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University Daily Kansan Monday. October 9. 1961
The Population Problem
One of the basic, long-range problems facing the world today is overpopulation. Many countries are already overpopulated, some dangerously so. India and China are both grappling with this problem and both are experiencing great difficulties in their attempts to solve it. The overpopulation problem in both countries will become far worse in the next few decades. But these two nations are not the only ones faced with an overpopulation problem. Many other underdeveloped countries in Asia, Africa, parts of Latin America and the Middle East are suffering from the same problem.
The overpopulation problem in these countries has been created in large part by the increased efforts at sanitation and medical care that have reduced the mortality rate, the agricultural outlook that regards large families as an asset and the surge in population growth that always comes with the drive for industrialization. The problem created by overpopulation is a basic one in the countries suffering from it. They cannot provide enough jobs or enough food, clothing and shelter for all the people.
THE POPULATION EXPLOSION IN SOME of these underdeveloped nations is so great that it has begun to severely limit or even cancel the benefits of their efforts at economic improvement. India is a good example of this. China is undoubtedly experiencing the same difficulty. Many other underdeveloped nations either already have the same problem or are rapidly approaching it.
The question that needs to be considered in the light of these basic facts is this: Can the world's population continue to increase indefinitely? No sane, reasonable man can answer yes to that question. Therefore, another question quite logically presents itself: How is the world's population to be controlled? It is a question that needs to be answered now, not later, when the overpopulation problem has become even more acute and dangerous.
Many ideas and methods have been advanced for the solution of the problem. Medical research laboratories have been trying to develop a cheap chemical contraceptive that can be taken orally in pill form. This method would limit the world's population effectively if it was widely available. Scientists in other fields have developed new methods of food production and found new food sources to feed the expanding population. Wellmeaning idealists have suggested that the problem lies in the fact that the world's resources are unevenly distributed and that the answer
lies in convincing the wealthy nations to share their plenty with the poor and underdeveloped nations.
THE ONLY WORKABLE SOLUTION among those listed and among the many other proposals that have been advanced on the problem is the chemical contraceptive in pill form. The other proposals all have one thing in common: either they seek to ignore the basic fact that the world's population cannot continue to increase indefinitely or they are unworkable in practical terms. They are only delaying actions to avoid facing the problem for awhile.
Considering the overpopulation problem on a long term basis then, it would seem a wise and humane action on the part of the United States to aid in developing, or to develop by itself, such a contraceptive. It has the research facilities and the scientists to develop and perfect such a contraceptive quicker than any other nation. It is true that a great deal of work has already been done in this area and that chemical contraceptives are available. However, they are not available cheaply and in pill form to the extent that they would be feasible for use in the underdeveloped areas where they are needed.
ONCE THE UNITED STATES AND OTHER interested nations had developed a cheap and effective contraceptive, the formula and production method or the actual pills could then be made available to any nation requesting them through UNESCO. That distinction is deliberately made. The program is a service that would be invaluable to many countries, but it should be carefully noted that it would be offered on a voluntary basis.
Yet despite the delicate problems that would be involved in creating any such contraceptive for export to countries desiring it, the program is necessary. To continue ignoring the problem of overpopulation will only make it more difficult to solve when it is finally faced. And the rapidly developing drive for industrialization among underdeveloped nations is going to create tremendous population problems for them in the near future.
THE TRUTH OF THE PROBLEM MAY NOT be palatable or welcome to many people, but they cannot change the problem by ignoring it or refusing to deal with it. There is only one humane and workable solution. Work on it should be begun at once.
William H. Mullins
Syrian Revolt Blow to Nasser
By Phil Newsom
PARIS—(UPI)—The Syrian revolt dealt a severe blow to the prestige of U.A.R. President Gamel Abdul Nasser, but the new Syrian regime is not yet out of the woods and Nasser probably has not made his last move.
American correspondents permitted for the first time into Damascus after the Sept. 29 overthrow of the Nasser regime in Syria reported an apparent broad base of support for the new government of Premier Mamoun Al-Kuzbari.
THE QUESTIONS now are the steps to be taken toward recognition of the new regime by the big Western powers and the Soviet Union, Nasser's next move and the success of efforts by the Kuzbari government to solidify its support among the working people, peasants and students.
Nasser's next step especially must be awaited because the Egyptian leader has been on the ropes before, notably during the Anglo-French invasion of Suez, but has emerged successfully and still in control.
UPI correspondents in Beirut, Syria's next door neighbor in Lebanon, report that a further necessity for the success of the new government will be quick massive doses of foreign aid to finance the large scale construction and development projects started under Nasser.
THE FIRST JARRING effects of Syrian revolt on the Middle East as a whole appear to have been largely absorbed.
Israel, bordering Syria and a favorite target of Nasser propaganda attacks, naturally was pleased.
Jordan's young King Hussein, also from time to time a Nasser target, was pleased and promptly recognized the new regime, as did Turkey which also borders Syria.
BUT IT WAS NOTABLE that beyond Nasser's brief and abortive paratroop attack on the Syrian
Focus on Syria
IF THE NEW REGIME is successful and if there is no outside interference, such as from the Communists, it is possible a new mideast alignment will develop.
rebels, mideast boundaries remained quiet and nowhere did troops go lunging toward a border.
French Foreign Office observers who traditionally keep a close eye on mideast events, now believe any threat of military action largely has disappeared.
Such action, they believe, would have to have taken place within the first few days.
But these are "ifs" dependent upon a still unsettled situation.
If the coup proved anything, it proved that there still is no such thing as Arab unity and that events in the mideast revolve around a few outstanding individuals and ancient hatreds.
IRAQ HAS REMAINED silent but Premier Gen. Abdul Kassim undoubtedly be willing to strengthen his hand in the struggle for Arab leadership against Nasser.
Saudi Arabia has mended its fences in its frequently strained relations with Nasser but there is no love lost between the Egyptian ruler and the ruling family composed of the sons of old Ibn Saud.
Turkey, a non-Arab country, also has had frequent troubles with Nasser under the former U.A.R., but in the present circumstances has worries of its own.
TURKEY IS SCHEDULED to hold national elections next week in the beginning of a transfer from military rule back to civilian.
The Sept. 17th hanging of former Premier Adnan Menderes by the Committee of National Unity has left deep scars on a country noted for its vendettas and may be expected to keep that country preoccupied with its own affairs.
Militarily, there is little real change.
THE SINGLE UNIFYING factor in the mideast has been the Arab hatred of Israel.
Within a few hours of the outset of any military action, Israel could muster 200,000 well-trained and equipped men in the field and remains the strongest military power able to hold its own against any proven Arab combination.
Focus on Syria
By Safynaz Kazem
News from home about the situation and the trouble in the U.A.R. was a shock and a great disappointment to every individual Arab in the Arab World—and here I mean to indicate the individual who composes the general public opinion of the Arab people.
I am not going to take sides and try to justify its action or attitude; in the Arab's case there is just one side—the Arabs themselves! Up to this point everyone can imagine how difficult and bitter is the situation.
One may ask:
1. Are the Arabs going to run over themselves and leave their dangerous enemy aside—very pleased with their disagreements?
2. If the masses of the 85 million Arabs believe and dream about the "One Arab Nation," what is the problem then?
3 — Does Nasser force himself to be the leader of the Arab?
The first answer is almost a basic fact about one nature of the Arabs.
1. The Arabs are one of the most emotional and enthusiastic people. Used to being proud of their great civilization and heritage, they became very sensitive concerning their countries and problems. This sensitivity usually causes some interior troubles. There is an Arab proverb which says that "My brother and I go into an alliance together against my cousin, but my cousin and I go into alliance against the outsiders!" The Arabs may have real internal crises, but they would never forget that above all they are brothers in one big family and there is a certain enemy who would be very pleased to see them destroying each other!
"The theme and the urge of Arab unity, of an "Arabism," has obtruded through much of the history related in earlier chapters. It was noted how the permanent legacy of a common Arabization—in language, culture, and customs—fused in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries with the Western idea of nationhood in the nation-state.
2. To answer the second question I quote Erskine B. Childers, the author of "Common Sense About the Arab World"—in his chapter about the Arab Union:
"Even in the 1850s, a few Arab intellectuals conceived of an Arab nation embracing all peoples who spoke Arabic, irrespective of creed. But the general early response to Western ideas was haphazard, and the fusion with the Arab legacy did not in fact mature until (roughly) the 1930s...
"But beneath these events, and despite their impact, there persisted and grew a sense of "Arabism." In Egypt, and in all other parts of the Arab world, Arabic increasingly became the medium used for rapidly developing press, publishing and educational facilities. In the twentieth century, intercommunications of every kind within this world grew very quickly. The latent impulse towards an Arab nationalism, below what the outside world tended to see as 'Syrian' or 'Egyptian' nationalism, was quickened after World War I both by political events and by ideological influence. The struggle against the Western Powers across the whole region, from Morocco to Iraq, and the common anger and fear over Palestine...
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"By the advent of World War II, however, it was clear that the general impulse towards unity within nationalism, and the strong appeal exercised by the Axis Powers, required some adjustment of attitudes. During the war, Britain twice issued declarations favouring the goal of Arab unity, and accordingly welcomed the formation of the Arab League. Many Arabists in official British circles genuinely favoured such unity, and saw no clash with British interests, provided the leadership of the movement remained favourable to Britain. When, however, the leadership was assumed by an attractably independent Egyptian Government, active support was given to those 'friends' — notably Nuri es-Said and King Hussein — who might be able to lead a counter-movement of unity, closely associated with Britain, in the Arab East. The collapse in 1958 of this policy—with which the United States had also by then become wholly identified—has not yet led to any clear further readjustment, either by Britain or the United States... The policies of the Soviet Union have followed a similar pattern. During the 1950s, while the Young Arab movement was actively in conflict with the Western Powers, Russia strongly supported the ideal of unity. The short-term hope was that such support would increase Soviet prestige. The long-term objective was that Arab Communist Parties might then capitalize this prestige and secure increasing actual power from within the nationalist movement. Between 1957 and 1959, however, it evidently became apparent to the Soviet Union, and the Arab Communists that President Nasser's neutralism would not admit of local Communist activity. Towards the end of 1958, it was decided that the overall nationalist movement as led by Nasser must be broken up—above all by preventing any union between revolutionally Iraq and the United Arab Republic.
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"Finally, it must be noted that the Arab-Israeli conflict intrudes most profoundly into the evolution of Arab unity. It tends to hasten, perhaps too rapidly, the demand for union. Israel fears strong, militarily co-ordinated encirclement, her policy to date has been to threaten war if neighboring Jordan merges with any other Arab country."
These are some of the points that could throw light on the problem.
3. Coming to the third question, one can be directed to it as the ordinary Arab man. He will find it pretty awkward. He won't think of King Hussein to be his leader anyway!