ABSTRACT
This chapter begins by examining the concept of collective goods originally elaborated by Mancur Olson, which explains why it is difficult to get countries to cooperate in meeting environmental threats. It turns to environmental degradation caused by growing populations. Environmental challenges are more global today than ever before. Global issues place actors in situations in which they win or lose jointly. Today, environmental threats have become global, as reflected by global warming. Historically, a large population was regarded as an element of national power that made it possible to field large armies and foster low-cost labor-intensive industries. Rapid population growth breeds violence in crowded cities like Bogotá, Karachi, and Rio de Janeiro, and growing populations translate into demands for resources, which, if unmet, may generate conflict as countries try to satisfy the need for space and resources at one another’s expense.
