The world is currently in a relatively peaceful state with billions of people living under a comfortable roof and feels warm enough during winter nights. Many do not suffer, but it is very possible for all these things to be flipped over in a matter of days. The economy and `peaceful' nations that we see today are not forever. Take Greek, for example, a nation that used to possess the highest level of civilization is now drowning in debt.
The extractive economy (a system that relies on harvesting and exporting raw or low-processed materials) that various countries fall into due to lack of means to process raw materials are signs of the danger. It is a vicious cycle that was pointed out by Daron Acemoglu in his book `Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty'. And this is only the tip of the iceberg that might surface anytime soon according to the book.
