforts to destroy vessels before they can be used by traffickers, fingerprinting every immigrant, and gathering intelligence from countries bordering Libya in an attempt to stem the flow of migrants. Weeks after that emergency summit, European leaders agreed to use naval power to stop smugglers with human cargo before or soon after they leave African ports, return the migrants to the ports or take them to Europe for asylum consideration, and destroy the ships being used to transport them. Pressures were growing on Western Europe from the flow of migrants from Africa and the Middle East when the scenario may have changed dramatically with the November 13, 2015 terrorist massacre in Paris, which was the most destructive attack on Paris since World War II. The terrorist group Islamic State claimed credit for the act, and early reports indicated that at least one of the terrorists may have entered Europe as a migrant from Syria. France  The influx of large numbers of immigrants from developing countries into France must be seen in the broader context of French colonialism and the demand for labor. France, like the United States, views its revolution as having universal significance and has developed a tradition of respecting the civil and human rights of foreigners. Its self-perception as a champion of the developing world reinforced its policy of accepting migrants from poor countries. France adopted a policy of assimilation toward its colonies in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and the Pacific, under which many residents of French colonies gained French citizenship and were free to migrate to France. Many Africans, Asians, and people from the Caribbean found employment in France, especially following World War I, which had such a devastating impact on the French population that the country had to import labor for its industries. World War II also created demand for labor from the colonies. Algeria’s struggle for independence from France (1954–1962) resulted in hundreds of thousands of Algerians gaining asylum in France because of their support for France. More migrants from France’s former colonies arrived in the 1960s to meet the labor needs of France’s growing economy. The largest number of migrants came from Muslim countries—such as Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco, and Senegal—a development, as we have seen, that resulted in the large number of Muslims in France today. As in other parts of Europe, rising immigration is fueling political and social extremism in France. Jean-Marie Le Pen, who led the National Front party, consistently advocated ending legal immigration and deporting illegal immigrants. His daughter, Marine Le Pen, who replaced him, holds strong anti-Muslim views. As is the case throughout Europe, Romanies (Gypsies), who migrate from Bulgaria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Romania, and Slovakia to France face harsh discrimination. Many Romanies are viewed as being responsible for rising crime rates, street begging, and squalid shantytowns. France deported more than eight thousand Romanies to Bulgaria and Romania and cleared hundreds of illegal camps.13 France’s actions were widely criticized and compared to Nazi treatment of the Romanies, which we discussed in Chapter 3. Germany  Unlike the United States, Canada, and Australia, Germany is not traditionally an immigrant country. Instead, Germany encouraged its citizens to immigrate to North America, Eastern Europe, Latin America, and elsewhere to diminish population pressures and economic problems at home. Between 1920 and 1950, almost seven million Germans settled in the United States, many of them in the Midwestern agricultural states. This pattern of migration was radically altered by Germany’s initiation of World War II and the devastation it experienced in that conflict. Similar to Britain and France, Germany lost so many of its citizens in the war that it was forced to import labor to help in its economic reconstruction. This was especially so after the construction of the Berlin Wall, built by the Soviet Union to divide East Germany from West Germany. The Berlin Wall effectively reduced to a trickle the flow of migrants from Communist East Germany to the more prosperous capitalist West Germany. The growing domestic and global market for West Germany’s cars, machine tools, appliances, and other manufactured products influenced the government to recruit foreign workers, primarily from Spain, Greece, Turkey, and Portugal. The government and trade unions agreed that Germans and foreigners would receive equal wages. Under the Gastarbeiter rotation system, foreign workers were regarded as guest workers who would remain in Germany for one to three years and then return to their home countries. Today, almost 3 million Turks live in Germany. The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the reunification of Germany complicated immigration issues as millions of East Germans migrated to West Germany for economic opportunities and as Germany struggled to develop the former East Germany. Unemployment became a major issue as Germany’s economy weakened. Faced with the influx of migrants from Eastern Europe, the former Yugoslavia, and other countries, Germans began to perceive immigrants as economic competitors and threats to their country’s cultural values. 11.5.3: Australia Wars, terrorism, and escalating religious violence in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and other places in the Middle East and Central Asia have created a wave of migrating people who have well-founded fears of being killed or severely harmed. Indiscriminate killing in Pakistan and Afghanistan of Hazaras, who are Shiities, by Sunni sectarian death squads has forced Hazaras to make a long and perilous journey by air, land, and eventually sea to seek asylum in Australia. Their main goal is to get to Christmas Island, a small Australian territory roughly 240 miles from Indonesia, from where they board unseaworthy boats with the help of smugglers. In 2013, more than twenty thousand migrants in around 250 boats sought asylum in Australia. Unlike the United States and Europe, which share land borders with areas with large numbers of people who want to emigrate, Australia is isolated and extremely difficult to reach from the Middle East and Central Asia by people in boats. What makes Australia an interesting case study is the disconnect between how prominently the issue of people in boats is in the country’s domestic political struggles and the actual scale of the problem, especially when compared to Italy, Greece, or the United States. Australia has engaged in wide-ranging efforts to discourage and prevent refugees from attempting to reach Christmas Island, even though it is aware of the conditions they are fleeing. John Howard, Australia’s conservative prime minister, opened camps for people in boats in Nauru, an eight-square-mile island state in Micronesia, and on Manus Island in impoverished Papua New Guinea. He called this policy the Pacific Solution. Australia has tried to disrupt smuggling networks by collaborating with Pakistan’s intelligence services; using undercover agents in Indonesia; and offering up to $180,000 for information leading to a smuggler’s arrest. Subsequent leaders supported that approach. Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who initially viewed the Pacific Solution policy as wrong and costly, later decided to embrace it, claiming that it would save lives. In the struggle for political leadership in 2013, Kevin Rudd, Australia’s prime minister, decided to prevent the settlement in Australia of any refugee arriving by boat. Instead, they would be intercepted at sea, detained, and eventually resettled in Nauru and Papua New Guinea.14 This practice was reinforced by Tony Abbott, who became prime minister in September 2013, in his Operation Sovereign Borders policy, which enables the Australian Navy to send asylum seekers intercepted at sea back to Indonesia. Even if they prove they are genuine refugees, they have little or no chance of settling in Australia. Australia’s approach to asylum-seeking people in boats is a contentious issue and an impediment in its relations with Indonesia, a country considered by Abbott to be the centerpiece of Australia’s foreign policy. Many Indonesians viewed Abbott’s offer to pay them to spy on traffickers and his plan to purchase boats from fishermen to prevent them from selling them to smugglers as violations of their sovereignty. Australia’s policy is also criticized by human rights groups and UN officials. Australia’s Human Rights Commissions launched an investigation to determine the impact of lengthy detainment of children in asylum detention camps and whether Australia is violating the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Australia’s policy, which was upheld by the Australian High Court, has ended the flow of migrants. Unprecedented flows of migrants from the Middle East and North Africa across the Mediterranean into Europe, especially Italy and Malta, reinforced the confidence of several Australian leaders in the pragmatism of the Operation Sovereign Borders policy. Many suggested that Europe should adopt Australia’s approach. Indonesia, faced with growing numbers of migrants arriving by boat, primarily from Myanmar and Bangladesh, adopted a policy similar to Australia’s. Indonesia, which had been highly critical of Australia, decided to prevent migrants from reaching its shores and told Indonesian fishermen not to rescue them. Thailand and Malaysia implemented similar policies. Responding to strong global opposition to their policies, Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to allow the migrants to stay in their territories for one year, after which they would be resettled elsewhere. Disturbing accounts emerged about the discovery of mass graves in Malaysia and abusive treatment of migrants by people smugglers. eventually resettled in Nauru and Papua New Guinea.14 This practice was reinforced by Tony Abbott, who became prime minister in September 2013, in his Operation Sovereign Borders policy, which enables the Australian Navy to send asylum seekers intercepted at sea back to Indonesia. Even if they prove they are genuine refugees, they have little or no chance of settling in Australia. Australia’s approach to asylum-seeking people in boats is a contentious issue and an impediment in its relations with Indonesia, a country considered by Abbott to be the centerpiece of Australia’s foreign policy. Many Indonesians viewed Abbott’s offer to pay them to spy on traffickers and his plan to purchase boats from fishermen to prevent them from selling them to smugglers as violations of their sovereignty. Australia’s policy is also criticized by human rights groups and UN officials. Australia’s Human Rights Commissions launched an investigation to determine the impact of lengthy detainment of children in asylum detention camps and whether Australia is violating the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Australia’s policy, which was upheld by the Australian High Court, has ended the flow of migrants. Unprecedented flows of migrants from the Middle East and North Africa across the Mediterranean into Europe, especially Italy and Malta, reinforced the confidence of several Australian leaders in the pragmatism of the Operation Sovereign Borders policy. Many suggested that Europe should adopt Australia’s approach. Indonesia, faced with growing numbers of migrants arriving by boat, primarily from Myanmar and Bangladesh, adopted a policy similar to Australia’s. Indonesia, which had been highly critical of Australia, decided to prevent migrants from reaching its shores and told Indonesian fishermen not to rescue them. Thailand and Malaysia implemented similar policies. Responding to strong global opposition to their policies, Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to allow the migrants to stay in their territories for one year, after which they would be resettled elsewhere. Disturbing accounts emerged about the discovery of mass graves in Malaysia and abusive treatment of migrants by people smugglers.

11.6: Social, Economic, and Political Implications of Migration 11.6 Examine the social, economic, and political implications of migration on the sending and receiving countries As we have seen throughout this chapter, migration has profound social economic, and political implications for both sending and receiving countries. Migration deepens cultural, economic, and political ties among countries, thereby creating an increasingly global community in which nationalism, ethnicity, and traditionalism are weakened, and broader and more complex forms of identity are emerging. Combined with other aspects of globalization such as communications, transportation, finance, and trade, migration challenges the traditional nation-state and transforms international relations. Migration has contributed to the increase of dual citizenship and the rise in the number of people with multiple passports. 11.6.1: The Impact of Migration on Sending Countries Both gains and losses result when large numbers of people migrate. Brain drain (i.e., the migration of highly educated and trained people) is widely regarded as a serious problem and a major impediment to development in poor countries. Many doctors, nurses, teachers, and university professors leave poorer countries and rural areas for higher-paying jobs and better opportunities in neighboring countries as well as in rich industrial countries. As many as seventy thousand educated and skilled Africans migrate to Western Europe, Canada, the United States, and elsewhere each year. This brain drain has significant implications for poor countries. Many medical problems in poor countries are negatively impacted by a shortage of medical personnel. It is estimated that half the recent graduates from the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology migrate to the United States. They are driven out by push factors such as overregulation, higher taxes, stagnant career paths, and numerous impediments to entrepreneurship. Many are attracted to the United States by better economic opportunities and a dynamic environment conducive to economic success and personal growth. The fact that most Indian immigrants speak English enables them to easily integrate into American society. It is estimated that one third of the engineers in Silicon Valley are of Indian origin. About 7 percent of Silicon Valley’s high-tech firms are managed by Indians.15 But the migration of talented individuals is seen as detrimental to India’s economic development. On the other hand, many countries have a problem of brain overflow, which is essentially an oversupply of skilled individuals. Many poor countries, such as the Philippines, India, and Egypt, have become exporters of highly educated people because of their inability to utilize their talents. Remittances (i.e., money earned abroad that is sent by migrants to their home countries) play a crucial role in the economic development of poor societies. Given the fact that remittances are transferred by millions of migrants in various ways, it is extremely difficult to know how much money migrants send to their families or invest in their home countries. Remittances clearly create networks of interdependence among countries, NGOs, and individuals. Organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) have developed strategies to assist migrants in transmitting remittances more economically. This development reflects the growing economic impact of remittances on developing countries. It is estimated that remittances totaled $500 billion in 2013. 11.6.2: The Impact of Migration on Receiving Countries Most receiving countries are characterized by increasing cultural and ethnic diversity. Think about New York, London, Toronto, Miami, and Paris. Migration has profoundly influenced food, social relations, education, communications, art, literature, music, fashion, and architecture. Migration also raises questions about nationality. Are you a citizen? Migration challenges traditional ideas about who belongs or should belong to receiving countries. These questions are at the heart of anti-immigration nationalism and multiculturalism in Western Europe and, to a much lesser degree, in the United States. Since 2000, the Hispanic population in the United States has grown by 43 percent, compared with 5 percent for the rest of the population. Migration has transformed politics in many receiving countries, especially the United States. Because many migrants maintain links with their home societies, they influence international relations as well as the domestic politics of sending countries. Many anti-immigration nationalists view these links as threats and as a part of the broader issue of a clash of civilizations, as we will discuss in Chapter 14. President Obama used executive action to introduce a program to defer the deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants in the United States. Just before the program, named Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents (DAPA), was to go into effect, it was blocked by a federal judge in Texas. Economic issues are at the heart of migration. As fertility rates decline and the population ages in rich countries, the need for young workers becomes a priority. But many countries remain divided on the issue.16 Migrants provide flexible workers and highly skilled professionals to labor-scarce economic sectors. They help reduce inflation by lowering prices of domestically produced goods and services, and also contribute to entitlement programs such as Social Security. Immigrants have contributed billions of dollars more to Medicare than the program has paid out on their behalf.17 On the other hand, migrants often depress local wages, put pressure on health and education services, and undermine labor rights. Simultaneously, they help create a cultural generation gap that often engenders hostility and a reluctance of the older population to allocate resources to programs for the young. As we saw in Chapter 1, the rise and fall of great powers cannot be separated from demographics. Migration played an essential role in the rise of Holland, Britain, and the United States. Migration is giving America a demographic advantage over other developed countries where population is aging rapidly. Young migrants are crucial to America’s renewal, economic growth, cultural vitality, and military power. In Europe, some anti-immigration forces fear that ISIS militants are entering Europe illegally by mixing in with refugees traveling the dangerous route by boat to Italy from Africa and the Middle East, and they recommend cutting back on rescue and aid to those asylum seekers. The November 13, 2015 terrorist attack on Paris, for which Islamic State (ISIS) militants claimed credit and which early reports traced to at least one migrant from Syria, is likely to have profound political repercussions regarding migration. Case Study Global Aging and Pensions Demographic changes have profound implications for a wide range of global issues. In many ways, population problems help determine the fate of nations and human survival. National security is affected as the proportion of younger people, who fight wars, declines, and as governments are pressured to reduce military spending in order to allocate more scarce resources to the elderly population. The broader issue of human security, discussed in Chapter 1, is becoming increasingly important as the consequences of aging populations become more acute, especially in Japan, Western Europe, the United States, China, and Canada. The proportion of people aged sixty and older in those countries comprises between 20 and 30 percent of the population, a proportion that is rapidly growing. Due to low fertility rates and the one-child policy in China, the longer people live there means there will be fewer young people to support them, thereby diminishing the traditional intergenerational contract that provided a safety net for the elderly. Faced with growing poverty and loneliness among the elderly, China passed a law requiring children to visit their elderly parents and to support them financially. However, these legal obligations are difficult to enforce due to the mass migration of young people from rural areas to urban industrial centers. High suicide rates among the elderly in South Korea are due primarily to declining Confucian traditions that require children to take care of aging parents. Many elderly Koreans live alone and in poverty. Pensions are expensive to provide as people are living much longer and as investments to fund their retirement are not yielding high returns and actually lost money during the global financial crisis. When the United States implemented pensions in 1935 to alleviate economic hardships in old age, the official pension age was sixty-five, and the average life expectancy was sixty-two. Now, America’s pension age has risen to sixty-six, but people on average retire at sixty-four and many live for another twenty or thirty years. In America, state and local pension benefits are generally guaranteed by law. This means that even as states are facing growing budget deficits, they are constitutionally required to meet their obligations to retirees. There are two main types of retirement plans: defined benefit plans, under which retirees are paid a proportion of their final salaries (which is as high as 90 percent, in Colorado), and defined contribution plans, under which employees’ pensions are determined by the performance of investments they and their employers made. Many pension plans cover health insurance, which is becoming increasingly expensive as the population ages. Efforts to deal with the problems of aging and pensions by raising the retirement age (from sixty to sixty-two, in France, for example) were met with large protests in France, Greece, and elsewhere. Labor unions, mainly teachers and other public employees, staged extended protests in Wisconsin to prevent the state government from weakening their collective bargaining power. Finding solutions to problems related to aging and pensions is difficult, due partly to political pressures and the fact that those making decisions on pensions want to protect their own retirement benefits. An important part of the solution is to limit the practice of early retirement to special cases. Raising the retirement age is widely viewed as being responsible toward young people who have to support aging populations and simultaneously secure their own retirements. A later retirement age increases the number of workers as well as tax revenues. Raising the retirement age for lower-paid workers is generally opposed on the grounds that their jobs are strenuous and their life expectancy is shorter than that of higher-paid workers. Many countries are already implementing less expensive defined benefit plans or switching to defined contribution plans. Some countries encourage people to have more children, an idea that has been rejected in rich countries such as Singapore. A more realistic alternative is to encourage immigration to help take care of the elderly, strengthen the economy, and provide more tax revenues to fund pensions and healthcare costs.

Summary

Migration is an important issue throughout many countries and regions of the world today. It has greatly contributed to globalization and to an increased interdependence among many countries and peoples. This chapter illustrates how population and migration issues are essentially about politics, economics, and culture. Population issues are an increasing problem in the developed and developing countries as they hinder economic growth and place great pressures on already strained populations. Underpopulation has become a major problem due to a rapid increase in aging populations throughout developed countries. In an attempt to rectify this problem, some states have attempted to increase fertility rates domestically and encourage immigration from abroad. High rates of population growth have had devastating consequences in the developed world as well. In an effort to ease overpopulation, many developing countries have resorted to strict population controls; an example is China’s former one-child policy. Other countries have encouraged their citizens to migrate to other states. Migration has various forms. It can be forced or induced. Sometimes it is temporary, as when workers return to their countries of origin. Migration can be regional or transcontinental, and it can be seasonal or permanent. Many factors have contributed to increased migration. Push factors—such as environmental disasters, high unemployment, high population growth rates, state repression, and discrimination—have encouraged many to look for safer homes where they can pursue prosperous futures. Pull factors have also enticed many to migrate, seeking economic and political freedoms, a safer environment for themselves and their families, educational opportunities, and a chance to earn higher wages.

12.1: The Globalization of Crime

12.1 Outline ways in which globalization facilitates the growth of global crime Global crime has existed with legal commerce for centuries. In fact, crime has been an integral component of human society. By diminishing the significance of geographic distance, globalization enables criminal networks to grow alongside legal global activities and to establish connections within many different countries. As we will discuss, alliances are common among criminal organizations involved in trafficking in humans, drugs, weapons, and various illicit products. Although globalization has contributed to increased economic equality among and within nations, it is widely perceived as contributing to more inequality. To an unprecedented degree of poignancy, globalization heightens the awareness of the economic and social disparities between the rich and the poor within nations and between rich and poor countries. Not only do poor people perceive themselves as losers in the process of globalization, they have little incentive to adhere to rules that they perceive to be adverse to their interests. For example, convincing coca farmers in Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia that they should not participate in illegal drug production has been difficult. Similarly, small farmers in Afghanistan continue to produce poppies that are used to make heroin. The insatiable demand for illegal drugs in the United States, Western Europe, and elsewhere perpetuates efforts by drug traffickers to supply drugs. Although organized crime imposes excessive burdens on society, particularly the poor, many criminal groups, to gain political influence and legitimacy, invest in social services, athletic facilities, housing, and medical services. These areas have been largely neglected by many governments as part of the privatization process required by economic globalization. Ultimately, global crime is integrated into the fabric of these societies and enjoys significant official and unofficial protection. In some cases, weak institutional capabilities have prevented governments from reducing global crime. Consequently, there has been an unprecedented escalation in crimes such as trade in pirated goods, illegal arms, human trafficking, and illegal drugs. The disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 was one of the most important developments contributing to the emergence and growth of global crime. Rapid political and economic changes in Eastern and Central European countries further enhanced opportunities for widespread criminal activities. Exploiting the weakness of the Russian government, organized criminal groups consolidated their power domestically and built strategic alliances with global criminal organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean. Russian criminal groups proliferated throughout Central Europe, in countries such as the Czech Republic, as successful revolutions against Communism ushered in social disorganization, poorly guarded national borders, free-market economies, and a willingness of young people to experiment with drugs. Furthermore, as we discussed in Chapter 1, the expansion of the European Union (EU) into Central and Eastern Europe and the removal of many national barriers to the movement of people and products facilitated the growth of criminal activities.

12.1: The Globalization of Crime 12.1 Outline ways in which globalization facilitates the growth of global crime Global crime has existed with legal commerce for centuries. In fact, crime has been an integral component of human society. By diminishing the significance of geographic distance, globalization enables criminal networks to grow alongside legal global activities and to establish connections within many different countries. As we will discuss, alliances are common among criminal organizations involved in trafficking in humans, drugs, weapons, and various illicit products. Although globalization has contributed to increased economic equality among and within nations, it is widely perceived as contributing to more inequality. To an unprecedented degree of poignancy, globalization heightens the awareness of the economic and social disparities between the rich and the poor within nations and between rich and poor countries. Not only do poor people perceive themselves as losers in the process of globalization, they have little incentive to adhere to rules that they perceive to be adverse to their interests. For example, convincing coca farmers in Peru, Colombia, and Bolivia that they should not participate in illegal drug production has been difficult. Similarly, small farmers in Afghanistan continue to produce poppies that are used to make heroin. The insatiable demand for illegal drugs in the United States, Western Europe, and elsewhere perpetuates efforts by drug traffickers to supply drugs. Although organized crime imposes excessive burdens on society, particularly the poor, many criminal groups, to gain political influence and legitimacy, invest in social services, athletic facilities, housing, and medical services. These areas have been largely neglected by many governments as part of the privatization process required by economic globalization. Ultimately, global crime is integrated into the fabric of these societies and enjoys significant official and unofficial protection. In some cases, weak institutional capabilities have prevented governments from reducing global crime. Consequently, there has been an unprecedented escalation in crimes such as trade in pirated goods, illegal arms, human trafficking, and illegal drugs. The disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991 was one of the most important developments contributing to the emergence and growth of global crime. Rapid political and economic changes in Eastern and Central European countries further enhanced opportunities for widespread criminal activities. Exploiting the weakness of the Russian government, organized criminal groups consolidated their power domestically and built strategic alliances with global criminal organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean. Russian criminal groups proliferated throughout Central Europe, in countries such as the Czech Republic, as successful revolutions against Communism ushered in social disorganization, poorly guarded national borders, free-market economies, and a willingness of young people to experiment with drugs. Furthermore, as we discussed in Chapter 1, the expansion of the European Union (EU) into Central and Eastern Europe and the removal of many national barriers to the movement of people and products facilitated the growth of criminal activities. also undermine the war on drugs. Most importantly, the war on drugs largely ignores the demand for drugs within the United States, Europe, and elsewhere. Coca production in Colombia was not significantly reduced, despite the more than $6 billion pumped into that effort by the United States. Homicides have escalated at the U.S.-Mexican border as drug cartels fight to dominate the illegal drug trade. Drug cartels moved to Honduras, which provides landing points for 40 percent of the cocaine destined for the United States. Drug smugglers use impoverished small corrupt West African countries such as Guinea-Bissau as new transshipment points for drugs going to Europe from Latin America. 5  Conflict in Syria and improved law enforcement against drug trafficking in Central Europe have led to an increase in the smuggling of heroin from Afghanistan into Western Europe through East Africa. Caribbean islands are major transshipment points for cocaine imports into the United States and Europe. As drug trafficking through Central America and Mexico has declined, the volume of drugs moving through the Caribbean has surged, demonstrating the  balloon effect , which means that pressure on one drug route creates a bulge in another area. The prevalence of private yachts, private planes, huge cruise ships, corrupt governments, weak law enforcement, and extensive connections between Caribbean islands and Europe and America facilitate drug trafficking. More than a hundred thousand Mexicans have been killed since 2007. The drug war and weapons sales became a major issue in U.S.-Mexican relations. In an effort to diminish violence and reduce drug sales, the United States began sending drones over Mexico to locate traffickers and follow their networks. Fast and Furious, an undercover operation by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, became a scandal after Americans learned that the operation, in hopes of following weapons purchased illegally in the United States for Mexican drug bosses, lost track of many weapons that were later used to commit crimes in Mexico. Also, concerned about increasing murders, many Mexicans demonstrated and called for an end to the drug war and for the legalization of drugs. President Enrique Peña Nieto promised to rely less on using force to reduce drug-related violence.

By contrast, Europeans concentrate on treating drug addiction more as a medical problem while supporting efforts to reduce drug supplies. Harm reduction approaches acknowledge the weaknesses of the war-on-drugs approach. Holland and Australia became pioneers in implementing the harm-reduction approach. Holland decriminalized possession and use of small amounts of “soft” drugs such as marijuana and provides “safe injection rooms” so that addicts can avoid public places. Both Holland and Australia distribute supplies of clean needles and sterile syringes to drug addicts to reduce the spread of HIV and AIDS and support medical treatment for addicts. More countries are debating legalizing marijuana. Uruguay became the first country to legalize the production, sale, and consumption of marijuana. Washington, D.C., and Alaska were pioneers in legalizing recreational marijuana use. Also, more than twenty states plus the District of Columbia have legalized the use of medical

Drug Violence is Escalating in Mexico. How can the United States Help Reduce Crime there? Mexican forensic specialists work in a mass grave where they found eight bodies of people who had been murdered in drug violence.

marijuana. The Organization of American States suggested that legalizing marijuana should be considered among a range of ideas to reassess how the drug war is conducted. Jamaica allows the use of marijuana for religious, scientific, and medical purposes and has decriminalized possession of small amounts (two ounces or less) of the drug. West African leaders have called on countries to decriminalize low-level drug use and focus on prevention and treatment rather than incarceration of individual drug users, reasoning that the sophisticated high-level drug trade is the true problem in that region.

12.3: Sexual Crimes 12.3 Report causes behind the global issues of sexual crimes against women A sharp increase in brutal gang rapes in 2013, especially in India, concentrated worldwide attention on sexual violence as a leading global crime. Violence against women is extremely high in Asian, Latin American, and African societies. Chapter 3 discusses rape as an instrument of war. Countries that are very violent in general, such as South Africa, Brazil, and El Salvador, have high rates of sexual violence. An underlying cause of crimes against women is an obsession with the punishment of women. This is reflected in the practice of honor killings. Some women who are raped are blamed for violence against them and are killed by their relatives to preserve the honor and reputation of the family. This encourages men to rape women and discourages women from reporting rape. Approximately 125 million girls and women globally are victims of female genital mutilation (FGM), which includes removal of all or part of the clitoris and infibulation, or sewing up of the labia. A majority of girls and women in Somalia, Egypt, Mali, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Mauritania have experienced FGM. This violence against females is concentrated in the Middle East and Africa. This is a cultural norm that results in deaths, disfigurement, and lifelong suffering. In 2015, Nigeria passed a law seeking to eliminate FGM in that country, where an estimated 25 percent of girls have undergone the act. Rights groups in Nigeria acknowledge the law is only the first step and must be followed by a change in traditional cultural views. Ingrained cultural values, beliefs, and attitudes are at the foundation of sexual violence. Male domination is perpetuated by social, religious, political, and economic institutions in most countries. Societies generally value girls less than boys. Millions of female fetuses are aborted in India, China, and elsewhere. Millions more girls than boys die in childhood as a consequence of violence, neglect, and malnutrition. Attacks on women are generally ignored, and laws that purport to protect women and girls against sexual abuse are frequently unenforced. The general societal indifference to the abduction and sale of girls and women in West Africa underscores this practice. Believing that they are following purified teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, both ISIS and Boko Haram jihadists, discussed in Chapters 5, 11, and 14, have raped and enslaved women. ISIS recruits fighters from around the world by stressing that forcing captured women to be sex slaves is sanctioned by Islamic law and customs. Globally, millions of girls sixteen years and younger are forced into child marriages by their families. Traditions, poverty, and lack of education are among the main factors perpetuating sexual crimes against girls. West African countries such as Chad, Niger, and Nigeria are particularly notorious for having child brides. Most child brides remain uneducated, are frequently abused, and as a group suffer high rates of maternal mortality. The case that galvanized global awareness, intense debate, protests, and demands for fundamental change was the shockingly brutal gang rape and torture of a twenty-three-year-old Indian college student on a bus. She died from severe injuries. Rape is so common in India that virtually every woman has encountered some form of sexual violence or is aware of women who have. Younger educated urbanized Indians are more likely to reject traditional views about women and are leading efforts to effectuate change. What seems like a sudden burst of anger against sexual violence has its foundations deep in Indian society. Resentment against violence has been building for some time. The official number of rapes greatly underestimates the vast scale of sexual crimes. Women are routinely abused and ignored. Eve teasing, a trivializing and condescending euphemism for sexual harassment, is ingrained in Indian culture. Women who are raped are blamed by police and others for causing rape by promiscuous behavior. Police often fail to respond in cases of violence against women and less than one-fourth of reported rapes end in conviction. Many women who marry across caste or religious boundaries are murdered. The ancient custom of dowry, which requires a woman’s family to pay a man to marry her, remains embedded in Indian culture. More than 8,000 women are killed each year in dowry disputes. One of the most serious sexual crimes is the widespread practice of sex-selective abortions, also called female feticide, which has resulted in roughly 160 million girls not being born. This practice is most prevalent in India and China. Also, infanticide of girl babies who have been born has been a problematic practice in India and China for centuries. Cultural practices and religious attitudes encourage parents to believe that boys are more prized and will be the children who will take care of them in their old age. South Africa has one of the highest rates of sexual crimes in the world. Even children are routinely raped by men who believe that this crime will cure them of HIV/AIDS. The brutal practice of apartheid, or strict legal racial segregation and discrimination, was based on pervasive violence. Consequently, like the American South with its history of slavery and legal racial discrimination, South Africa developed a culture of violence. Although South Africa was the fifth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, a unique step on a continent vehemently opposed to homosexuals, the society has deeply held biases and hatreds toward gays and lesbians. There is also the belief that homosexuals can be “cured” of their sexual orientation through corrective rape. Women and men are correctively raped routinely, often by relatives. Given the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in South Africa, discussed in Chapter 13, rape often results in the transmission of AIDS and sometimes death. Following massive protests in Egypt that led to the downfall of President Hosni Mubarak, discussed in Chapter 4, sexual violence increased dramatically. Women, men, and children were subjected to rape, gang rape, forced virginity tests, and other sexual crimes committed by the police, the military, national security agents, and ordinary Egyptians. The violence increased even more after Abdul-Fattah el-Sisi became president of Egypt. The intention of the sexual violence is often to humiliate and oppress people viewed as departing from cultural mores concerning virginity and family honor. When a twenty-one-year-old American student was raped on a public transit van in Copacabana, a beachfront area frequented by tourists, global media focused on pervasive rape in Brazil. Rates of violence against women in Latin America are much higher than the global average. Criminals are rarely punished. Acid is often thrown into women’s faces. More than half the world’s femicides, the killing of women primarily because of their gender, occur in Latin America, with El Salvador being the worst in the world. It is estimated that every fifteen seconds, a woman is a victim of sexual violence in São Paulo. Out of more than 1,800 rapes reported in Rio de Janeiro in the first three months of 2013, only seventy men were arrested.6 Despite agreeing with the Convention of Belém in 1994, which requires Latin American countries to educate their citizens about women’s rights, change cultural values that foster male domination, and pass laws to protect women from violence, sexual crimes are increasing. In the United States, universities and the military have come under fire for fostering climates in which there is a high incidence of sexual assault that is not dealt with adequately. Higher education institutions are under new pressure to create policies and practices to reduce sexual assaults on campus, to protect victims, and to punish offenders. When figures and reports of a culture of sexual assault in the armed forces became public, the Department of Defense was pressured to create new policies regarding sexual assault and an office to oversee them. In 2014 in the U.S. military, there were reportedly 20,300 sexual assaults.

12.4: Global Smuggling of Migrants 12.4 Recognize causes behind the global issues of smuggling of migrants The global economic recession significantly diminished the demand for migrant workers. In fact, as we have seen, return migration is now the global trend. However, desperate people continue to be smuggled to areas where they perceive economic and social opportunities. In June 2000, British customs officials discovered the bodies of fifty-eight illegal Chinese immigrants in a sealed compartment of a Dutch-registered tomato truck. They had been smuggled into Dover after a five-hour journey across the English Channel from the Belgian port of Zeebrugge. France is also a transit point for illegal immigrants who pay global smuggling operations to get them into Britain and, in many cases, eventually to the United States and Canada. Many migrants from Africa are smuggled to Italy. The extensive U.S.-Mexican border provided smugglers with a relatively easy way to get migrants to the most popular destination. Increased U.S. border control activities have contributed to reduced illegal immigration. Immigrant communities along the border, the existence of criminal organizations that operate between the countries, the well-established drug trade, and the flow of people and products across the U.S.-Mexican border facilitate the successful smuggling of migrants from around the world. But the tragic deaths of nineteen migrants who were being smuggled across the border in May 2003 refocused national attention on the illegal and brutal nature of global smuggling. At least seventy-seven migrants were packed into an unconventional tractor-trailer without water for a 325-mile journey across the scorching desert. Some who survived had body temperatures as high as 105 degrees. Many migrants become victims of traffickers and drug gangs. In 2010, the Zetas, a Mexican drug-trafficking gang, killed seventy-two migrants from Central and South America when they refused to get involved with smuggling drugs into the United States. An additional 145 bodies were found in ten mass graves in the same area in 2011. The financial crisis and economic recession significantly reduced the smuggling of migrants from Latin America into the United States. Chinese global smuggling organizations are generally regarded as the most sophisticated and most brutal. Many migrants come from Fujian Province in southern China and take advantage of connections with family members and friends already established in the United States, Canada, and European countries. Chinese communities worldwide, especially those in large cities, provide extensive networks of connections that enable global smuggling operations to be efficient and lucrative. Chinese migrants pay smugglers between $30,000 and $60,000 to be transported to Europe, the United States, or Canada. They travel across many countries or across nine thousand miles of the Pacific Ocean for five weeks in unsanitary, unseaworthy ships. Many of them land in Central America and make a long and perilous journey across Mexico and into the United States, where they find employment in Chinese communities to repay their debt for being smuggled. Often, they pay an initial 10 percent of the smuggling cost, and relatives pay the rest once the migrants arrive at their destinations.7

12.5: Contemporary Slavery and Human Trafficking

1. 12.5 Assess the growing problem of human trafficking with respect to women and children

Human trafficking  (i.e., the forced or coerced movement of people across national borders as well as within countries) is probably as old as human civilization. Throughout history, human beings have enslaved each other and forced each other to work under the most inhumane conditions, justifying this exploitation in many ways.  Contemporary slavery  is the transporting of victims under false pretenses from one nation, or province, to another, where they are subjugated to forced labor or prostitution. Compared with the global drug trade, human trafficking receives much less attention. Nonetheless, it is a growing problem. According to the Global Slavery Index published by the Walk Free Foundation, there are thirty million slaves worldwide. This foundation is based in Australia and is dedicated to fighting human trafficking. 8  Although the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency estimates that almost a million people worldwide are enslaved each year, including twenty thousand in the United States, it is impossible to know how many people are actually trafficked.

India leads the world with roughly fourteen million enslaved people, many of whom were born into slavery, based on the caste system or other obligations. Some are trapped into debt bondage, a practice that was outlawed more than forty years ago. Europe has the lowest number of enslaved people. Although slavery was finally abolished in Mauritania in 1981, an estimated 4 percent of the population is still enslaved. Slavery is supported by political, economic, and cultural institutions, including mosques. Most of those enslaved are black, and most slaveholders are Arabs. Children inherit the status of slaves and can be bought and sold. Slaves are routinely sexually abused by men, and most children do not know their fathers. They work constantly without pay and do not receive health care. The abduction and sale of approximately three hundred schoolgirls by Boko Haram in Nigeria, discussed in  Chapter 5 , focused global attention on the widespread practice of the contemporary enslavement of girls and women in West Africa and the indifference of leaders and citizens in these countries to this global crime. Many Brazilians from poor communities are enslaved on large farms, cattle ranches, and plantations. They endure degrading and inhumane conditions, violence, and food deprivation. They find themselves permanently indebted to shareholders who prevent them from leaving. Some enslaved Brazilians are murdered. China’s practice of “re-education through labor” received global attention when the media publicized a letter stuffed in a package of Halloween decorations that was bought at Kmart by a woman in Oregon. The letter, written by a prisoner in a forced labor camp, told about long working hours, inhumane conditions, and sadistic guards. 9

The exponential growth in contemporary slavery and human trafficking is inseparable from increasing levels of economic and cultural globalization. Global inequality and demographic factors contribute to the rapid growth of labor migration, a development in which most countries participate. Migrants are employed to do the most strenuous and undesirable jobs in most countries, including the United States. Globalization and changing attitudes about women have led to a dramatic increase in women migrants. Many women are employed as domestic helpers in service industries and as dancers, strippers, and sex workers in the entertainment industry. This  feminization of migration  (i.e., the increasing percentage of women in the migrant population) complicates the human trafficking problem. 10

Despite the global emphasis on women and girls being trafficked for sexual exploitation, the International Labor Organization (ILO) found that of the estimated 9.5 million victims of forced labor in Asia, less than 10 percent were trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation. Globally, less than half of all trafficking victims are involved in the sex trade. 11  Women and girls are generally perceived as replaceable commodities by human traffickers. Although virtually all societies have experienced human trafficking for sexual purposes, this practice seems to be more prevalent in several Asian countries. Prior to the Russian Revolution in 1917, Russian and Eastern European women were trafficked into China and Argentina. Between the 1970s and today, there have been four distinct waves of sexual human trafficking, all of which are manifestations of increasing globalization. The first wave began in the 1970s and was primarily composed of trafficked women from Southeast Asia, particularly Thailand and the Philippines. The second wave started in the early 1980s and involved trafficked women mostly from Africa, especially Ghana and Nigeria. The third wave, from the 1980s to the 1990s, was made up of Latin Americans, with most of the women coming from Colombia, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic. The fourth wave, which mirrors the rapid expansion and growing complexity of globalization, is closely connected to the demise of the Soviet Union. The women are coming from Eastern and Central Europe. 12

Although women are trafficked globally, the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Greece, South Korea, Turkey, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia, the United States, and Canada are the principal destinations. Criminals collaborate to maximize their profits from human trafficking. Groups in the Russian Far East cooperate with Japanese and Korean organized crime to transport women to China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, and other countries of the Pacific Rim. Groups in the Caucasus collaborate with human traffickers in Turkey to transport women to brothels in Turkey, Cyprus, and countries in the Middle East. Women from Kazakhstan are trafficked to Bahrain, where the Muslim links of the traffickers provide women for this free-trade zone. 13

Although trafficking across national boundaries for sexual exploitation is a significant component of global crime, most trafficked women and girls remain within their countries or regions. In India alone, for example, more than half a million girls are in brothels, more than any other country in the world. The rapid growth of sex tourism in Asia and elsewhere reinforces the sexual exploitation of women and girls within their own societies. What’s more, the AIDS pandemic is influencing human traffickers to find younger women and girls, especially virgins, because customers believe they are less likely to be infected with HIV and AIDS. 14

Child-sex tourism is a growing global crime. Usually, predators from rich countries cooperate with people in poor countries, including family members of victims, to sexually exploit children. This problem is most pronounced in Southeast Asia, especially in the Philippines. The globalization of communications, particularly fast and inexpensive Internet connections, has given rise to  virtual trafficking , which involves creating video chat rooms where predators meet children.

Complicating the issue of human trafficking for sexual exploitation is a growing acceptance of commercial sex that is initiated and controlled by women and men involved in prostitution. Increasingly, the Internet is being used to allow independent prostitutes to advertise their services online and conduct business privately away from brothels, madams, and pimps.

The global response to human trafficking has largely been ineffective. Several efforts to address this problem have been made at both national and global levels. In 1989, the European Parliament adopted a resolution that called for tough measures to eradicate human trafficking. Meeting in Beijing at the  Fourth World Conference on Women  and declaring that women’s rights are human rights, delegates from 189 countries unanimously adopted a platform for action, which called on governments to dismantle criminal networks engaged in trafficking women. In response to the unprecedented growth in human trafficking, the  UN Protocol Against the Trafficking in Women and Children  was adopted along with the UN Convention on Transnational Crime in 2000. At a world summit on organized crime in 2000 in Palermo, Italy, leaders from eighty countries signed the UN protocol. Also in 2000, a coalition of Democrats, Republicans, feminists, and evangelical Christians pressured the U.S. Congress to enact the  Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act  to prosecute traffickers in the United States and to take action abroad against this global crime. This law recognized human trafficking as a federal crime and requires the U.S. Department of State to publish an annual report on the state of human trafficking globally. 15

While the global community was responding to the problem of human trafficking, several countries were legalizing the sex trade, which consists predominantly of foreign women in most European countries. For example, roughly half a million women are trafficked as prostitutes in Europe every year. In Germany, three out of four sex workers are foreigners, and in the Netherlands, one out of two sex workers comes from another country. In 2000, the Netherlands legalized prostitution, which is a billion-dollar-a-year industry and represents roughly 5 percent of that country’s economy. Germany legalized prostitution in 2001. The sex trade contributes approximately $4.5 billion to Germany’s economy. 16  Very few traffickers are prosecuted and convicted.

12.6: Criminal Gangs and Kidnapping 12.6 Outline the factors that provide fertile grounds for kidnapping and gang violence to flourish The same communications and technological revolutions that drive globalization also help gangs to grow. The Internet enables them to form alliances, to learn from each other, and to terrorize. Repeated exposure to cultural globalization—especially violent television programs, movies, video games, and magazines—reinforces their violent behavior. Ethnic conflicts and civil wars, combined with easy access to guns, provide fertile ground for gang violence to flourish. Aspects of globalization—especially global migration, global inequality, and fewer government-provided public services due to privatization and trade liberalization—contribute to the growth of gangs. Demographic factors also play an important role. Young people between the ages of sixteen and twenty-four tend to commit most of the crimes, especially in densely populated areas. As we discussed earlier in this chapter, poverty and the decline of social services often combine to influence parents to abandon their children, making them vulnerable to gangs. Gang violence threatens peace and security, increases political instability, weakens democratic institutions, increases human rights violations, and impedes economic development. Kidnapping is often an integral component of gang violence. Gang violence usually generates counterviolence by vigilante groups, the military, and police officers. Foundations for rising gang violence in Central America were laid during the civil wars that devastated the region in the 1980s, driven partly by military and political rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union. The Cold War in Central America was accompanied by widespread human rights abuses, rape, torture, extrajudicial executions, kidnappings, and drug production and trafficking. In Guatemala alone, more than two hundred thousand people were killed or missing (out of a population of fourteen million) during these conflicts. Civil wars also bring with them the proliferation of weapons. As we discussed in Chapter 11, violence is a factor that pushes people to migrate. Many Central Americans came to the United States and settled in the ghettos of Los Angeles and other major American cities. Many young migrants soon became involved in street gangs, committed violent crimes, including murder, and participated in drug trafficking. When the U.S. Congress decided to enact very punitive immigration laws in 1996, noncitizens who were sentenced to a year or more in prison could be repatriated to their country of origin. Foreign-born U.S. citizens who committed felonies could lose their American citizenship and be expelled from the country after serving their sentences. Consequently, roughly twenty thousand young Central American criminals were seventy thousand gang members in Central America. Gang members recreated their violent lifestyles in Central America. Drug trafficking escalated. Central America has the world’s highest murder rates. As the United States escalated its war on drugs in Colombia, drug-trafficking organizations moved into Central America and used drugs to pay gang members. Central America is a bridge between Colombia, the world’s largest producer of cocaine, and Mexico, which is the transit point for the United States, the world’s largest consumer of cocaine and other drugs. Gang members routinely force residents of poor neighborhoods to pay what they call protection fees, demand war taxes from businesses, and often murder individuals who refuse to or cannot pay them. Rapes of young women have increased, homes are robbed, schoolchildren are turned into drug addicts, and kidnappings occur frequently. Gang violence, instability, and poverty triggered unprecedented flows of unaccompanied child migrants from Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala to the United States. Previously, most victims of kidnappings were wealthy individuals who could arrange to pay large ransoms. Today, however, ordinary individuals are being kidnapped for a variety of reasons. Terrorists have used kidnappings as bargaining chips and to create widespread fear. Many of the kidnappings in Africa and the Middle East are by terrorists who use the ransom to fund their activities. Islamic terrorists in the Philippines routinely kidnap foreigners, especially Westerners, to extract money to finance terrorism. Kidnappings are an integral component of violence and drug trafficking in Colombia. Mexico is by far the world’s leader in kidnappings. A quarter of all kidnappings occur in Latin America.17

12.7: Illegal Trade in Endangered Animals and Plants 12.7 Examine the global issue of illegal trade in endangered animals and plants The illegal trade in endangered species coexists with legal transactions, thereby making it difficult to ascertain the magnitude of the problem. Nevertheless, there is general agreement that many of the factors we discussed earlier about the globalization of crime combine to sustain and expand both the legal and illicit aspects of this trade. Local and individual decisions directly affect trade in endangered animals and plants. These decisions have significant global consequences. For many individuals, the trade liberalization that characterizes globalization augments perceptions that almost anything can be traded, regardless of long-term consequences for the environment. Economic inequality between conservationists in rich countries and poor people in the developing world, where most animals and plants are located, often gives rise to divergent perceptions of and approaches to illegal trade. For example, elephants are generally regarded as exotic by many residents in rich countries, but many Africans view them as threats to their safety and their crops. On the other hand, carefully managed animals and plants can play a major role in ecotourism and other aspects of economic development. Political instability and ethnic conflicts in many countries often facilitate both trade in and the destruction of many endangered animals and plants. Illicit trade fuels many conflicts. Illegal wildlife trade also raises issues such as sustainability and biological diversity. Also, imports of animals and plants sometimes contribute to problems associated with invasive species that threaten native species. Given the global reach of traffickers in endangered animals and plants and the numerous small illegal transactions that occur daily by individuals worldwide, ascertaining the financial gains from this global crime is extremely difficult, if not impossible. While global attention was drawn to illicit trade in endangered animals by large sales of African elephant tusks to Japan and elsewhere, the expansion of legal trade and the Internet have significantly broadened this criminal activity. The most endangered species—such as tigers, Asian bears, rhinoceros, hyacinth macaws from the Amazon, Australian palm cockatoos, Saiga antelopes, and hawksbill turtles—command high prices. As we saw in Chapter 10, rhinoceros horns are more valuable than gold. Many of the highly valued illegally traded species are believed to have medicinal properties and are usually in great demand in several Asian countries. Many traditional Chinese medicines contain ingredients composed of tiger bone, bear bile, deer musk glands, and shark fins. The demand for shark fin soup is of great concern to environmentalists who believe that sharks are an endangered species. Many animals are sold for food and to pet shops worldwide. Products derived from endangered wildlife include exotic leather goods, ornaments, and tourist souvenirs. Increasing wealth, engendered by economic globalization, has also led to a growth in demand for expensive products such as caviar. As countries around the Caspian Sea attempt to conserve the sturgeon population, illegal trade in caviar has escalated. Global trade in plants and forest products is accompanied by illegal logging operations and lumber sales, especially in Southeast Asia, Central Africa, the Amazonian countries, and Russia. Millions of plants are sold illegally, and medicinal plants that are in great demand due to a global preoccupation with finding easy solutions to health problems are threatened with extinction. These include hoodia (which is used in diet pills), cistanche (a natural tonic), and the Chinese yew tree (which is believed to have cancer-fighting properties). Concerned about animal and plant extinction, the global community responded by signing the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES) in 1973. This convention provides a framework within which countries adopt domestic legislation to ensure that CITES is implemented at the national level. Combating illegal trade in endangered animals and plants is an integral component of efforts to strengthen wildlife management, promote sustainability, and diminish deforestation. Several nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) participate in efforts to protect endangered species, including the World Conservation Union, World Wide Fund for Nature, Fauna and Flora International, Trade Records Analysis of Flora and Fauna in Commerce, and the World Conservation Monitoring Center. CITES accords varying degrees of protection to roughly five thousand animal species and twenty-five thousand plant species. The global community has achieved significant success in its effort to protect elephants. A worldwide ban on ivory in 1989 reduced elephant poaching. Poaching is increasingly being used by terrorist organizations in Africa to fund their activities. China and other Asian countries continue to purchase ivory and rhino horns. In 1992, the United States, a leading importer of parrots for pets, enacted the Wild Bird Conservation Act, which bans imports of all wild-caught threatened parrots listed in CITES. Consequently, parrot imports dropped sharply. The global community collaborates with various countries to regulate hunting certain animals in ways that promote both conservation and economic benefits. Hunters, conservationists, and local farmers are collaborating to protect Africa’s wildlife. A businessman wearing a mask and holding a credit card at a computer represents cybercrime, which is committed online.

12.8: Cybercrimes and Piracy 12.8 Evaluate how the rise in internet usage and advances in technology have contributed to cybercrimes Cybercrimes are standard crimes committed online or harmful behavior that is connected to computers. Examples of cybercrimes are fraud, pornography, smuggling, copyright and software piracy, identity theft, and extortion. The proliferation of online shopping has been a boon for cybercriminals. eBay, the biggest online marketplace, has roughly 180 million members worldwide, who are connected to the Internet, and more than sixty million items for sale at any particular moment. Both distance and anonymity conspire to render these global online shopping centers perfect places for fraudulent activities. As a marketplace that links buyers and sellers, eBay has very little control over transactions. The global expansion of the Internet, the widespread use of credit cards, and the growth of electronic banking combine to facilitate a wide array of fraudulent activities. The Nigerian scam is one of the most common cyberspace crimes and one of the most persistent. A Nigerian sends an e-mail asking prospective victims to assist him or her to transfer millions of recently acquired dollars out of Nigeria in exchange for a substantial part of the money. Prospective victims are instructed to deposit their own money into a specified bank account to demonstrate their honesty and willingness to cooperate. If these instructions are followed, the money and the Nigerian e-mail sender simply vanish. Credit card fraud on the Internet involves the use of stolen credit card numbers and information, such as the date of expiration and delivery address, to purchase products from virtual shopping malls and auction sites. Financial institutions are very vulnerable to cybercrimes. For example, in 2013, an operation that included sophisticated computer experts worldwide stole $45 million from ATMs (automated teller machines) in 24 countries in 10 hours. Despite increasingly sophisticated computer security measures, criminals are becoming adept at crashing computer systems and impeding their operation. A growing concern among governments, including the U.S. government, is that cybercriminals could be successful at penetrating security organizations and threaten vital national interests. For example, China and Russia focus on stealing U.S. military secrets in an effort to undermine American military superiority. The United States’ vulnerabilities range from its nuclear power plants and electrical grids to the information systems of government agencies and major U.S. companies. The Chinese government collaborates with hackers to steal corporate secrets of Western companies. Universities are facing many cyberattacks. They are the most open and robust centers of information exchange in the world and producers of research in many different areas that drives technological and scientific innovation. China, in particular, steals much valuable information from them. The high-profile attack against Sony in late 2014 that the United States attributed to North Korea elicited the first instance of the U.S. government imposing sanctions on a country in retaliation for a cyberattack on a company. The Sony attack, which exposed confidential files and involved threats against movie theaters, came just as Sony was preparing to release the movie The Interview, which treated the fictitious assassination of North Korea’s leader as comedy. Extortion schemes by organized criminal groups based primarily in Russia and Eastern European countries have been implemented in Australia, Britain, Canada, Thailand, the United States, and elsewhere. Criminals employ sophisticated viruses to disable computer systems. An Internet virus named Kama Sutra—named after the venerable Indian guide to eroticism—was programmed to overwrite documents, images, and compressed computer files. Aimed principally at home computers, the virus infected computers through an e-mail that promised racy pictures. Russian criminal gangs use software tools to infect thousands of personal computers in corporate and government networks with programs that steal passwords and other information. Global trade, computer technologies, and the globalization of American and European cultures have contributed to the growth of global piracy, which includes online music piracy, counterfeiting, and old-fashioned piracy on the high seas. Online music piracy and counterfeiting deal with intellectual property rights, copyrights, and patent laws. Downloading music is generally regarded as a harmless activity by those engaged in it. However, the music industry views online music piracy as theft. Throughout China, one can purchase inexpensive counterfeit DVDs of the most recent American movies, as well as counterfeit shoes, clothes, computer software, books, and many other products. Counterfeit prescription drugs are a major problem that threatens human security. China and India are the leading sources of faked drugs.18 12.8.1: Piracy at Sea Piracy on the high seas has re-emerged as a significant threat to global shipping. It also demonstrates new threats from nonstate actors to global military powers such as the United States. Modern piracy ranges from desperately impoverished people committing petty larcenies at sea to highly organized syndicates slaughtering ships’ crews to steal not only the valuable cargo but also the multimillion-dollar ships. The failure of the Somali state, the withdrawal of the Soviet and American military forces from the area with the end of the Cold War, the widespread poverty and violence in Somalia, and the ease with which cargo ships could be seized and large ransoms could be collected by small groups of men in small speed boats armed with grappling hooks, assault rifles, rock-propelled grenades, knives, and satellite telephones had contributed to escalating pirate attacks. When pirates seized the U.S.-flagged cargo ship the Maersk Alabama and held the captain for ransom, a U.S. Navy–guided destroyer and other warships were sent to the Somali coast. U.S. Navy Seals on the destroyer Bainbridge were experienced snipers. They killed the three pirates and rescued the captain, Richard Phillips, of the Maersk Alabama. Piracy along the Somali coast stopped when the United States, the European Union, China, India, Russia, and other countries increased naval task forces in the region. Ships were made more difficult to attack, and many carry armed guards. Pirate havens in Somalia have also been attacked. Piracy in West Africa, especially by Nigerians in the Gulf of Guinea, has increased significantly. It is intertwined with drug trafficking, arms smuggling, and terrorist groups that use it to raise funds. Petro-piracy, similar to that in the Gulf of Guinea, has risen sharply in the Strait of Malacca and the South China Sea. The Indonesian Island of Batam has historically been a haven for pirates. Its location provides excellent views of passing ships, and its low level of law enforcement facilitates organized criminal activities. About a fourth of global seaborne oil trade, primarily between the Middle East and East Asia, goes through the Strait of Malacca. Pirates capture oil tankers, siphon their oil into other vessels, and sell it on the black market.

12.9: Global Responses to Crime 12.9 Analyze why globalization has been far more beneficial to nonstate actors who commit crimes than it has been to nation-states Global crime is inextricably linked to poverty, extreme economic and gender inequality, lack of education, the proliferation of small arms, environmental problems, corruption, and a general disregard for the rule of law. Efforts to address these underlying problems are essential to reducing crime. Countries are ill equipped to effectively respond to global criminal activities. As we pointed out earlier in this chapter, globalization has been far more beneficial to nonstate actors, including smugglers, drug traffickers, and other global criminal networks, than it has been to nation-states. The hierarchical structure of countries is a liability in an increasingly decentralized, global society. Furthermore, globalization has diminished the ability of states to exercise effective jurisdiction over their territories and to regulate trade and other activities. The nature of globalization makes it difficult to determine where the crimes occurred and which country or countries have jurisdiction over them. Few governments have the resources to effectively control global crime, especially in light of reduced government budgets for public services. Furthermore, divergent views among countries about crime and different priorities render effective collaboration among states difficult to achieve. The International Criminal Police Organization, commonly known as Interpol, is a global clearinghouse for police information based in France. As we have seen, global crime is proliferating so rapidly and on such a vast scale at a time when cultural attitudes are generally much more tolerant of many global criminal activities that global efforts to reduce the crimes we have discussed are significantly undermined. Nevertheless, Interpol’s role in combating drug trafficking and other global crimes is important. Interpol collects and analyzes data, supports global crime investigations, organizes operational working meetings among countries, and organizes regional and global conferences on a wide range of criminal activities. Despite support from Interpol, fighting crime is essentially a local activity, and states themselves are ultimately responsible for reducing global crime. But as with many domestic crimes, states confront many serious obstacles in fighting global crime. Several countries, including Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, Singapore, and Malaysia, impose the death penalty on individuals found guilty of drug smuggling. Indonesia’s policy was widely condemned when several foreign nationals, including two Australians, were executed by a firing squad in 2015 despite pleas from Australia’s Prime Minister Tony Abbott to spare their lives. Australia recalled its ambassador to Indonesia in protest. Attempting to be more effective in countering global crime, 178 countries have joined Interpol. Most of these countries signed the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, a global agreement that outlaws bank secrecy, keeps prosecutors worldwide in contact by e-mail, allows international arrest warrants to be sent by e-mail, provides for videoconferences to allow witnesses to testify without having to travel around the world, and creates international witness protection programs. The challenge confronting the global community is the ability to implement these provisions. The forces of globalization are likely to give global criminals the advantage in the worldwide struggle to reduce global crime. A global response to cybercrime is just being contemplated by world and business leaders. Cybercrime, a crime of hacking and data theft and sabotage, is rapidly growing and bleeding businesses of $1 trillion per year. Some called the high-profile hacking attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment in late 2014 a global wake-up call. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in early 2015, a business leader stated that there is no longer any secure data center in the world. Cybercrime is a threat not only to businesses but to critical infrastructure of nations. Major considerations have stood in the way of a global response to cybercrime that would show international cooperation. Because cybercrime is so new, experts are still attempting to define it and to determine accurate figures for the financial losses it causes. The issues that would have to be resolved in a global fight against cybercrime would touch on privacy, trade, overregulation, and intelligence-sharing.19 Case Study Government Corruption in India Government corruption is the illegal use of official positions for private gain. It includes taking bribes, stealing state property, embezzling public funds, selectively and arbitrarily enforcing the law, and cooperating with criminals. Government corruption perpetuates poverty, inequality, global crime, the globalization of diseases, environmental problems, and undemocratic regimes. Corruption creates a lack of accountability along with a culture of fear, dishonesty, secrecy, cynicism, lawlessness, mistrust. Consumers pay higher prices for almost everything as corrupt officials help create illegal monopolies in the economic sector. Government bureaucracy grows and becomes more inefficient, and bribery proliferates. Official corruption filters down through society and is accepted as a way of life. There are many reasons for government corruption. They include basic human greed, cultural values that encourage helping relatives and friends, lack of accountability, weak and ineffective judicial systems, economic hardships for public sector employees, and the growth of global crime as a component of globalization. Rapid economic growth also is conducive to increasing government corruption. India’s rapid economic growth has contributed to a “season of scams” by government officials by increasing the amount of money available to steal. More than 80 percent of Indians perceive corruption to be an urgent problem, despite a long history of corruption in the country. There is an estimated $450 billion derived from illegal activities by Indians deposited in foreign bank accounts. Money is routinely stolen from programs intended to benefit the poor. For example, almost half of state fuel subsidies are stolen, amounting to roughly $2 billion a year. In Uttar Pradesh alone, more than $40 billion of food and other subsidies over a five-year period did not reach the poor due to government corruption. One of the leading cases of corruption occurred in India’s telecom industry, the world’s fastest-growing market. Andimuthu Raja, the telecom minister, refused to auction licenses. He awarded them arbitrarily and to favored companies for below market value. The government lost $40 billion. In another high-profile corruption case, nicknamed Coalgate, India’s former prime minister, Manmohan Singh, was summoned as one of the accused in a government investigation into illegal selling of coal field leases to Indian corporations. There are many initiatives globally to diminish government corruption. One is the proliferation of anticorruption units around the world. There is an upsurge in grassroots democracy with those who are most affected by corruption—the poor—taking measures to hold corrupt officials accountable. Villagers perform social audits to ascertain that money is not stolen. They are helped by the rapid growth of communications technologies, which they use to enhance transparency. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) made government corruption a leading political issue, supported by popular anger about corruption. That forced the governing Congress Party to implement reforms that remove discretionary powers abused by politicians. Furthermore, the courts reinforce the anticorruption campaign by trying accused officials. Technology also is being used to circumvent India’s largely corrupt and inefficient bureaucracy. Payments bypass bureaucrats and go directly into individuals’ bank accounts. As villages gain access to broadband and government databases, they can obtain documents, assess property taxes, and pay bills online. Bids for government contracts also are made online, enabling anticorruption groups to monitor them. Global coalitions of anticorruption nonstate actors have persuaded the U.S. government to enact legislation requiring companies to disclose payments to governments. There also are global efforts to recover stolen assets that are in foreign secret bank accounts. Corruption Ranking of Countries, 2014 (zero means a country is perceived as highly corrupt, and 100 means it is perceived as very clean) Adapted from Transparency International, the Global Coalition Against Corruption, “Corruption Perceptions Index 2014” www.transparency.org/cpi2014/results (retrieved May 4, 2015). Top 10 Most Corrupt Countries Scores Somalia 8 North Korea 8 Afghanistan 8 Sudan 11 South Sudan 14 Libya 15 Iraq 16 Uzbekistan 17 Turkmenistan 17 Syria 17 India 38 United States 73 Australia 80 Top 10 Least Corrupt Countries Scores Denmark 92 New Zealand 91 Finland 89 Sweden 87 Norway 86 Switzerland 86 Singapore 84 Netherlands 83 Luxembourg 82 Canada 81

Summary

Global criminal activities have proliferated with the rapid growth of economic, financial, technological, cultural, and other forms of globalization. Increased global migration, global inequality, the growth of global cities, the explosion of global trade, inexpensive communications, revolutions in computer technologies, and the disintegration of the Soviet Union have contributed to the spread and intensification of global crime. As we saw, global crime is intricately intertwined with politics, economics, and culture. This chapter shows how illegal activities occur alongside legal activities and how difficult they sometimes are to separate. Furthermore, there are divergent perceptions about global crimes as well as different approaches to dealing with them. Globalization has weakened states in ways that prevent them from effectively combating many global crimes. Furthermore, as the case study shows, government corruption is global crime that facilitates other criminal activities. We discussed major global crimes such as drug trafficking, sexual crimes, human trafficking, illegal trade in endangered species, and cybercrimes. Throughout history, the world has experienced an increase in the global drug trade, accompanied by growing drug use and addiction. This global crime commands the attention of the global community, although countries adopt divergent approaches to dealing with illegal drugs. There are global responses to the crimes discussed. Organizations such as Interpol provide information on criminal activities and cooperate with countries in an effort to reduce global crime.

Chapter 13 Global Health Challenges

13.1: Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) 13.1 Recall the causes and effects of noncommunicable diseases Modern medicine was primarily focused on curing and preventing infectious diseases, precisely because they were the leading causes of mortality and disability. The success of modern medicine in eradicating and controlling many infectious diseases combined with industrialization, urbanization, dietary changes, economic prosperity, and changing lifestyles has focused more attention on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). These diseases are not caused by infections. They require long-term treatment and care and cause long-term harm. Major NCDs are cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease, respiratory diseases, and other chronic diseases. Depression and other mental health issues are interrelated with NCDs. More than thirty-five million people die each year from NCDs. Roughly 75 percent of all adult deaths and half of all disability globally are caused by NCDs. Eighty percent of these deaths occur in middle- and low-income countries, and the death rate before the age of sixty for people in the developing world is twice as high as it is for people in rich countries.1 Rates of cancer and other NCDs are rising sharply. 13.1.1: The Impact of NCDs NCDs have profound economic, social, and political implications. They affect many issues discussed earlier. NCDs increase poverty and drain financial resources of individuals, families, and governments. Businesses are also affected. Workers with NCDs usually miss work, underperform at work, become disabled, and leave the workforce before they reach retirement age. Chronic diseases require extensive medical care and a variety of services that are very expensive. Payment for treatment and care often reduces families to financial ruin, trapping them in cycles of debt, impoverishment, and sickness. Poor people are the most vulnerable to the negative effects of economic costs associated with NCDs. Many lack economic assistance and health insurance and often have to leave their jobs to care for relatives. Some children are forced to leave school to supplement their family’s income. Demographic transitions in many countries, especially Western Europe, the United States, Canada, and Japan, have reduced the proportion of working-age adults while rapidly increasing the number of older people who need care. Throughout the world, including the United States, Canada, and Western Europe, women are the indispensable caregivers. This means that many women leave work and abandon opportunities for economic advancement and diminish their chances of achieving gender equality. Diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease require intensive and prolonged care that is generally not provided by most national health care systems. Furthermore, few families can afford the expense associated with such care and must rely primarily on unpaid informal care by the family. Many NCDs are the result of aging. Governments are challenged to develop comprehensive and sustainable long-term care plans and support for older people. This inevitably leads to political struggles over the allocation of scarce resources and the setting of national priorities.2 13.1.2: Causes of NCDs Globalization  Leading causes of NCDs include unhealthy diets, lack of exercise, smoking, the harmful use of alcohol, affluence, poverty, and pollution, especially black carbon, which is discussed in Chapter 10. Globalization is playing a pivotal role in the growth of NCDs. The spread of medicine and technology to distant parts of the world to treat diseases directly contributes to longevity, a major cause of NCDs. Globalization also spreads Western lifestyles that enhance the development of NCDs. Throughout the world, even in many small communities, people have retreated from the outdoors and spend most of their time with technological devices, especially the Internet and television. Combined with rapid urbanization, these technologies encourage sedentary lifestyles that contribute to obesity, heart disease, and other NCDs. In a world that is always busy, stress becomes toxic. Stress impairs the immune system and is an underlying cause of many diseases, including cancer. Global connectedness engenders chronic sleep deficits which are implicated in many NCDs, including depression, heart disease, chronic pain, diabetes, and cancer. Globalization promotes free trade, which includes the spread of fast food and processed foods even to remote parts of the world. Profits, not proper nutrition, are the primary concern of global food companies. Rising obesity rates around the world are directly linked to the consumption of vast quantities of sugary drinks. The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy in Minnesota has shown that following the passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994, discussed in Chapter 8, there has been a more than 1,200 percent increase in high fructose corn syrup exports from the United States to Mexico. Mexico now has the highest obesity rates in the world. Turkey tails, which are about 40 percent fat, are frequently consumed in Samoa, which has strong ties with the United States. Similarly, many Pacific islands close to New Zealand have diets that include mutton flaps, which are mostly fat. Consequently, Pacific islands have very high rates of obesity.3 Smoking  Smoking is the leading cause of NCDs and preventable deaths. More than six million people die each year from tobacco use, a number that is higher than all the deaths caused by HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. With more than 300 million smokers, about one-third of the global total, China has one million deaths each year from smoking. While rich countries have sharply reduced smoking, countries in Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America are experiencing a rise in tobacco use, due partly to aggressive marketing efforts of tobacco companies. Tobacco use is the leading cause of cancer, heart disease, and chronic respiratory disease. Alcohol, Affluence, Poverty, and Pollution  Alcohol, a leading cause of NCDs in Eastern Europe, Central Europe, Latin America, and the Caribbean, is the third leading cause of deaths worldwide. Heavy drinking, especially when combined with smoking, can cause cancers of the mouth, larynx, pharynx, esophagus, liver, and breast. Affluence, often equated with Westernization, has long been a leading cause of NCDs. Some NCDs, such as colorectal and breast cancers, are still more prevalent in rich countries than in the developing world. Poverty also contributes to the increase in NCDs. People in poorer countries tend to smoke more, are more obese, and have higher blood pressure. Most poor countries lack adequate medical care, and many diseases are not diagnosed early. Even if a diagnosis is known, the disease often goes untreated. This results in higher death rates from NCDs in poor countries than in rich ones.4 Pollution is among the top seven leading causes of NCDs and accounts for more than three million deaths globally each year. Women and girls suffer most from indoor pollution that comes from wood-burning stoves. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer increase with greater industrialization. China, which has many factories and relies mostly on coal for energy, heating, and cooking, has very high levels of pollution, as we discussed in Chapter 10. Pollution causes an estimated 1.2 million deaths in China and is the fourth leading risk factor for deaths in China. 13.1.3: Major NCDs Cancer  Cancer kills more than eight million people each year globally. Approximately 70 percent of these deaths are in developing countries. Cancers are caused by many different things, including smoking, nutrition and diet, obesity, sunlight, alcohol, and environment hazards such as chemicals and pollution. Smoking is the leading cause of lung cancer, and dietary intake can increase the risk of colon, breast, kidney, prostate, and endometrial cancers. Patients with cancer in high-income countries have twice the survival rates of people in developing countries, due largely to the quality of medical care. For example, many cases of breast cancer in middle- and low-income countries are not diagnosed until it has reached stage 4, the final stage, when it has invaded organs or bones and cannot be cured. Enormous tumors develop. Stigma, poverty, misinformation, and lack of knowledge are impediments to getting medical treatment. In many parts of the developing world, many people with cancer rely on useless herbs from traditional healers. The unavailability of modern medical technology that can help make sure that a lumpectomy is done correctly often leads to unnecessary mastectomies.5 Heart Diseases  Heart disease, once concentrated in affluent societies, is increasing in the developing world, especially among middle-class individuals. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in China, a country that has experienced unprecedented economic growth and poverty reduction. As we have seen, many NCDs are interrelated and are caused by many of the same things. Heart disease is connected to high blood pressure, or hypertension. Excess sodium in processed foods, fast food, and food prepared at home is a key risk factor for hypertension. Heart disease is also caused by diets that contribute to high blood cholesterol. Other causes include obesity, physical inactivity, smoking, and diabetes. Diabetes  Diabetes is rapidly growing globally as more people are able to afford foods that contain large amounts of sugar. Sugar is addictive and toxic. The consumption of large containers of sugary drinks is mainly responsible for the rapid growth of diabetes. The average individual in the United States and Mexico consumes forty gallons of soft drinks a year. China, with a rapidly growing middle class, has 114 million people with diabetes, the highest proportion of the population (around 11.6 percent) in the world. Diabetes affects around 26 million Americans, or 8.3 percent of the population. Type 2 diabetes is by far the most common form of the disease and accounts for about 95 percent of those over age twenty with diabetes. Type 2 diabetes usually begins later in life and is caused by lifestyle, especially excessive sugar consumption. In contrast, Type 1 diabetes, or juvenile diabetes, usually begins early in life and is an autoimmune disorder with genetic origins. Diabetes can have many devastating health consequences. It is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. It is the dominant cause of kidney failure, nontraumatic lower limb amputations, blindness, heart disease, and stroke. Alzheimer’s Disease  Alzheimer’s disease is the most feared noncommunicable disease because many individuals will get it if they get old, and there is no cure for it. Alzheimer’s disease is the dominant cause of dementia. The greatest risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease is old age. This disease is growing rapidly as the number of old people increases globally, as we discussed in Chapter 11. More than thirty-five million people suffer from Alzheimer’s disease globally. It is a degenerative disease that poses severe challenges for the global community. Symptoms include memory loss, cognitive impairment, difficulty communicating, and mood changes. There are three stages of Alzheimer’s disease The early stages, during which those affected become forgetful and have problems with orientation, making decisions, and doing household work. The middle stages, in which the symptoms from stage one get worse. There is a greater need for personal care, which extends to personal hygiene. Behavioral changes include wandering, clinging, agitation, and aggression. The final stages, in which individuals become unaware of time and place; unable to recognize relatives, friends, or familiar objects; unable to eat without help; severely restricted in their mobility; and bedridden. Care, support, and supervision needs are constant. Families are under severe stress and face huge financial burdens.6 13.1.4: Global Responses to NCDs Since many NCDs, with the exception of Alzheimer’s disease, can be prevented or significantly diminished, there is an emphasis on lowering the risks of getting them. Conventional medical approaches that work well with infectious diseases are less appropriate and less effective when dealing with NCDs. Effective ways to reduce the growth of NCDs are to promote healthy diets, encourage more physical activity, reduce stress, and clean up the environment. These are essentially lifestyle changes. To help treat these diseases, global pharmaceutical companies such as GlaxoSmithKline and Merck provide inexpensive drugs to people in developing countries. Many governments are focusing on promoting healthier diets. This means eating more fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains and limiting fast foods, processed foods, and sodium. When Michael Bloomberg was mayorof New York City, he stressed limiting the sale of large sugary drinks and reducing the calories of food served in restaurants. Similar approaches are being tried globally. Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto, for example, proposed a tax on the sale of all sugary drinks to discourage their consumption. Bloomberg provided financial support for Mexico’s National Institute of Public Health to promote policies such as taxing soft drinks, controlling junk food advertising targeted at children, and improving nutrition labeling. Global fast food companies such as McDonald’s, KFC, Taco Bell, and Pizza Hut are under increasing pressure to serve more nutritious and healthy food. Governments in Europe, Australia, the United States, Canada, and elsewhere have implemented policies that restrict smoking in public places. Australia has led the world by requiring cigarette companies to place gruesome images of people who have been harmed or disfigured by tobacco on plain dark brown cigarette packages. Similarly, Uruguay requires tobacco companies to cover 80 percent of their cigarette packages with graphic pictures showing detrimental health consequences of smoking. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has an advertising campaign that shows graphic images of people harmed by smoking. The World Health Organization (WHO), CDC, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, World Lung Foundation, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, and several NGOs collaborate to reduce smoking. The CDC’s Field Epidemiology Training Programs help health professionals deal with NCDs in Brazil, China, Colombia, Jordan, Tanzania, and Thailand. The emphasis is on prevention. A global organization that works to prevent and treat NCDs is the NCD Alliance, a partnership of the World Heart Federation, International Diabetes Federation, Union for International Cancer Control, and International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease. Alzheimer’s Disease International is a global federation of Alzheimer’s associations that support people with Alzheimer’s disease. Its goal is to make dementia a global health priority. Bupa is a leading health care group that focuses on dementia care and treatment. The Global CEO Initiative on Alzheimer’s Disease is an organization of private sector leaders who partner with public leaders to provide treatment and care for patients with Alzheimer’s disease and to support research to find a cure for the disease.

13.2: Globalization of Infectious Diseases 13.2 Evaluate the role of global travel and trade in facilitating the globalization of infectious diseases The rapid spread of globalization underscored links between infectious diseases in poor countries and Table 13.1 Deaths from Noncommunicable Diseases (NCDs) by Country, 2012 In 2012, a total of 68 percent of global deaths were due to noncommunicable diseases. Adapted from Global Health Observatory (GHO) data on deaths from NCDs, published in 2014 by the World Health Organization, www.who.int/gho/ncd/mortality_morbidity/ncd_total/en/ (retrieved May 2, 2015). Top 10 Countries for NCD Deaths NCD deaths per 100,000 population, both sexes Turkmenistan 1,025 Guyana 1,024 Mongolia 967 Sierra Leone 964 Kazakhstan 950 Mali 866 Armenia 848 Afghanistan 846 Uzbekistan 811 Fiji 804 United States 413 Bottom 10 Countries for NCD Deaths NCD deaths per 100,000 Spain 323 Luxembourg 318 France 313 Israel 311 Italy 304 Australia 303 Republic of Korea 302 Switzerland 292 Singapore 265 Japan 244 outbreaks of these diseases in rich countries. The most dramatic development was the discovery of HIV/AIDS in the United States, Western Europe, and other rich countries. Although perceived initially as a disease limited primarily to homosexuals, HIV/AIDS began to spread to the general population through blood transfusions, intravenous drug usage, and heterosexual practices. Furthermore, prominent people who were suffering from the disease fought to put it on both domestic and global agendas. Many of the diseases that were believed to have been eradicated in rich countries re-emerged and were placed on the global agenda. Two factors explain this re-emergence: (1) growing resistance to common antibiotics and (2) the devastating impact of new epidemics. The new epidemics included cholera in Latin America, particularly in Peru and Haiti; plague in India; the Ebola virus in Africa; and the West Nile virus in the United States. 13.2.1: Global Travel and Communications Human beings are the most efficient transmitters of diseases. In the past, large proportions of populations were killed by plagues as people traveled to distant places. The Plague of Justinian, which occurred around 541 CE, devastated Europe. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the bubonic plague, known as the Black Death, killed twenty-five million (or one of every three) Europeans. The decimation of Native American populations by European diseases is another example of how travelers spread infectious diseases. More recently, China and other Asian countries have spawned deadly infectious diseases that have spread quickly to the rest of the world because of travel and excellent global links. In 1968, the Hong Kong flu, originating in South China, spread from Hong Kong to other countries. About seven hundred thousand people died worldwide. Following a devastating earthquake in 2010, Haiti faced an outbreak of cholera that killed more than eight thousand people. UN peacekeepers from Nepal brought the deadly cholera strain to Haiti. Trade also has been a major facilitator in the globalization of infectious diseases. The bubonic plague (Black Death) was transmitted to Europe through trade with Asia. Today, the rapid expansion of trade with China exposes the world to many diseases. The global trade in agricultural products has also escalated the risk of the global transmission of diseases. Human activities have profoundly affected the natural environment. People have migrated to areas that bring them into contact with animals and soils that play a role in the spread of infectious diseases. Furthermore, gradual increases in the Earth’s temperature (i.e., global warming) are conducive to the global spread of diseases. Conflicts have always contributed to the outbreak of disease and often the spread of infectious diseases. Combatants are often more likely to die from infectious diseases than from actual fighting. It is estimated that more than two-thirds of the roughly six hundred thousand deaths in the American Civil War were caused by infectious diseases.7 Furthermore, the movement of troops and mass migrations of civilians as a consequence of war have contributed to the wider transmission of infectious diseases. During the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918–1920, many American soldiers who were transported on trains and troop ships perished. On the battlefields of Vietnam and Iraq, American troops suffered from infectious diseases, many of which are drug resistant. Endemic ethnic conflicts in Africa play a leading role in that continent’s struggle with infectious diseases. Conditions that influence people to leave one area to settle in another initiate the downward spiral leading to infectious diseases. The deterioration of health services, the destruction of infrastructure, food shortages, and the lack of proper sanitation make refugees susceptible to communicable diseases. The poorest countries, like poor individuals, are generally more vulnerable to contracting infectious diseases. Poverty is usually a reliable incubator of disease. Overcrowding, malnutrition, inadequate medical care, and unsanitary conditions facilitate the growth and transmission of infectious diseases. A growing problem that assists in the spread of infectious diseases is overuse and misuse of antibiotics. The increasing use of antibiotics in agricultural products has contributed to a process of pathogenic natural selection, which promotes the emergence of more virulent, resilient, resistant, and powerful disease strains. The spread of infectious diseases has focused attention on human security.

13.3: Human Security and Infectious Diseases 13.3 Outline the three developments that gave rise to the concept of human security As we discussed in Chapter 1, the forces of globalization have strengthened the concept and reality of global security, which stresses a common and comprehensive security. The concept of global security moves us beyond the narrow traditional view of national security with its emphasis on military force and war to emphasize the global dimensions of emerging threats and problems and the need to achieve security with others. Within the broader context of global security is the concept of human security, derived from the globalist school of thought. Human security focuses on the individual as the primary object of security. It embraces a people-centered approach of anticipating and coping with the multiple threats ordinary individuals face in an increasingly globalized society. The emergence of the concept of human security during the 1990s is attributed to three developments: (1) the end of the Cold War, which radically altered the global political and security environment; (2) a better understanding of the everyday insecurities experienced by the world’s poor, who comprise the vast majority of the world’s population; and (3) the process of globalization, which ushered in unprecedented changes and uncertainty, thereby influencing a reevaluation of traditional views of security.

13.4: Infectious Diseases 13.4 Describe the three epidemiologic transitions to better understand contemporary concerns about infectious diseases The microbes (such as bacteria), viruses, parasites, and fungi that are the agents of infectious diseases are integral components of the natural and human environments. Throughout recorded history, our ancestors have been extremely vulnerable to, and mostly defenseless against, infectious diseases. Pathogens (i.e., organisms capable of causing disease) have routinely demolished societies. In many cases, there are outbreaks of diseases; that is, essentially localized, endemic occurrences. When infectious diseases spread to a relatively large number of people, they are classified as epidemics. Although epidemics generally impact populations worldwide, pandemics are long-lasting, catastrophic, and truly global in their consequences. Two factors that have always been at the root of infectious disease threats to human populations are (1) social, economic, and environmental conditions that enable infectious diseases to exist among human hosts and (2) various means of transmission to new populations. As our ancestors developed agriculture and moved from isolated villages to more densely populated areas, they were exposed to more diseases.8 Altering the natural environment enables microbes to infect humans. Humans are infected when they come into contact with natural hosts (i.e., organisms that carry diseases). The hosts are not negatively affected by the disease. Transmission of infectious diseases can occur within a single species or from one species to another. Humans often infect other humans. But host animals also infect humans, a transmission known as zoonosis. Infectious diseases are transmitted through air, water, direct contact with the host’s bodily fluids, and sexual activity, as well as through vectors such as mosquitoes and other insects. To better understand contemporary concerns about infectious diseases, we will discuss the problem within the framework of epidemiologic transition theory. Each transition is characterized by “a unique pattern of diseases that is ultimately related to modes of subsistence and social structure.”9 There are basically three distinct epidemiologic transitions. The first epidemiologic transition, as we mentioned earlier, occurred when our ancestors established agricultural communities. Think about sanitation problems in permanently settled areas and the close interaction of humans and their domesticated animals. Both of these situations provided favorable environments for the dispersal of infectious diseases. Cattle, goats, sheep, pigs, and fowl transmitted tuberculosis, anthrax, and other diseases. Large proportions of populations were routinely killed by plagues, especially as trade among communities increased and people traveled to distant places. An example of an early pandemic is the Plague of Justinian, named after the Roman emperor, which devastated Europe around 541 CE. Increased trade and migration between Asia and Europe and the Medieval Warm Period of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries contributed to the proliferation of rats and fleas that transmitted bubonic plague. Believing that cats were witches, Europeans inadvertently helped spread the plague by killing cats. Known as the Black Death, the bubonic plague killed roughly twenty-five million people, or one of every three Europeans. Individuals who manage to survive infectious diseases acquire immunity to them but can still transmit them to others. For example, most Europeans survived diseases such as tuberculosis and smallpox. West Africans lived with malaria and yellow fever. However, groups that lived in isolation from Europeans or Africans became quickly infected with their diseases when they came into contact with them. Millions of Native Americans were killed by diseases brought to the Americas by Europeans.10 Many Europeans died of malaria and yellow fever in Africa, Asia, and the Americas. Poverty and Migration help Spread Diseases Globally. A woman searches through trash in Mumbai, India. The second epidemiologic transition coincided with the Industrial Revolution in Europe. Various inventions that accompanied the Industrial Revolution contributed to declining rates of infectious diseases. But overcrowding, environmental degradation, and unsanitary conditions led to the rebounding of cholera, smallpox, and tuberculosis. Developments in medical science and technology diminished epidemics not only in Europe but also in places affected by European migration, colonization, and commercial relations. We are now experiencing the third epidemiologic transition. Just in the past three decades, we have seen an unprecedented emergence of new diseases and a re-emergence of infectious diseases that were thought to have been eliminated.

13.5: Influenza and Avian Flu 13.5 Report the cause, spread, effects, and control measures of influenza and avian flu Of all the major infectious diseases, influenza demands the unique and urgent attention of the global community because of its lethality and the speed with which it is transmitted. Of the more than fifteen hundred microbes known to cause disease in humans, influenza continues to dominate in terms of overall mortality. Every year, 5 to 10 percent of the American population gets the flu, and about 36,000 of them die. Even in normal times, an estimated 1.5 million people worldwide die from influenza infections or related complications each year. Influenza, which is a viral infection of the respiratory tract, is very contagious and poses serious threats to children, the elderly, and individuals with compromised immune systems. It is estimated that three influenza pandemics in the twentieth century killed more than 50 million people. The Spanish flu pandemic of 1918–1920 is generally regarded as the most lethal plague in history, causing roughly 50 million deaths worldwide. Pandemics in 1957 and 1968, which originated in China and Hong Kong, together killed more than 2.5 million people. Given the efficiency with which flu is transmitted through air, close contact is not required for people to become infected. Furthermore, it is very difficult to identify and quarantine infected people who are spreading the disease. Throughout the world, large commercial poultry farms, as well as the proliferation of chickens kept by families, have provided ideal conditions for the avian flu to spread. Furthermore, rapid population growth, especially in Asia, has given rise to densely populated urban areas. For example, during the 1968–1969 influenza pandemic, China had 790 million people and 12.3 million chickens and other poultry. China now has 1.3 billion people and more than 13 billion chickens. Poultry, pigs, and people living together or in close proximity enhance the transmission of avian flu from animals to humans. Although the avian flu (HSN1) caused 88 deaths out of a total of 165 cases globally, transmission from human to human had not occurred. The global community feared that the virus would undergo changes enabling it to reassort (i.e., mix genes with other human influenza viruses that are also present). This process can produce an entirely new viral strain, one that is capable of sustained human-to-human transmission. Responding to the threat of a pandemic, governments, international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) concentrated on quarantine and the extensive culling of birds in affected areas. European countries were advised by the Animal Production and Health Division of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization to require travelers to fill out forms detailing their travel history and the agricultural products in their possession, which is the practice in the United States. Increased checks of airline passengers and their belongings were also regarded as effective countermeasures. Within rich countries, governments allocated resources to develop vaccines, primarily Tamiflu, to deal with a pandemic.

13.6: Malaria 13.6 Report the cause, spread, effects, and control measures of malaria Malaria is found primarily in the tropics and is transmitted by mosquitoes. It is the most common vector-borne disease. The spread of human settlements and various activities in forested areas have led to increased contact with mosquitoes that carry the viruses that cause this disease. Global transportation and global warming have enabled malaria to spread and grow outside tropical areas. Discarded tires, bottles, cans, and other containers that collect water become fertile breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Humans contract malaria when bitten by female mosquitoes. Malarial parasites infect red blood cells, causing chills, fever, and often death. Of the estimated 300 million to 500 million people infected with malaria each year, roughly 1.5 million die from the disease. Globally, Africa suffers the most from malaria. More than 90 percent of malaria deaths occur there, despite the relative ease with which the disease can be prevented and cured. In many ways, the prevalence of malaria in Africa is a manifestation of that continent’s endemic poverty. Malaria was once believed to be caused by swamp air. The role that mosquitoes play in transmitting the disease was not discovered until 1898. Several factors have contributed to the increase of malaria in different parts of the world. As population pressures have influenced farmers to cultivate areas bordering on swamps and as agroforestry has grown, mosquitoes have multiplied and have more opportunities to infect humans. The construction of dams and irrigation systems for agriculture has radically altered the natural environment and provided breeding places for mosquitoes. Natural disasters such as earthquakes often destroy sanitation facilities, cause severe flooding, and allow standing water to accumulate in which mosquitoes breed. Finally, global warming is widely believed to be responsible for increased rainfall and higher temperatures, which can result in flooding. These environmental conditions facilitate the spread of malaria. Efforts to eradicate malaria began in 1898. In addition to draining swamps and removing standing water from around homes, insecticides and larvicides were used. Quinine was also used to treat infections. A major breakthrough in fighting malaria came after World War II when DDT was applied. DDT was first used in 1939 as an agricultural insecticide in Switzerland. However, it was during the war that its public health applications were discovered. The Allies used DDT to control typhus epidemics. Complete eradication of malaria was achieved in places such as the United States, southern Europe, Sri Lanka, and much of Brazil by massive DDT spraying. Success in reducing malaria problems influenced the World Health Organization (WHO) to initiate its Global Malaria Campaign in 1955 to intensify the use of DDT to control malaria. However, by the 1960s, malaria began to re-emerge in countries that had made significant progress in eliminating it because many countries were unable to continue the highly organized and costly spray program essential for success. Furthermore, widespread use of DDT engendered resistance to it at a time when more people were becoming aware of its danger to human health and the environment. As we discussed in Chapter 10, the toxicity of pesticides was stressed by Rachel Carson in her influential book Silent Spring. The WHO adopted a more comprehensive approach that included strengthening basic health services, focusing on the unique social and economic conditions in each region, and concentrating on treating patients with malaria. Known as the horizontal approach, this new strategy emphasized control and containment, as opposed to complete eradication. Rotarians worldwide have made eradicating malaria a major goal. The emphasis on bed nets was influenced by the growing ineffectiveness and health hazards of other approaches, such as indoor spraying and the use of chloroquine. Other organizations, such as the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), play a leading role in providing bed nets. An insecticide-treated bed net costs around $3. These bed nets are heavily subsidized or given away. A special initiative to eradicate malaria was launched in Zambia. Using $35 million donated by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Zambia’s objective is to provide bed nets to 80 percent of its population. An additional $82 million was donated by international organizations and governments to supply the most effective malaria drugs to every public clinic and to pay for coordinated spraying programs across Zambia. Death rates from malaria have declined by around 60 percent in Zambia. In 2015, there was a significant breakthrough in efforts to control malaria. Clinical trials on the vaccine RTS, S prevented malaria in roughly one-third of the children receiving it. The vaccine’s efficacy would be increased when it is used along with other interventions such as bed nets. RTS, S was developed over two decades through a unique cooperative endeavor of organizations, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline.11

13.7: HIV/AIDS 13.7 Recognize the causes and preventive measures of HIV When AIDS was first recognized in 1981, the general assumption was that this deadly disease was essentially limited to homosexuals and West Africans. Today, however, HIV/AIDS has become a pandemic. More than thirty-three million people worldwide, 60 percent of them women, are infected. Roughly two million people die every year from AIDS. Although Africa remains the epicenter of the AIDS pandemic, home to roughly 70 percent of the people in the world who are living with HIV and experiencing 72 percent of the world’s AIDS-related deaths, the disease is rapidly growing in China, India, Russia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Eastern and Central Europe, and elsewhere. It is generally accepted that HIV evolved from the simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) found in chimpanzees in southwestern Africa. It is believed that individuals acquired the disease from exposure to blood in the process of handling the meat of a chimpanzee that carried the virus. Compared with other infectious diseases, HIV/AIDS—while devastating—is transmitted in very specific ways and is thus more controllable. The virus is passed from one individual to another through the exchange of bodily fluids during sexual intercourse, through blood transfusions, from mother to fetus, through intravenous drug use, and through other activities in which infected blood is transmitted from one person to another. Early symptoms of HIV infection include chronic fatigue or weakness, noticeable and sustained weight loss, extensive and persistent swelling of the lymph glands, routine diarrhea, and sustained deterioration of the central nervous system. Globalization is a major factor contributing to the spread of HIV/AIDS. As global tourism continues to grow and people venture to all corners of the world, they increase their risk of contracting infectious diseases. Sex tourism, which involves traveling to specific countries to participate in the local sex industry, is a potent source of infectious diseases, especially HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, Africa is at the Epicenter of the Aids Pandemic, but the Disease is Growing Around the Globe. Nurses distribute free condoms during an AIDS awareness event on a street in China. as we discussed in Chapter12, the growth in human trafficking and the sex trade in many parts of the world helps spread HIV/AIDS. Poverty, ethnic conflicts, and wars facilitate the transmission of HIV/AIDS. 13.7.1: Global Responses to AIDS Condom usage is a relatively inexpensive and effective approach to reducing the risk of infection and transmission of HIV. Governments, NGOs, and international organizations support condom distribution programs, although this practice remains controversial for some groups that stress abstinence. Given the reality of increased human sexuality, using condoms will undoubtedly be the dominant and practical approach to fighting HIV/AIDS. Thailand provides an example of how governments have integrated condom usage into an overall strategy to impede the spread of the disease. Thailand began mandatory HIV testing of high-risk individuals, such as homosexuals, commercial sex workers, and intravenous drug users. It also implemented the 100 Percent Condom Program. The principal objectives of the program are to protect 100 percent of commercial sex acts through mandatory condom usage in brothels and to diminish the commercial sex trade through sustained educational efforts. Free condoms are distributed to sex workers, who are instructed to use them or face several penalties. The commercial sex business is closely monitored by the government to ensure compliance. Medical advances and a deeper understanding of HIV/AIDS—in addition to the fact that the disease was concentrated among high-risk groups—enabled rich countries to make significant progress in decreasing the transmission of the virus. Antiretroviral drug therapies, though expensive, allowed many patients with HIV/AIDS to continue living relatively normal lives. Deaths from the disease have declined in most developed countries, although both HIV/AIDS and mortality rates have increased among the poor in these societies, especially among African Americans. Despite opposition by pharmaceutical companies concerned about intellectual property rights, Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica, Cuba, and Uruguay took the unprecedented approach of providing government-subsidized antiretroviral medications to patients with HIV/AIDS, thereby setting global precedents for widespread access to AIDS medications. Brazil, in particular, has made it legal for government laboratories to ignore drug patents in order to produce low-cost generic drugs to stop the spread of the disease. As we discussed in Chapter 12, Holland and Australia have implemented policies to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS by providing supplies of clean needles and treatment for drug addicts. Although the United States has been involved in the global efforts to reduce HIV infections, a significant change in U.S. policy was initiated by Franklin Graham, founder of Samaritan’s Purse, an evangelical charity based in South Carolina. Bringing together evangelical Protestants and Catholic leaders, as well as overseas missionaries who worked in countries devastated by HIV/AIDS, Graham focused national attention on the problem. Perceptions of the disease as affecting primarily heterosexuals, as opposed to only homosexuals, enabled many conservatives to take action instead of disregarding the pandemic because they believed it was God’s punishment of homosexuals. President George W. Bush, influenced by Graham and the evangelicals, announced the Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and committed $25 billion over five years to preventing HIV infections and treating patients.12 However, political pressure from conservatives influenced the U.S. government to allocate a third of the money to abstinence-promoting programs and to avoid spending money on sterile syringes and needles for intravenous drug users. Essentially, the U.S. government adopted Uganda’s ABC (Abstinence, Be Faithful, and Use Condoms) program, which helped significantly reduce the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in that country. The William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative concluded an agreement with generic drug manufacturers to lower the price of triple combination antiretroviral drug regimens to less than $140 per patient per year. The Clinton Foundation has concentrated its efforts against HIV/AIDS in Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Africa, and several Caribbean states. The WHO and U.S. government agencies—including the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration—convened the First International AIDS Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1984. This was followed by the initiation of the WHO’s Special Program on HIV/AIDS in 1985, which set the objective of reducing the growth of HIV/AIDS globally and to lessen the disease’s impact on the countries most seriously affected. Concerned about HIV/AIDS patients’ inability to afford drugs to treat the disease, members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) ratified the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) in 1994. TRIPS included a provision to allow states to waive patent protections without authorization from the patent holder in national emergencies for noncommercial use. A major breakthrough in the fight against the pandemic came in 1996 when the Joint United Nations Program on AIDS (UNAIDS) was founded. UNAIDS’s main objective is to be the leading advocate for global action against HIV/AIDS. Several organizations, reflecting UNAIDS’s comprehensive approach to the problem, participate in the program. These include UNICEF; the UN Development Program; the UN Population Fund; the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); the World Bank; the UN Office on Drugs and Crime; and the International Labor Organization. These organizations have been joined by the eight leading industrial countries (known as the G-8), various NGOs, and pharmaceutical companies (such as Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol-Myers Squibb, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, and F. Hoffmann-LaRoche). Pharmaceutical companies discounted their antiretroviral medications and allowed countries to manufacture drugs inexpensively for patients in poor countries. In 2014, the twentieth International AIDS Conference was held in Melbourne, Australia. AIDS experts noted that HIV rates were at a twenty-year high, with most cases in Africa. However, the experts were optimistic that with adequate funding from the global community for further research, an AIDS-free world is within reach.

13.8: SARS 13.8 Report the origin, spread, effects, and control measures of SARS SARS emerged in China’s Guangdong Province in late 2002. The virus that caused SARS was transmitted from the civet cat to individuals handling and consuming the animal’s meat. This highly contagious disease is spread when individuals come into contact with droplets from an infected person’s coughing or sneezing. The symptoms of SARS are high fever, chills, muscle aches, and a dry cough. The vast majority of individuals infected with SARS improve without having to undergo extensive medical treatment. However, between 10 and 20 percent of those who contract the disease require breathing assistance from a mechanical ventilator for an extended period of time. Many of them eventually die. The transmission of the disease globally began when twelve guests in the Metropole Hotel in Hong Kong contracted it from an infected physician from Zhongshan University. Unaware that they were infected, these guests carried the disease to Singapore, Vietnam, Canada, Ireland, and the United States. More than eight hundred cases of SARS worldwide are believed to have originated with this one superspreader. Global communications helped spread the most recent information about SARS, thereby heightening global awareness of the deadly virus and generating pressure on governments, especially that of China, to take action to prevent its spread globally. Global communications also enabled the scientific community to engage in unprecedented cooperation to control the virus. Governments responded quickly. Vietnam—which had the first documented case of SARS, even though SARS originated in southern China—implemented detection and prevention measures immediately. These included (1) prompt identification of people with SARS, their movements, and their contacts; (2) appropriate protection of medical personnel treating these patients; (3) isolation of suspected SARS cases; (4) exit screening of international travelers; and (5) timely and accurate reporting and sharing information with others.13 Canada, the United States, and other countries took similar actions. The WHO also responded promptly by sending investigative teams to Guangdong, the first Chinese city to experience SARS. Also, WHO personnel visited Beijing and pressured government officials to give an accurate assessment of the SARS problem and to improve its reporting system. Roughly sixty teams of public health officials and experts were recruited from the United States, Britain, Germany, France, and other countries to assist with efforts to control the spread of infections in areas affected by SARS. Several factors contributed to this rapid global response. First, the disease was greatly feared, partly in light of the threat of biological weapons. Public health officials did not want to repeat the slow global response that had allowed HIV/AIDS to grow. WHO leadership plus the success of medical researchers resulted in solutions to the disease.The global response to SARS marks a radical departure from earlier responses to infectious diseases and has become a model for dealing with potential pandemics.

13.9: EBOLA 13.9 Report the origin, spread, effects, and control measures of Ebola The outbreak of Ebola in Guinea and its spread to the neighboring countries of Liberia and Sierra Leone was declared a global emergency by the WHO in 2014. Ebola has killed more than eleven thousand known victims. Although these three countries became the epicenter of the Ebola epidemic, the disease also spread to Nigeria. Discovered in 1976 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, near the Ebola River, Ebola is one of the world’s deadliest viruses, with fatality rates as high as 90 percent in some communities. Ebola comes into the human community via fruit bats, a delicacy in Central and West Africa, and by people consuming the meat of wild animals infected by these bats. Ebola causes vomiting, diarrhea, and hemorrhagic fever that induces bleeding. It is highly contagious among humans and is transmitted by exposure to bodily fluids of those infected, including corpses that are being buried. Although experimental drugs have been given to some patients with Ebola, there is no cure for Ebola. It is contained by quarantining infected individuals and monitoring those who have been in close contact with them, particularly family members and caregivers. Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Nigeria declared national emergencies to limit the spread of Ebola. These West African countries implemented prevention measures that included restricting travel and quarantining some communities. Several airlines terminated flights to the affected countries, the United States withdrew Peace Corps volunteers from West Africa, and several companies and organizations reduced operations and allowed employees to leave. The WHO responded by allocating $100 million to stop transmission of Ebola by improving surveillance of the virus, protecting health care workers, and helping individuals understand how to avoid being infected. The World Bank and the African Development Bank disbursed $260 million to Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone to strengthen their very weak health care systems. Johnson & Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline agreed to cooperate to develop an Ebola vaccine and to produce millions of doses quickly. The European Union contributed $250 million to develop new Ebola vaccines, drugs, and diagnostic tests.

13.10: Global Responses to Infectious Diseases 13.10 Outline role of the WHO in preventing the spread of infectious diseases As early as 1851, European countries convened the International Sanitation Conference in an effort to prevent the spread of infectious diseases from developing countries to Europe, primarily through travel and trade. Significant improvements in sanitation, nutrition, and medical technology in Europe have reduced outbreaks of infectious diseases. But Europe remained vulnerable to the importation of diseases. Shortly after the United Nations was founded, the WHO was created as a specialized agency to develop international rules concerning infectious disease control. Under the International Health Regulations developed by WHO, countries are required to report outbreaks of yellow fever, cholera, plague, and other diseases. This information is disseminated to other countries, and surveillance strategies are implemented to help prevent transmission. Countries are also required to provide safe drinking water, food, and disposal of refuse, wastewater, and other things dangerous to health at their airports and ports. The International Health Regulations also require countries to provide health services, equipment, and services for isolating infected persons and for disinfecting, disinsecting, and deratting ships and aircraft. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), based in Atlanta, Georgia, also plays a leading role in preventing and controlling the transmission of infectious diseases into the United States. Both the CDC and WHO emphasize the importance of research and the development of medicines to prevent the emergence and spread of infectious diseases. As we have seen, an important component of the global response to the emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases is stressing preventive measures. These include protecting and chlorinating water supplies, disposing of human feces in a sanitary manner and maintaining fly-proof latrines, paying special attention to cleanliness in food preparation and food handling, stressing the importance of frequent hand washing, and eliminating potential mosquito breeding sites. Routine preventive immunization programs have effectively reduced outbreaks of many infectious diseases. Case Study Obesity: A Global Epidemic Obesity is now a global epidemic. Obesity and overweight are generally defined as excessive fat accumulation that has serious health consequences. Obesity and overweight are the fifth leading cause of death globally. The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that obesity puts populations at risk for developing noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which have been declared a global epidemic. Obesity is an underlying cause of infertility in women and impotence in men. Globally, obesity rates have doubled since 1980. More than 1.5 billion adults and 43 million children, mostly in the developing world, are obese or overweight. More women are obese or overweight than men worldwide. With the exception of Mexico, rich countries have the highest percentage of obese and overweight persons. Mexico leads the overall list, with almost one-third of its population obese or overweight. America is a close second, with 24 percent, followed by Britain with 23 percent, Slovakia with 22.4 percent, Greece with 22 percent, and Australia with 21.7 percent. There are many causes of obesity and overweight. As part of our ancestors’ evolutionary adaptation to food scarcity, human beings store calories when food is available. A gestating mother’s environment directly influences her children’s weight in later life. Children born to parents who did not have adequate diets during pregnancy tend to have higher rates of obesity. The children of starving mothers, anticipating starvation during their own lives, tend to hoard calories. As food remains abundant, they tend to overeat and gain weight. Brighter lights contribute to obesity by confusing the body’s biological clock, which signals when we should eat and sleep. Contemporary lifestyles deprive many individuals of adequate sleep, and an increasing amount of time is spent watching television and on the computer. Cultural globalization, increased food supplies, declining population growth rates, and urbanization are major causes of obesity. Cultural globalization has led to the homogenization of lifestyles, diets, and an automobile culture globally. The hectic pace of life influences people to eat fast foods that have lots of sugar, fat, and salt. Overcrowding and crime in urban areas contribute to a decline in exercise. The availability of high-calorie snacks and soft drinks guarantee the growth of the obesity epidemic. Solutions to obesity and overweight are well known, though difficult to achieve in a world with constant advertising and global competition among food companies for market share. While individuals are ultimately responsible for their behavior, losing weight requires support from families and communities. Food consumption is an essential component of culture. Consequently, greater efforts must be made at a societal level to promote proper nutrition and smaller food portions. Global and local food companies could help by reducing the fat and sugar content of food and be more responsible in marketing products to children. By decreasing sedentary activities and increasing exercise as part of a daily routine, individuals can gradually help reduce obesity and overweight. Wellness programs in workplaces, hiking and walking trails, and communities designed to encourage walking and biking instead of driving could make a difference. Finally, working with children to make them aware of the benefits of proper nutrition and physical activity will slow the growth of the obesity and overweight epidemic.

Summary

This chapter focuses on the impact of NCDs: the causes of NCDs, major NCDs (such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease), and global responses to NCDs. It also examines the globalization of infectious diseases; rapid increases in global travel, trade, and migration; growing use of illegal drugs; human trafficking for sexual purposes; rapid population growth; environmental changes; widespread poverty; and inadequate medical resources—all factors that have facilitated the global spread of infectious diseases. These diseases pose significant threats to humans as well as to global security. By discussing infectious diseases—such as influenza, avian flu, malaria, HIV/AIDS, and SARS—we were able to see the social, economic, and political challenges these diseases pose and the ease with which they are spread globally. We discussed various responses to the globalization of infectious diseases. The case of SARS demonstrates that rapid transportation and instantaneous communications have raised global awareness of how quickly infectious diseases are transmitted worldwide. The global response to SARS is widely regarded as a model for how to deal with emerging as well as current infectious diseases. Some organizations, such as the WHO, play a pivotal role in reducing the expansion of infectious diseases. NGOs as well as individuals are also actively involved in fighting pandemics. However, many governments have inadequate resources to deal with NCDs and infectious diseases. Furthermore, countries have different priorities. Cultural values and practices also complicate global efforts to prevent the emergence and spread of diseases. This chapter discusses the newly identified epidemics of obesity and noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which are related to each other. Global organizations are targeting these preventable diseases that cause 63 percent of all deaths and increase poverty worldwide.