__________ ~@Ifn@] ~@IID®~ ________ Peace, energy and economy: the American concerns SUN-BAKED mud created surrealistic patterns at Perdee Reservoir near Jackson, California during one of the longest droughts in the history of the state. State, national and international events dur ing 1977-78 increasingly revealed the interrelati onships of nations, divergent groups and individual s. Leaders of nations saw the need for resolv ing age-old conflicts and current alike. President Carter revea led hi s concerns in his statement to the American people in April that "with the exception pf preventing war, (the energy crisis ) is the greatest challenge that will face our nation dur ing our lifetime." President Carter has v isited w i th leaders of the oil-rich Arab nations in an effort to solve the energy crisis. Soviet leaders have v isited the United States, including Arkansas, at the inv itat ion of leaders of Congress who have visited Russia. Limited progress has been made in South Africa in resolving the rac ial cri sis that th reatened to be another powder keg . The long-standi ng struggles in Korea, Vietnam and other small counrr i(>s of the worl d continued to be of concern to the United States and other major nat ions. Although there was a slackening of terrorism in 1977 , there was an increase in the number of deaths due to hijackings, bombings, kidnappings and other acts of violence. British scholar Walter Laqueur asserts the real problem of terrorism is the " price that has to be paid by liberal soc ieties valuing thei r democratic traditions." 44 • World Scene While there was v iolence on one hand, peace efforts by Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan, founders of the Northern Irish Peace People Movement , won the Nobel Peace Pri ze for 1976. Increased production of agricultural products by U.S. farmers accompanied by a decrease in exports of farm products caused a significant drop in the price farmers received for their products to the point that many were actuall y losing money on their operations . Strong protests were heard as hundreds of farmers "marched" their tractors bearing signs of protest to state capitols and the nat ional capitol to present their plea for 100 percent parity to governors, legislators and President Carter. A series of mass ive explosions in grain elevators apparentl y due to dust accumulat ion threatened to reduce t he export potential for corn , wheat, soybeans and rice . Natural di sasters in various parts of the wor ld impressed upon man his limited power and his dependence upon God and his fellowman, in spite of the tremendous sc ientif ic advances. Continued droughts in California and other western states and in severa l countries of Europe affected t he product ion of vegetables and other food products. Severely cold winters with snowstorms in the northern and central parts of the States brought personal ~
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