The Secret Behind the Arab Spring

Riots in the Middle East are inspiring similar riots in the West. Last February in his online journal, Whitley Strieber offered the opinion that the Arab world was exploding not because of a dislike of dictatorships, but because food prices had risen too high. A study just published supports Whitley’s contention.

In Fast Company.com, Greg Lindsay writes, "New evidence suggests the Arab Spring wasn’t caused by the slow boiling of political grievances, but by a sudden rise in food prices. Next year, prices will soar even higher." Will there be more riots then? Lindsay thinks so and says, "Past a certain price point for food–which was crossed shortly before the global food riots in 2008 and again in late 2010 on the cusp of the Arab Spring–citizens begin to look at their rulers differently. All’s quiet, in other words, until a certain threshold is crossed, when all hell breaks loose. And now the bad news: If current trends continue, the authors note, prices will permanently cross that barrier as early as next July. Prepare for a lot of angry people."

This was what caused the French Revolution in the late 18th century and the American Revolution shortly afterwards. He writes, "What’s causing this run-up in prices, even as global cereals production is at an all-time high? The stock answer is increasing prosperity; an emerging middle class wants an American middle class diet. This dietary shift is non-linear, too–people don’t simply eat more grain, but switch to eating pork, which requires six times as much grain to raise it."

He quotes researchers as saying they "attribute the price rise to two distinct causes: “the price peaks are due to speculators causing price bubbles, and the background increase is due to corn to ethanol conversion." Or as Marie Antoinette was famously (mis)quoted as saying (shortly before she was guillotined during the French Revolution), "Let them eat cake."

If we let climate change go on much longer without at least trying to do something about it, we’re ALL going to eat cake! When Whitley learned about climate change from the Master of the Key, he decided to write a book about it. Now you can get a copy of the book that started it all–"The Coming Global Superstorm"–as well as a copy of The Key–from our NEW Whitley Strieber Collection, and each book comes with a special bookplate signed by Whitley!