There is at the moment a wild range of future world population estimates by competent global authorities: UN - peaking at 10.4 billion in 2080 Earth 4 All organization (academia) - thinks it will peak at 8.5 million in 2040, and fall to 6 billion by the end of the century. As we all know, too, India is this month surpassing China as the world's most populous nation. Due to demographics (more young people in India) that gap is only going to widen, with India's population growing much faster than China's. India's growth rate is largely thanks to two poor provinces in the north of their country. Anyway, everyone agrees on one thing: fertility rates in all countries (increase in population rates) decreases with 1. education and 2. equality. Given the globe is on the cusp of an ecological catastrophe caused by overpopulation and associated over consumption, this idea is that all countries work harder not just on their own education and equality, but also on exporting assistance in these areas to countries who need it. Now, it is true some countries might not want it right now, but that is not the case with all countries with surging populations. So, while this strategy will not work in all places all the time, it is to everyone's advantage that wealthy countries go hard on this strategy now, and not later. Export education, not guns.