National Security Study Memorandum 200
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National Security Study Memorandum 200 (NSSM200) was completed on December 10, 1974 by the U.S. National Security Council under the direction of Henry Kissinger. Its full title is National Security Study Memorandum 200: Implications of Worldwide Population Growth for U.S. Security and Overseas Interests. It was adopted as official U.S. policy by President Gerald Ford in November of 1975. It was originally classified, but was later declassified and obtained by researchers in the early 1990s.
The basic thesis of the memorandum was that population growth in the Lesser developed countries (LDCs) is a concern to U.S. national security, because it would tend to risk civil unrest and political instability in countries that had a high potential for economic development. Some have interpreted the policy as an attempt to impede the industrialization of their economies, for the reason that industrialization would tend to make them stronger, more self-sufficient, and more apt to consume their own raw materials which are considered to be strategically important to the U.S. economy.
13 countries are named in the report as particularly problematic with respect to U.S. security interests: India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Turkey, Nigeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Mexico, Colombia, and Brazil. These countries are projected to create 47 percent of all world population growth.
The report advocates the promotion of contraception and other population reduction measures. It also raises the question of whether the U.S. should consider preferential allocation of surplus food supplies to states that are deemed constructive in use of population control measures. The report advises, "In these sensitive relations, however, it is important in style as well as substance to avoid the appearance of coercion."
