NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON , D .C.
20506
€ 0 N-H:B ENT IAL - GDS April 24. 1974 Na ti on al S e c u r ity Study Memo r an d um 200 TO:
The Se c r etar y of Defe n s e The S e cr etary of A g r ic u ltur e T h e Di r e ctor of C e n t r a l In te l lige n c e The D ep u t y S e cre t a r y of State Admi n i str ato r . A gen cy for Int e r n ati on a l D e v e lop me n t
S UBJECT :
Implicatio ns of Wor ldw ide Popul a ti o n Grow t h fo r U . S . S e curity a nd Ove rse a s In t e r e s t s
T he Presi d en t h as di r e c te d a s t u d y of the imp a ct of worl d popul ati o n g r ow th on U . S . s e c u r ity a nd overse a s interests. T h e s tudy s h o u l d lo ok for w ar d at l e ast u n ti l th e year 2 000 . an d u s e several alte rn ative r e a s o n able p r o j e ctio n s of p opul atio n g row t h . In te r ms of each p rojec tio n, the s t udy s h oul d a s s ess: the corre s pondi n g p a ce of d evelop me n t, e s p ecially in poorer countries; the dem an d for US exp orts, e s p e ci a ll y of food, and th e trade pro b l e ms th e US may fa ce ari sin g fr o m compe titio n fo r r e sourc es; an d th e lik e lihoo d that p opula ti o n g r ow th or imb a l an ce s w ill produce d isrup tive fo rei gn p o li cie s a n d i n t e r nat i ona l i n s t a bi li ty . The study s h o u l d fo c u s o n th e inte r n a ti o n al poli ti c al a n d economic impli c a tions of p opu la ti o n grow th rat her th a n its e co logica l, s o ciolo gical or ot h er aspects . T he stu d y s h oul d then offe r p os s i b l e courses of a c ti o n for the Un i t ed S ta te s in deali n g with populati o n ma tte r s abroad, pa r ti c ul arl y in dev elop i n g countries , with sp e cial atten ti o n to t h e s e q u e s ti on s : What, if a ny, new initi a ti ves b y t h e Unite d S t a te s a re n e e d e d to focus internati onal att en tio n on t h e pop ulation p r ob lem ? C a n te chno lo gica l in n ov a tion s or d e v elop m e n t r e d uce growth or ame lior a t e i ts e ffects?