thumb|National Security Study Memorandum 200
National Security Study Memorandum 200: Implications of Worldwide Population Growth for U.S. Security and Overseas Interests (NSSM200), also known as the "Kissinger Report", was a national security directive completed on December 10, 1974, by the United States National Security Council under the direction of Henry Kissinger following initial orders from President of the United States Richard Nixon.
NSSM200 was reworked and adopted as official United States policy through NSDM 314 by President Gerald Ford on November 26, 1975. It was initially classified for over a decade and has been part of the public record since 1985. The memorandum and subsequent policies developed from the report were observed as a way the United States could encourage human population planning to slow down global population growth in rapidly growing populations of Lesser Developed Countries. The document describes US security interests in natural resource supplies as a motivator for assisting LDCs in curbing population growth rates. It contemplated that situations arising from scarcity of food and other economic preconditions for stable growth in LDCs could lead to political instability which could put in jeopardy supplies to industrialized countries of key minerals and other resources for their growth.
Background
thumb|206x206px|President [[Richard Nixon's order for the NSSM 200]]
Under the administration of President Richard Nixon during the Cold War, his government adopted an agenda of encouraging a reduction human population growth. Under the advice of major general William Henry Draper Jr., the US supported the creation of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in order to establish an awareness of population growth and encourage family planning and use of contraception. The memo is explicit in its concern for being misconstrued as a form of imperialism. Some assert that the growth of future generations birthed throughout the world posed a danger to wealth accumulation, and wealthy individuals backed the US government policy of global population control in an effort to avoid blame. The policy recommendations to address population growth was openly concerned with the potential appearance of "economic imperialism" and should be carefully approached so as "not be seen ... as an industrialized country policy to keep their strength down or reserve resources for use by the rich countries", with a written goal of "fertility reduction." Local organizers were introduced to how aggressive population growth strains local economy and resources and to "emphasize development and improvements in the quality of life of the poor", later explaining such projects were for these and "other reasons".
Contents
The basic thesis of the memorandum was that population growth in the least developed countries (LDCs) is a concern to US national security, because excess population growth, growth that exceeded local food, water, housing, waste handling and other humanitarian concerns would first cause local suffering would tend to risk civil unrest and political instability in countries that otherwise had a high potential for economic development. The policy gives "paramount importance" to population growth planning measures and the promotion of contraception among 13 populous countries to stem rapid over population growth which the US projected to be inimical to the socio-political and economic growth of these countries, and to some national interests of the United States as the "U.S. economy will require large and increasing amounts of minerals from abroad."
In summary, the NSSM200 provides four main observations: