An introduction to the nature, scope and application of human geography through the study of world problems, this book now appears in a new edition to take account of developments in the last five years. The book is suitable as a first year student text for the "Geography of World Problems" course.

Preface viii Preface to the Second Edition x 1 Introduction: A World in Crisis? 1 2 The Geography of International Economic Disorder 16 3 Draining the World of Energy 79 4 Food Production and Distribution - and Hunger 101 5 The Use of Natural Resources in Developing and Developed Countries 125 6 Malthus, Marx and Population Crises 151 7 World Capitalism and the Destruction of Regional Cultures 175 8 The Individual and the World-Economy 200 9 The Question of National Congruence 229 10 The New Geopolitics: The Dynamics of Geopolitical Disorder 266 11 World-Power Competition and Local Conflicts in the Third World 289 12 The World-Systems Project 333 13 Epilogue: Our Planet is Big Enough for Peace but Too Small for War 355 List of Contributors 358 Index 361

The 1970's witnessed widespread recognition of the world as a single, interconnecting whole. The 1980's have shown that this whole is not operating as a self-sustaining system. In short we appear to live in a world in crisis- manifesting itself in hunger, poverty, debt, conflict, statelessness and war, as well as in the accelerating degradation of the natural environment. The geographical perspectives of World in Crisis? - in this completely revised and updated edition - show the interlinking nature of global, regional, and local problems and, further, that these are not uniquely economic, ecological, political or social, but all these and more.