International records / Foreign Relations of the United States

284. Memorandum From the Executive Secretary of the Department of State ( Hill ) to the President’s Assistant for National Security Affairs ( McFarlane ) and the Assistant to the President for Policy Development ( Svahn )

poverty and high birth rates is bringing unprecedented growth to cities in the Third World. If present trends continue, Mexico City may surpass 25 million by the end of the century; Tehran, Karachi, and Cairo may reach 11–13 million; and places like Lagos and Kinshasa, which contained 200–300,000 people as recently as 1950, are headed toward over 9 million. The combination of overcrowding, unmet expectations, and different ethnic, religious, and social groups makes a politically volatile mix. Violent demonstrations and mass riots over food or sectarian causes in the recent past in cities as va…