The Role That Shortages Of Food Are Having In Today's Global Revolts

A Revolution Marches on Its Stomach -- Joshua Keating, Slate

Which governments are most likely to be toppled when hungry people riot?

People may vote with their pocketbooks, but more often than not, they revolt with their bellies. If you want to predict where political instability, revolution, coups d’etat, or interstate warfare will occur, the best factor to keep an eye on is not GDP, the human development index, or energy prices.

“If I were to pick a single indicator—economic, political, social—that I think will tell us more than any other, it would be the price of grain,” says Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute, who has been writing about the politics and economics of food since the 1950s.

Food, of course, is never the sole driver of instability or uprising. Corruption, a lack of democracy, ethnic tension—these better known factors may be critical—but food is often the difference between an unhappy but quiescent population and one in revolt.

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My Comment: This blog has been posting (for years) on the role that food shortages have in fermenting national and international rebellions and conflicts. But this is an excellent analysis by Joshua Keating ... and a must read.