GLOBAL OVERPOPULATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000605300058-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 3, 2012
• Sequence Number: 58
• Publication Date: February 17, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
. Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03 :CIA-RDP90-009658000605300058-8
,'. `-`-:',:'~ ~='?`=~ 17 February 1985
.., , ; ~-~
E:~ ~~.._ ~ ` f
~ ~~~~~~' ~~~c`~~ ~
n the face'of overwhelming
" evidence that there is no
`~ way of fighting poverty in
"the Third World without more
extensive family planning, the
keagan administration is
cutting back its support of the
most tested and experienced
organizations in this field,
condemning wide areas of the
globe to ever bigger, ever more
hungry populations.
Knowledgeable congressmen
such as Sam Gejdenson
(D-Conn.) suggest that the
administration's penny-pinching
will have the counterproductive
result of accelerating illegal
abortions in the less developed
countries-just what the White
House presumably wants to
avoid.
In a new book, "State of the
V~'orld, 1985," Lester Brown
and .his Wor)dwatch Associates
say the alternative to checking
population by famine-the
present case in Ethiopia-may
- be gone-child-per-family policy
in 20 countries from Mexico to
the Philippines if the birth
control brakes aren't applied in
other ways.
The ravages of famine aren't
going to change until the
affected countries are able to
produce more of their own food.
And even that can't happen
until the United. States joins in
helping these countries to
establish effective birth control
programs.
Instead, the. Reagan
administration has cut off $17
million for the International
Planned Parenthood
Federation, because the IPPF
allocates a dribble of
funds-less than one-half
percent of the money it gets
from non-American
sources-to clinics providing
abortion services where they
are legal in their own countries.
In addition, reacting to
stories of infanticide. and forced
abortion in China published last
month by The Washington Post,
the administration has at least
temporarily frozen $46 million
for the United Nations Fund for
Population Activities, even
though none of this money was
destined for China.
Agency for International
Development Administrator M.
Peter McPherson is being
pressured by Sens. Jesse Helms
(R-N.C.) and Gordon J.
Humphrey (R-N.H.) to supply
"detailed proof" that U.S. funds
are not assisting Chinese
population-control efforts,
directly or indirectly.
Yet another blow to the
financing of population control
efforts came in the new budget
for fisca1.1986, which cuts the
AID's Family Assistance
Planning funds to $250 million
from $290 million in fiscal
1985.
If the Reagan administration
can't be persuaded of the need
for these funds on humanitarian
grounds, or if it doesn't believe
that excessive population
growth sabotages economic
development in the Third
World, it at least~should pay
attention to the way in which
the population explosion 'leads to political
instability in the Thud World, which, in turn, ~i
creates security problems for the United
States. ~ I
According to sources at' the Population
Institute of Washington. a still-classified
Central Intelligence Agency report lists many
global flash points that could lead to wars in i
- this century-wars that have their roots in
the unrestrained growth of population. 4`
For example. the CIA report, titled
"Population, Resources & Politics in the Third
World: The Long View.'' predicts that
A4exican-U.S, relations may be the most
comp ex problem that the United States faces
~at the turn of the century because of migrant
traffic across the border, and water and
pollution problems. ;
The IA sans that the population explosion
also may have enough of an impact on Turkey
to destabilize NATO; lead Honduras and El
Salvador into war; cause Vietnam to expand_
into underpopulated Laos and Kampuchia,
perhaps bringing the Soviets and China to the
brink of war: and create a variety of problems
for Middle East allies of the United States,
notably Israel and Egypt: (Egypt, Mexico, El
. Salvador and Vietnam are four countries
listed as "outgrowing" their borders.)
Declassified in Part -Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/05/03 :CIA-RDP90-009658000605300058-8