ABSTRACT
The economic, social, and political interdependence of the nations of the contemporary world is so well established in the minds of all of as to have achieved the status of a cliche. This chapter looks at changes in economic and political structures and institutions that are prerequisite to the protection of natural areas in an interdependent world. The economic waste involved in military spending is a major underpinning of the general worship of economic growth. Economies where the normal workings of the market system—however problematic such a concept may in fact be—cannot keep people employed or industries profitable, often turn to military spending as a way of maintaining so-called prosperity. The single greatest source of pressure against natural areas operating within developed nations and menacing their natural areas and the natural areas in developing nations as well is the general pressure for economic growth.
