The stuff that's going to happen over the next century.

I view overpopulation as the last and greatest threat to world stability.

The infastructure, diplomatic ties and information communition needed to recover from any significant economic recession are in place. The world has the needed infastructure to band together to discourage layoffs, cheap labor and place employment requirements on multinational corporations if the economic recession gets worse.

As environmental issues get worse and worse, science will likely catch up. With a little bit of additional research, a way to neutralize nuclear waste will undoubtedly be found making it the one viable energy source that produces virtually no waste. Cheaper and more efficent ways to purify sea water are being found. Scientists are already researching ways to reverse the effects of pollutants released into the atmosphere. Once the effects of Bush's maniacal emmisions standards reductions get scientifically documented, they'll undoubtedly be reimplemented with even more stringent requirements.

Iraq sets a precedence of the US unilaterally without legitamate reason deposing world dictators and replacing them with democracies. {Tongue in Cheek} Hopefully, the US continues this trend and regardless of and short term consequences, someday, all nations will be democratically run. History has proven repeatedly proven that two democracies will never be forced to engage in war and that the populations oof democracies will become more aware of world affairs, will come under western influences towards issues such as liberty and will disengage from terrorist acts. So I see the risk of terrorism and war steadily decreasing.

A few decades from now, Star Wars, the national missle defense system will be operational and will eliminate the risk of nuclear winter. Risks from biologically created viruses as well as ground based nuclear weapons still exist. But the damage from such threats will be localized. Vaccines to any biologically created viruses will be created before their effects will be worldwide.

The world is developing economically. Both India and China have rapidly progressed over the past two decades since they opened up their borders. They will soon become economic juggernauts. And they by themselves account for over a third of the world's population. Other nations will undoubtedly follow suit once the UN gives into pressure and allows for better oversight of the IMF and World Bank and the mechanisms of tyranny and dictatorship are torn down and replaced with democracry and stable infrastructure.

Science is increasingly finding the cures to more and more diseases. Some day soon, no man will ever have to die from AIDs or cancer. Infact, many of the effects of old age will be reversed and ways to stop the aging process itself will soon be discovered.

This in essence is part of the problem. People are getting to be older and older, less and less are dying from disease, and the impoverished populations of the third world are reproducing at an incredible rate. While middle income families are practicing contraception and family planning, much of the world remains impoverished and is insisting on having many children. The population is already at six billion and rapidly increasing. And until poverty itself is eliminated, an event that will probably take centuries, there is little hope that the growth rate will stabilize. If the population continues to expand without control, resources will rapidly be depleted, democracy will once again fall to tyranny, and nations will engage in wars for critical resources. And there is little hope of avioding this scenario. All the contraceptive education in the world will not be enough to stop this process, they'll merely serve as speed bumps. As long as poverty remains a reality, so will the threat that overpopulation poses to world stability.

Is there any solution to this problem?

Please contribute your own thoughts on the future direction that humanity and the world is headed and the policies we must undertake to atleast sustain our current level of stability and peace.

If you want to hear a more active discussion on this issue, check this out.