Og igen: Der er ingen overbefolkning

Det kan ikke siges for tit. Overbefolkning er ikke et problem. En nation skal have bæredygtighed, hvad folketallet anbelanger. Arbejdskraftens reproduktion. Et stabilt fødselstal hos landets oprindelige befolkning må være målet – ungefær 2,1 barn per kvinde for Danmarks vedkommende:

Five Myths About the World’s Population

By Nicholas Eberstadt | November 6, 2011

1. The world is overpopulated.

Sure, 7 billion is a big number. But most serious demographers, economists and population specialists rarely use the term “overpopulation” — because there is no clear demographic definition.

For instance, is Haiti, with an annual population growth rate of 1.3 percent, overpopulated? If it is, then was the United States overpopulated in 1790, when the new country was growing at more than 3 percent per year? And if population density is the correct yardstick, then Monaco, with more than 16,000 people per square kilometer, has a far greater problem than, say, Bangladesh and its 1,000 people per square kilometer.

Back in the 1970s, some scholars tried to estimate the “optimum population” for particular countries, but most gave up. There were too many uncertainties (how much food would the world produce with future technologies?) and too many value judgments (how much parkland is ideal?).

Mere HER hos AEI eller her i The Washington Post.

Andre kilder: djøf-bladet,

Overdrivelse fremmer misforståelsen

FNs troværdighed falder hele tiden:

Millions May Die … Or Not.

How disaster hype became a big global business.

By David Rieff  | Sept/Oct 2011

On Sept. 28, 2001, with the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan imminent, Jeremy Hobbs, the executive director of Oxfam Community Aid Abroad, issued an urgent call for donations to the group’s Afghan Refugee Crisis Appeal. “Up to 5 million innocent people face starvation and death in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran,” he insisted. “We must act now to prevent what could possibly be the worst humanitarian catastrophe since World War II.”

Really? Worse than Biafra in 1967, worse than the Cambodian refugee crisis, worse than the Ethiopian famine of 1984-1985, and worse even than Somalia in 1991? How could a senior official at one of the most experienced and well-respected private relief agencies in the world suggest with such confidence that the crisis in Afghanistan was likely to outstrip these tragedies?

Mere HER i Foreign Policy.

Ræson med mere om Somalia

Ja, klimaændringer eller ej, – vi skal have gang i urbaniseringen i tredjeverdenslandene. Et glimt af fornuft hos de radikale? Det er ellers sjældent:

Christian Friis Bach om Somalia: Når ørkenen spreder sig

August 3, 2011

”Bistanden til landbrugsudvikling har været faldende de sidste 15 år, fordi det er bøvlet og besværligt. Her har regeringer og det internationale samfund svigtet. Klimaforandringerne vil ramme Afrikas Horn hårdt, og tørken rejser en række komplicerede dilemmaer: Hvornår skal vi erkende, at store befolkningsgrupper må flytte fra områder, der omdannes til ørken og – primært – ind til de store byer?” Sådan spørger Christian Friis Bach, tidligere chef for Folkekirkens Nødhjælp, folketingskandidat for de Radikale.

Malthe Rasmussen interviewer HER hos Ræson. I artiklen refereres til et interview med Linda Polman, som kan ses her.

Video: Ezra Levant om Nordkorea

Nordkorea skal lede FNs kommende nedrustningskonferece. Det er jo en parodi. Hvorfor forlader Danmark ikke det latterlige foretagende?

Ezra Levant: Time to quit the U.N.

Brian Lilley – Time to quit the U.N.

Audio & video: Michael Ledeen om Iran og USA

Fra Secure Freedom Radio den 22. april 2011 - Frank Gaffney interviewer:

Michael Ledeen & Frank Gaffney

Michael Ledeen, author of Accomplice to Evil Iran and the War Against the West and Freedom Scholar at the Foundation for Defense of Democracy, lays out the path to nonviolent regime change in Iran. Can the United States afford to ignore the Iranian regime’s internal rot?

Startes HER – åbner Windows Media Player. Varighed 23 minutter. Herefter fortsætter programmet med noget andet.

Desuden denne video - Michael Ledeen introducerer fimen, Iranium:

Screening of the new film – “Iranium” – Washington DC, February 8, 2011

Andre kilder: Big Peace,

Video: Robert D. Kaplan om Det Indiske Oceans historie

Ingen kan klage over manglende mulighed for at se video med Robert D. Kaplan. Her er han igen – de to videoer er noget forskellige, selvom det er den samme bog, forelæsningerne handler om. Den første er fra 10. november 2010:

Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power

Robert D. Kaplan writer, The Atlantic Monthly Robert Kaplan declares the Indian Ocean area will be the true nexus of world power and conflict in the coming years, and that U.S. foreign policy must concentrate there if America is to remain dominant in an ever-changing world.

Robert D. Kaplan is a national correspondent for The Atlantic and a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security. He is the best-selling author of 12 books on international affairs and travel, translated into many languages.

Presented by WNET and Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs:

Reservelink: Kan også ses HER hos Carnegie Council.

Fra Harvard Book Store den 25. oktober 2010:

Indian Ocean and the Shifting Center of Global Power

Robert D. Kaplan writer, The Atlantic Monthly [homepage]Robert D. Kaplan discusses the shifting center of global power and his new book, Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power.

In Monsoon, an examination of the Indian Ocean region and the countries known as “Monsoon Asia,” Robert D. Kaplan shows how crucial this dynamic area has become to American power in the 21st century. Like the monsoon itself, a cyclical weather system that is both destructive and essential for growth and prosperity, the rise of these countries (including India, Pakistan, China, Indonesia, Burma, Oman, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Tanzania) represents a shift in the global balance that cannot be ignored.

Monsoon explores the multilayered world behind the headlines. Kaplan offers insights into the economic and naval strategies of China and India and how they will affect U.S. interests. He provides an on-the-ground perspective on the more volatile countries in the region, plagued by weak infrastructures and young populations tempted by extremism. This, in one of the most nuclearized areas of the world, is a dangerous mix.

Presented by WGBH and Harvard Book Store:

Video: Robert D. Kaplan om landene omkring Det Indiske Ocean

Robert Kaplan er en travl mand for tiden, - han er overalt. Her er noget at vælge imellem:

Author Robert Kaplan discusses new book and the rise of the Indian Ocean

Robert Kaplan, author of “Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power” sat down in October 2010 with Nicholas Burns, director of the Belfer Center’s Future of Diplomacy Project, to discuss the growing importance of the Indian Ocean in international affairs.

Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power with Robert Kaplan

On October 25, 2010, Robert Kaplan visited the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs to discuss his new book, “Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power.” Kaplan current serves as a senior fellow at the Center for New American Security and as national correspondent for The Atlantic.

Video: Robert D. Kaplan & Tom Gjelten

Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power

On November 9, 2010, the Center for a New American Security (CNAS) held a book launch event for Monsoon featuring best-selling author Robert Kaplan and NPR’s award-winning correspondent Tom Gjelten.

Like the monsoon itself, a cyclical weather system that can be both destructive and essential for growth and prosperity, the rise of countries like China, India, Pakistan, Indonesia and Sri Lanka represent a shift in global balance that cannot be ignored. From Pakistan’s uncertain future, to the growth of Chinese military power, to African states teetering on the edge of failure, violent Islamic extremism, and piracy, this region will be the true nexus of power and conflict in the coming years. In Monsoon, Kaplan shows how crucial the Indian Ocean area has become to American power in the 21st century. He argues it is in that region – volatile, nuclearized, and plagued by weak infrastructure and young populations tempted by extremism – that the fight for democracy, energy independence, and religious freedom will be lost or won, and where the United States must focus in order to remain relevant in this ever-changing world.

Bat Ye’or forsvarer Geert Wilders

En artikel af Bat Ye’or – det sker desværre ikke så tit:

Geert Wilders and the Fight for Europe

By Bat Yeor – February 16, 2009

Does defending Western values constitute “inciting hatred”?

Britain has just witnessed the spectacle of a duly elected parliamentarian from another EU country, Geert Wilders of the Netherlands, being denied entry to the country because he constituted “a threat to public policy.” Wilders, after being detained briefly at Heathrow, was sent back to Holland — where he has further legal troubles. Three weeks earlier, a Dutch appeals court had ordered prosecutors to begin criminal proceedings against Wilders for “inciting hatred and discrimination” and “insulting Muslim worshippers” through his public statements and his 2008 film, Fitna. The order to proceed with the criminal prosecution resulted from pressure put on European states and on the UN Human Rights Council by the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). The OIC’s aim is to punish and suppress any alleged Islamophobia, around the world but particularly in Europe, and it has been a leader in creating the conditions that made the U.K.’s Wilders ban possible.

The OIC is one of the largest intergovernmental organizations in the world. It encompasses 56 Muslim states plus the Palestinian Authority. Spread over four continents, it claims to speak in the name of the ummah (the universal Muslim community), which numbers about 1.3 billion. The OIC’s mission is to unite all Muslims worldwide by rooting them in the Koran and the Sunnah — the core of traditional Islamic civilization and values. It aims at strengthening solidarity and cooperation among all its members, in order to protect the interests of Muslims everywhere and to galvanize the ummah into a unified body.

Mere HER i National Review Online.

Verdens værste regeringer

Freedom House har udpeget i alt otte lande, som organisationen ifølge sine målinger vurderer er de mest undertrykkende.  Det drejer sig om Myanmar, Cuba, Libyen, Nordkorea, Somalia, Sudan, Turkmenistan og Uzbekistan.

Hviderusland, Kina, Elfenbenskysten, Ækvatorial-guinea, Eritrea, Laos, Saudi-Arabien, Syrien og Zimbabwe får også bundkarakterer hos Freedom House.

Det skriver dr.dk/Nyheder.

Og landene slipper for billigt, når det gælder om at få på puklen for at undertrykke sine borgere, siger de to organisationer Freedom House og U.N. Watch, og langer dermed ud efter FN’s menneskerettighedsråd.

Ja, det kan man vist roligt sige. FNs Generalforsamling burde sætte ind overfor FNs Menneskerettighedsråd.