About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

32 Washington Q. 7 (2009)

handle is hein.journals/wingtqurl32 and id is 1 raw text is: Andrew S. Natsios and Kelly W. Doley The Coming Food Coups The doubling of grain prices over the past two years has already set off violent protests in over 30 developing countries and led to the overthrow of the Haitian prime minister Jacques Edouard Alexis.1 Even though the media has provided extensive coverage and analysis of the causes of the increase in food prices, the potential political and security consequences have been given little attention. All food crises do not become famines, but the dynamics of rapid food price increases show some of the same characteristics of famines in their early stages. Though it is unlikely that famine will sweep across the globe, causing revolution, upheaval, and mass starvation, the consequences of the increase in food prices since 2004 could still be dire if prices continue to increase and a severe worldwide recession drastically reduces family income in developing countries. The term crisis is not, and should not be, used to describe recent price increases because such terminology only encourages doomsday visions in Washington and other capitals, which can lead to unwise policy responses. Policymakers need to be equipped with an analytical framework that can be used to minimize the humanitarian, political, and security consequences of the recent hike in prices. Famine theory-a body of knowledge about the microeconomic dynamics of famines, the vulnerability of people to food price shocks, and the common patterns of behavior people use to try to survive in different stages of a famine-can provide a foundation for such a framework. Historically, the political consequences of famine have been manifested through a country's political system. The political and security consequences of current price increases can be analyzed through a framework based on traditional famine Andrew S. Natsios is Distinguished Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and is also a Senior Fellow at the Hudson Institute. He can be reached at asn8@georgetown.edu. Kelly W. Doley, who can be reached at kwdoley@gmail.com recently returned from Darfur and currently works as research assistant to Andrew S. Natsios. THE WASHINGTON QUARTERLY U JANUARY 2009 © 2009 by the Center for Strategic and International Studies The Washington Quarterly * 32:1 pp. 7-25

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most