World Report. 2005

Author: Worldwatch Institute
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-05-01
Features: In a public opinion survey conducted at the end of 2003 involving 43,000 people in 51 countries, those who rated international security as "poor" were twice as many as those who rated it as "good." Nearly half of the respondents believed that the next generation would live in a less secure world than the present one. A survey conducted in June 2003 among "public opinion leaders" in 48 countries revealed a widespread sense of pessimism, with at least two-thirds of people in various regions claiming dissatisfaction with the current global situation. In a series of survey activities funded by the World Bank and involving 20,000 poor people in 23 developing countries, the majority reported that their lives had worsened, economic opportunities had decreased, and their sense of instability had grown stronger. The pressures faced by countries and people around the world do not automatically, or necessarily, lead to violence. However, these pressures can evolve into political triggers, leading to polarization and extremism. Moreover, if grievances remain unaddressed, if people are forced to struggle endlessly in the depths of mass unemployment and long-term poverty, if government institutions are incompetent or corrupt, if weapons proliferate, and if political persecution or despair makes people lose hope in the future and push them toward extremist movements, the consequences could be worse. Currently, the internationally recognized six authoritative annual reports are: the World Bank's World Development Report; the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP) Human Development Report; the World Resources Institute's World Resources; the Worldwatch Institute's World Report; the International Institute for Strategic Studies' World Strategy Report; and the Swiss Management Center's World Competitiveness Report. — The concerns of Ni Wenquan, Group Leader and Chief Scientist of the Sustainable Development Strategy Group at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, about security have once again become the primary focus of global attention. The dangers posed by terrorist actions, like a snake emerging from a web woven by poverty, inequality, international crime, the collapse of lethal weapons, infectious diseases, and painful competition for land and resources, have raised concerns. To establish global security, all countries must regard these "boundaryless problems" as shared risks. Government policies that rely solely on force to address security issues while ignoring the underlying causes will exacerbate trends of violence and instability. Policies formulated on the basis of redefining global security issues can not only avoid these risks but also promote constructive alternatives. The authors of World Report 2005 propose that the path to peace and stability lies in: reducing dependence on oil, establishing food security, managing water conflicts, curbing the spread of infectious diseases, disarmament, and achieving sustainable development through international cooperation.