Kissinger Report 2004

How U.S. foreign policy uses population control to expoloit third world economies.

Brian Clowes

Reproduced with Permission



On December 10, 1974, the United States National Security Council promulgated National Security Study Memorandum 200 (NSSM-200), also called The Kissinger Report. This document explicitly laid out a detailed strategy by which the United States would aggressively promote population control in developing nations in order to regulate (or have better access to) the natural resources of these countries (see endnote 2).

In order to protect U.S. commercial interests, NSSM-200 cited a number of factors that could interrupt the smooth flow of materials from lesser-developed countries, LDCs as it called them, to the United States, including a large population of anti-imperialist youth, who must, according to NSSM-200, be limited by population control. The document identified 13 nations by name that would be primary targets of U.S.-funded population control efforts.

According to NSSM-200, elements of the implementation of population control programs could include: a) the legalization of abortion; b) financial incentives for countries to increase their abortion, sterilization and contraception-use rates; c) indoctrination of children; and d) mandatory population control, and coercion of other forms, such as withholding disaster and food aid unless an LDC implements population control programs.

NSSM-200 also specifically declared that the United States was to cover up its population control activities and avoid charges of imperialism by inducing the United Nations and various non-governmental organizations to do its dirty work.

While the CIA and Departments of State and Defense have issued hundreds of papers on population control and national security, the U.S. government has never renounced NSSM-200, but has only amended certain portions of its policy. NSSM-200, therefore, remains the foundational document on population control issued by the United States government.

NSSM-200's strategies have resulted in regional population growth rates decelerating so fast that they are already causing severe economic and social problems in Europe, the former Soviet Union, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. Many developing nations are now aging even more rapidly than the developed world, which foretells of even more severe problems for their relatively underdeveloped economies.

Over the past 40 years there has been much disagreement over whether or not population control programs are necessary for those nations with the most rapidly growing populations. There can be no disagreement now, however, except among those organizations whose incomes depend upon such programs.

From the very beginning, the "population explosion" concept was an ideologically motivated false alarm. The resulting push for population control in LDCs has borne absolutely no positive fruit in its decades of implementation. In fact, population control ideologies and programs make it even more difficult to respond to the impending grave crisis looming in the form of a disastrous worldwide "population".

Therefore, on the eve of the 30th anniversary of the promulgation of NSSM-200, Human Life International calls on the Bush administration to repudiate this document, which advocates violating the most precious freedoms and autonomy of the individual through coercive family planning programs, and to redirect its foreign policy and funding towards family-friendly programs.

The citizens of the developed nations of the West treasure their right to privacy. It is hypocritical for these countries to routinely violate the right to privacy of the citizens of LDCs by telling families how many children they should or should not have. No nation has the right to invade the bedrooms of the citizens of another nation. NSSM-200 represents the epitome of interference in a family's most intimate decisions.

NSSM-200 does not emphasize the rights or welfare of individuals or of nations, just the "right" of the United States to have unfettered access to the natural resources of developing nations. The United States and the other nations of the developed world, as well as ideologically motivated population control NGOs, should be supporting and guiding authentic economic development that allows the people of each nation to use their resources for their own benefit, thereby leading to an enhancement of human rights worldwide and healthier economies for all.





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