The global community of humans faces a number of large-scale problems for the resolution of which worldwide cooperation will be required. These ‘global problems’ include continued militarization in many parts of the world, the growth of the human population and its concentration in poor regions and in urban environments, the financial crisis of developing countries, the twin processes of deforestation and desertification and related environmental imbalances that threaten shortfalls in the world's food supply, as well as coastal flooding and many other results of climatic disturbance. Given the existing arsenals of the world's nation-states, humanity is poised for species suicide–possibly even terricide–and, even if it manages to avoid this ultimate catastrophe, it still faces the prospect of a depleted and overpopulated Biosphere.