World Without Borders

by Lester R. Brown

Provides an overview of major world problems and the growing need for peaceful coexistence among all nations

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics

395 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1972

About the author

Lester Russel Brown is an American environmentalist, founder of the Worldwatch Institute, and founder and president of the Earth Policy Institute, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D.C. BBC Radio commentator Peter Day calls him "one of the great pioneer environmentalists."

In the mid-1970s, Brown helped pioneer the concept of sustainable development, during a career that started with farming. As early as 1978, in his book The Twenty-Ninth Day, he was already warning of "the various dangers arising out of our manhandling of nature...by overfishing the oceans, stripping the forests, turning land into desert." In 1986, the Library of Congress requested his personal papers noting that his writings “have already strongly affected thinking about problems of world population and resources.”

He has been the recipient of many prizes and awards, including, the 1987 United Nations Environment Prize, the 1989 World Wide Fund for Nature Gold Medal, and the 1994 Blue Planet Prize for his "contributions to solving global environmental problems."

Excerpted from Wikipedia.

Reviews

[dejah_thoris · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, folks, not much has changed in the greater problems of the world in the past few decades. The statistics certainly, but little else. Brown argues for a New World Order throughout in order to cope with the larger issues that connect us all, but he blatantly dismisses the issue of limiting sovereignty to do so. Of course, we in America must go first because we're the greediest and most wasteful, but aside from feeling good and moral about helping others, Brown doesn't offer the average person much incentive to do so. The multi-national corporations will certainly benefit from standardization and our descendants may have a better world to inhabit (albeit with fewer commodities due to their being deemed wasteful) but it's hard to find a compelling reason to start making sacrifices now. Overall, not a bad read for those times when there's nothing else (it was my purse book) but don't waste your time hunting for it unless Brown's written a newer edition.

[Asails F · Rating 5 out of 5]

Required reading at UNCA in a political science class taught by Dr. Bahram Farzanegan in 1979. His father was an ambassador in the Middle East. He sponsored a group that discussed foreign affairs in Asheville NC.

He thought strong in 1979, as the book stated that we would have and international police force made of all races and cultures and that the borders of countries would dissolve. If I remember correctly the idea was to get rid of all border so the world can become more equal. It was well written but seemed overly detailed on some topics and vague on others. Many generalizations were made and not consideration on how to protect the poor from the neuvo riche.