In the face of the catastrophism at issue in this most important and scholarly book, this argument may seem a case of academic nitpicking. However, the argument of necessity is still the creed of tyranny, even if the cause is a welcome one. Clearly, protecting ourselves and fellow humanity from natural calamities is valuable, but by extension, Parker's dirigiste approach, if adopted for the population issue, is one that would be uncomfortable in its consequences for liberals and conservatives alike. 

Looked at differently, Parker is trying to respond to the combination of the deficiencies of 20th-century political ideologies and government practices and a series of fresh crises but, like others, does not really have a new solution. A powerful state is no substitute for a civil society strong in its awareness of the value of inconvenient liberties and difficult freedoms, and able to work toward solutions that will be conceived accordingly.

Global Crisis is a masterpiece, a major work of scholarship by any standard and a credit to Yale University Press, the most impressive of publishers; but not the guide for the present that is suggested by its publisher.