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America and the World 4 conflict - the demand side of the equation - which are almost always socio-economic in origin. Again, none of this is news to you. But some of it at least is news to the American people, many of whom believe that poverty, terrorism, ethnic and racial violence, and the use of extreme force are somehow separable issues. You know better. So should the rest of us. Running on Empty: The Depletion of Nonrenewable Resources. You don't have to be a tree-hugger to recognize that we are eating, burning and building our way through the world's nonrenewable resources at a rate that cannot be sustained without doing irreparable harm to ourselves and to the planet. Beyond the most obvious consequences of our bottomless appetites are two other implications we think less about than we should. First, as we exhaust such commodities as oil and natural gas and timber, the price of what remains will escalate rapidly. The first world might be able to accommodate the economic dislocations that will inevitably ensue; not so, however, the third world, for whom development is already prohibitively expensive. Second, a sustained upward trend in commodity prices is likely to ignite a growing number of resources wars, as countries scramble to retain or enlarge their holdings of such key assets as water, chemicals, precious metals, and the like. Even foodstuffs could once again become a casus belli. What to do? We have known the answer for the better part of a generation. Curb our own intake of goods and services; help third-world countries implement less resource-intensive development plans; and slow the rate of population growth. Knowledge is great. Action informed by knowledge is better. The Great (and Not So Great) Powers. Managing relations among the great powers is the very essence of international politics. It's also extraordinarily difficult, and destined to get even harder. Two features of the contemporary great-power system merit special mention. The first is good news, at least for us; the second is not. The good news is that the United States is by any measure the most powerful country in the world. Since the end of the

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    "ocrText": "America and the World\n4\nconflict - the demand side of the equation - which are almost\nalways socio-economic in origin.\nAgain, none of this is news to you. But some of it at\nleast is news to the American people, many of whom believe that\npoverty, terrorism, ethnic and racial violence, and the use of\nextreme force are somehow separable issues. You know better.\nSo should the rest of us.\nRunning on Empty: The Depletion of Nonrenewable Resources.\nYou don't have to be a tree-hugger to recognize that we are\neating, burning and building our way through the world's\nnonrenewable resources at a rate that cannot be sustained\nwithout doing irreparable harm to ourselves and to the planet.\nBeyond the most obvious consequences of our bottomless appetites\nare two other implications we think less about than we should.\nFirst, as we exhaust such commodities as oil and natural\ngas and timber, the price of what remains will escalate rapidly.\nThe first world might be able to accommodate the economic\ndislocations that will inevitably ensue; not so, however, the\nthird world, for whom development is already prohibitively\nexpensive.\nSecond, a sustained upward trend in commodity prices is\nlikely to ignite a growing number of resources wars, as\ncountries scramble to retain or enlarge their holdings of such\nkey assets as water, chemicals, precious metals, and the like.\nEven foodstuffs could once again become a casus belli.\nWhat to do? We have known the answer for the better part\nof a generation. Curb our own intake of goods and services;\nhelp third-world countries implement less resource-intensive\ndevelopment plans; and slow the rate of population growth.\nKnowledge is great. Action informed by knowledge is better.\nThe Great (and Not So Great) Powers.\nManaging relations among the great powers is the very\nessence of international politics. It's also extraordinarily\ndifficult, and destined to get even harder. Two features of the\ncontemporary great-power system merit special mention. The\nfirst is good news, at least for us; the second is not.\nThe good news is that the United States is by any measure\nthe most powerful country in the world. Since the end of the"
}