Leaders | Hungry and angry

A wave of unrest is coming. Here’s how to avert some of it

Soaring food and fuel prices are adding to pre-existing grievances

Sri Lankan protesters run away as tear gas is fired while a protester helps out another protester who fell during a protest near the president's official residence, Colombo, Sri Lanka. 28 May 2022. (Photo by Tharaka Basnayaka/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Jesus said that man does not live by bread alone. Nonetheless, its scarcity makes people furious. The last time the world suffered a food-price shock like today’s, it helped set off the Arab spring, a wave of uprisings that ousted four presidents and led to horrific civil wars in Syria and Libya. Unfortunately, Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has upended the markets for grain and energy once again. And so unrest is inevitable this year, too.

This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline “Hungry and angry”

The right way to fix the energy crisis

From the June 25th 2022 edition

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