Is population control US foreign policy?

First, let me clear the decks. I am in favor of giving the poor the same freedom of choice for family planning as the rich. The lack of money should not deprive them of that equality. As far as I know, USAID in the past provided funds for the poor to enable them to choose what they wanted to use whether it was artificial contraceptives or rhythm that is allowed by the Church.

But that aid has been phased out and the burden of continuing a birth control program was passed on the Philippine government. But given funding constraints of the government, it isn’t surprising that the US government should want the program continued by passing it on to the Philippine government.

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My friend Vic Puyat, an ardent Catholic, sent me the NSSM 200 “Population Control” of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to answer some questions.

The Kissinger paper was made in December 1974, shortly after the first major international population conference sponsored by the UN in Bucharest, Romania. In the conference were several major US government agencies among them the Central Intelligence Agency, The Departments of State, Defense, Agriculture, and the Agency for International Development that had something to do with foreign affairs. Included was a detailed report on population control in developing countries. Here are portions of the report.

“Their contributions were combined into one major report with the title, ‘Implications of Worldwide Population Growth for US Security and Overseas Interests.’ The final study, which is more than 200 pages in length, covered many topics from the viewpoint of each of the participating agencies. These are some of the questions.

What does the term ‘NSSM 200’ mean? NSSM stands for “National Security Study Memorandum,” and the number 200 identifies the order in which it was produced. The original request for a review of overseas population policies is also called NSSM 200, and was written April 27, 1974 by Henry Kissinger. The actual study, which covered 229 pages of text, represents one stage of the NSSM 200 correspondence series, and was submitted on December 10, 1974. It became the official guide to foreign policy November 26, 1975, when a National Security Decision Memorandum (NSDM 314) was signed that endorsed the findings of the study.

Who actually was responsible for the study? NSSM 200 was compiled by the National Security Council, which is the highest level of command in the US government. The NSC is headed by the President of the United States and his designated Security Advisor, and its purpose is to coordinate the overseas operations of all executive branches of the US government.

Is NSSM 200 still in force? Technically, the answer is yes. It remains the official strategy paper on population until it is replaced by another of equal importance. However, the implementation of the guidelines may differ from one administration to another. Jimmy Carter, for example, showed considerably less interest in curbing population growth than did his predecessors Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. And the Reagan administration took a somewhat different approach (i.e., the Mexico City Policy that banned direct US financing for abortions). The facts that funds for population control increased rapidly and dramatically during the Reagan and Bush years does not necessarily indicate a newer NSC directive was issued.

Why was NSSM only discovered in 1990? NSSM 200 was originally classified as a secret document, meaning that neither the public in the United States nor the people of the developing world who were the subject of the study were allowed to know of its existence. A schedule for declassification appearing on the cover authorized its release in mid-1989. However, the document was not actually made public until almost a year later, when it was given to the US National Archives in response to a request from a journalist working for the Information Project For Africa.

Why was the study kept confidential so long? It is difficult to promote birth control on a giant scope unless the recipients can be persuaded that it is intended for their benefit.

NSSM 200, on the other hand, acknowledged that the purpose of population control was to serve the US strategic, economic, and military interest at the expense of the developing countries. Such a revelation, particularly if it were to leak out prematurely, would seriously jeopardize program goals. In fact, the declassification date on the memorandum would not necessarily be mandatory, and NSC could still have kept it from public view.

But by 1990, at least two very important changes had taken place. For one thing, many of the study’s recommendations for pushing population reduction policies on aid-receiving countries had been accomplished. Second, the US had elected George Bush, a former Director of Central Intelligence, to the White House in 1988, which may have signaled to classification review personnel that the American public had grown more tolerant of covert activities overseas.

Whose population did the security advisers want controlled? The recommendations for reducing fertility applied only to the developing world — and to all of it. However, NSSM 200 also states that 13 countries of “special US political and strategic interest” would be primary targets. They are: India, Brazil, Egypt, Nigeria, Indonesia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Mexico, Thailand, Turkey, Ethiopia and Colombia (page 15 of the introduction).

What were the study’s main concerns about population? NSSM 200 states that population growth in the developing world threatens US security in four basic ways: First, certain large nations stand to gain significant political power and influence as a result of their growing populations. Second, the United States and its western allies have a vital interest in strategic materials which have to be imported from less-developed countries. Third, societies with high birthrates have large numbers of young people, who are more likely than older people to challenge global power structures. And last, population growth in relatively-disadvantaged countries jeopardizes US investments.

Which countries would benefit politically from population growth? The memorandum cites Brazil as one example. Brazil “clearly dominates the continent demographically,” the report says, noting that Brazilians could outnumber U.S. residents by the end of the century. Thus it foresees a “growing power status for Brazil in Latin America and on the world scene over the next 25 years” if population programs were not successful at curbing fertility (page 22). Nigeria was also given as an example of a nation that can benefit from population increase. “Already the most populous country on the continent, with an estimated 55 million people in 1970, Nigeria’s population by the end of this century is projected to number 135 million,” says the formerly-classified report. “This suggests a growing political and strategic role for Nigeria, at least in Africa south of the Sahara” (page 21).”

Those who want the full report can download it from the internet. –Carmen N. Pedrosa (The Philippine Star)