Newswise — The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has identified 37 countries that are the most affected by the global food crisis and in need of external assistance, 10 of which are located in Asia. CMU history faculty member Randall Doyle, who has participated in panels concerning global hunger with George McGovern, former U.S. senator and U.N. World Food Programme Global Ambassador on World Hunger, and Jeffrey Sachs, a world famous economist from Columbia University for his efforts to eradicate poverty, is available to speak on how the food crisis is affecting Asia on many different levels.
A few of Doyle's initial thoughts on the subject:
* "The present food crisis represents a great threat to the future economic and political stability of Asia. With the price of most food commodities rising dramatically, especially rice, wheat and pork, all governments in Asia are re-assessing their exports of certain food commodities. The primary reason for this new assessment is that they are very concerned about having enough food for their own citizens."
* "Vietnam is a good example of a government taking dramatic measures to ensure that their people have access to food. Thus, they have seriously cut back their shipments of rice to global customers."
* "China is presently experiencing a steep rise in inflation, particularly in food prices; this has greatly concerned the central government in Beijing. Many within the Communist Party's leadership clearly remember that it was the dramatic rise in food prices in 1989 that led to great instability in China. Popular discontent eventually manifested itself during the tragic Tiananmen Square uprising, which almost toppled the Chinese Communist Party and Party Chairman Deng Xiaoping."
Doyle is an authority on the history, politics, economy and trade in Australia and northeast Asia, including Korea, Japan and China. His research focuses on U.S. foreign policy and politics, Australian environmental politics, the Pacific Rim, and the Asia-Pacific. He also can speak on military issues in the Asia-Pacific and changing global dynamics. He is the author of "America and Australia: Writings and Observations from the 'Empire' and 'Van Dieman's Land'" and "America and China: Asia-Pacific Rim Hegemony in the Twenty-First Century."
RSS