Search: “africa”

Islam dominates a territory that stretches from West Africa, through the Middle East and Central Asia, down to Indonesia. Islam grew quickly, from 12.3% of humanity (1900) to 24.3% (2020). Most Muslim growth comes through high birth rates, but conversion plays a big part in West Africa, Indonesia, and the USA. But Islam faces significant […]

Water will be among the world’s most crucial issues in the future. Given that sufficient fresh water exists globally to sustain humanity (even if the locations of water sources and human population do not match up well), the salient issues on a global level are more about ethics, equity, distribution and consumption. Access to clean […]

Demographic contrasts. Even though population growth is slowing in every area of the world, there are vast gaps in fertility rates around the globe. Populations continue to increase rapidly in Yemen, Afghanistan-Pakistan and much of West, Central and Eastern Africa. Much of Europe and parts of East Asia and southern Africa have sub-replacement fertility and […]

International migrations. There are now 200-250 million people living outside the land of their birth. Greater levels of migration are fuelled by: increasing gaps, internationally, in quality of life; population growth (and decline); climate change and ecological ruin; financial, educational and social opportunities; and upheaval, conflict and persecution. Large-scale migrations into Western Europe, North America, […]

Threats to human health, including disease. COVID has been the high profile infectious disease of recent years, but increasing awareness and changing behaviour patterns along with widespread vaccination and treatments see infection rates declining. Cancer continues to take many lives all over the world. New, resistant strains of old diseases, such as malaria and tuberculosis, […]

Immigration into Europe is an unstoppable tide of humanity from Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Eastern Europe. The plunging birthrates in EU countries and the affluence, stability and generous social services in Europe are factors that pull in immigrants, many of whom are coming from countries where conflict rages. While immigration is utterly necessary […]

The West African fault line between Islam and Christianity has seen clashes, mob violence and civil war, especially in Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire. Religious differences are exacerbated and fuelled by ethnic divisions.

Somalia keeps struggling to avoid becoming a failed state; it is a broken land with severe environmental challenges and gripping poverty, populated by warlords, pirates, a government constantly under duress and a number of aggressive Islamist groups. The upheaval has spilled into the Horn of Africa, where terror attacks connected to Somalia increase, and marine […]

Central Africa, while not the cauldron of anarchy it was in the 1990s, retains much of the upheaval and unrest of those dark times. Eastern Congo, South Sudan, Central Africa, and Chad all suffer from militia groups, violence, and lawlessness.

Water will be among the world’s most crucial issues in the future. Given that sufficient fresh water exists globally to sustain humanity (even if the locations of water sources and human population do not match up well), the salient issues on a global level are more about ethics, equity, distribution and consumption. Access to clean […]