Prisoners of geography
All leaders are constrained by geography. Their choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas and concrete. Yes, to understand world events you need to understand people, ideas and movements - but if you don't know geography, you'll never have the full picture. To understand Putin's actions, for example, it is essential to consider that, to be a world power, Russia must have a navy. And if its ports freeze for six months each year then it must have access to a warm water port - hence, the annexation of Crimea was the only option for Putin. To understand the Middle East, it is crucial to know that geography is the reason why countries have logically been shaped as they are - and this is why invented countries (e.g. Syria, Iraq, Libya) will not survive as nation states. Spread over ten chapters (covering Russia; China; the USA; Latin America; the Middle East; Africa; India and Pakistan; Europe; Japan and Korea; and Greenland and the Arctic), using maps, essays and occasionally the personal experiences of the widely traveled author, Prisoners of Geography looks at the past, present and future to offer an essential guide to one of the major determining factors in world history.
Stats for nerds
21recommend
41mentions
32people
2016–2026years
61% recommend39% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- You should read Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics by Tim Marshall.
Another commenter mentioned the book under the comment you responded to.
I wrote about it here in #30 - https://www.rxjourney.net/30-things-i-know
- You're right on the money imo and the author clearly shows a lack of understanding of systems thinking.
He takes a simple observation and generalizes it instead of working backwards to the fact that Canada is just like the US geographically highly isolated with giant oceans on each side whereas Germany and Europe are a landmass directly connected to other continents.
I highly recommend the books "Prisoners of Geography" (1/2) for anyone interested in realizing how geography silently shapes politics.
- Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall. Fascinating story about how borders and geography shape nations. For example why would russians attack Ukraine and why are African nations less developed. Book is from 2017. I actually heard it as audio book. Very interesting.
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Gave me knowledge about modern Russia.Winter Is Coming by Garry Kasparov
Because it explains how physical geography affects the economic success of countries.Prisoners of Geography
Because it has good opinion on geopolitics.The Accidental Superpower by Peter Zeihan
Great book on theoretically communicating with aliens)Carl Sagan’s Contact
Because it have me advice on how to predict the future.The Art of the Long View by Peter Schwartz
Because it is an interesting opinion on future problems China may have.China Coup by Roger Garside- Title refers to the book "Prisoners of Geography", which I think is a good title for a layman popular geography book.
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