The Demography Trap: Global Trends, Policy Challenges (World Politics Review Features)

A number of global demographic trends are poised to impact human societies in the coming decades on scales ranging from local to regional to planetary. Youth bulges have been increasingly identified as drivers of revolution, but in fact a number of social conditions must be in place for youth cohorts to coalesce into rebellion. The spreading phenomenon of nonreplacement birth rates is leading to an aging global population, with profound implications for the future of humanity. And as the link between demography and security deepens, how a society treats women will determine whether demographic outcomes are favorable or not.