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Saudi Arabia: The kingdom of the house of Saud rules this oil rich nation that has been allied with the western powers and spread Wahhabism around the Muslim world. As oil is replaced with renewables it will be less important for the West to protect the kingdom. Saudi Arabia seeks to diversify its oil dominant economy. Saudi Arabia's main rival for regional influence in Middle East is Iran. The history of the world is the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." - Sir Humphrey Appleby, Yes, Prime Minister The cynic in me wants to say that Marshall wanted to cash in on the success of his first outing. He had some leftover chapters that didn't make the cut because the content wasn't enough. So he padded it out with a lot of history to bash out another book. The sequel “The Power of Geography” explores ten countries that are set to shape the coming decades of the 21 st century – a new age of great power rivalry. Australia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, the UK, Greece, Turkey, Ethiopia and Spain are the countries which get attention in the book. These nations are already directly and indirectly involved in great power rivalry of the century. Starting with Australia, the book defines Australia’s vastness but it also tells the reader that this vastness still doesn’t give Australia full advantages against the geopolitical threats it faces.
Iran - a theocracy which is stumbling along but managing to survive with the Revolutionary Guard's assistance against the dissidents along with watching the nearby countries and the Islam extremists organizations. The Power of Geography" by Tim Marshall is an insightful and engaging look at the role of geography in shaping the world's political and economic landscape. Marshall, a former diplomatic editor and foreign correspondent, uses his wealth of knowledge and experience to weave together a compelling narrative that draws connections between geography and various historical and contemporary events. Tim Marshall has become the most reputable and authoritative writer on modern geopolitics and current affairs. To say I have greatly enjoyed every book of his thus far is an understatement: I loved them. But there is something about The Power of Geography which fell a little short for me, this time. Also, too many instances of pro-British whitewashing of history. The colonial French were vile bastards. But Britain was just a little bit naughty and all is forgiven because we abolished slavery first. Any non-Western atrocities are given plenty of attention, however. Tim Marshall’s third book, The Power of Geography,is just as relevant for Economists as books about Adam Smith are. Marshall proves the importance that geography has on international trade and the development of countries around the world. Nations have fought wars and built empires to source resources such as raw materials and even slaves. Since the dawn of trade, geography has been the primary constraint in determining which trade routes grew and which economies developed. Countries with access to seas, rivers, mountain ranges, and even soil types all determine a country’s trade routes and defence concerns. Marshall takes nine countries (and Space) and explains how their geographical makeup determines their geopolitical stories.
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Greece - tension with Turkey over the Aegean Sea and who actually "owns" which islands as well as economic collapse, few resources and dealing with masses of fleeing immigrants. The book also explores Iran. Walking the reader through the mountains of Iran and its huge landscape it puts Iranian history into perspective due to its mountainous geography. Különben meg: szeretem a történelmet. Viszont a gyerekek utálják. Mert nekik unalmas: évszámok, rég meghalt királyok neve és uralkodási ideje, súlyos adathalmaz (mert az visszakérdezhető), ami agyonnyomja a mélyebb revelációkat – a pillanatot, amikor az ember megérti az összefüggést két időben és/vagy térben távol álló esemény között. Tim Marshall was Diplomatic Editor and foreign correspondent for Sky News. After thirty years’ experience in news reporting and presenting, he left full time news journalism to concentrate on writing and analysis. The Power of Geography: Ten Maps that Reveal the Future of Our World is a book on geopolitics by the British author and journalist Tim Marshall. It was published by Elliott & Thompson in 2021 and is the sequel to his 2015 book Prisoners of Geography.
Geography is unfair,” Ian Morris writes, and if “geography is destiny”, as he also contends, then this is a recipe for a world in which the strong remain strong and the weak remain weak. Geopoliticians excel at explaining why things won’t change. They’re less adept at explaining how things do.Katie Burton of Geographical, the official magazine of the Royal Geographical Society, called the book "A sharp and concise evaluation of today’s geopolitics", considering it accessible yet not oversimplified. [2] Charlotte Heathcote of the Daily Mirror noted the recurring scenario throughout the book that China is aiming to surpass the United States as the world's superpower, and concluded "I can’t imagine reading a better book this year". [3] An interesting chapter is the one on the Sahel region. Tim Marshall starts the chapter with the Chadian proverb “Where two rivers meet, the waters are never calm.” The chapter explores perhaps one of the most volatile regions in continental Africa. In addition, Marshall describes the fault lines of the region.
Hearing the mapmongers ply their trade, you wonder if anything has changed since the 13th-century world of Genghis Khan, where strategy was a matter of open steppes and mountain barriers. Geopolitical thinking is unabashedly grim, and it regards hopes for peace, justice and rights with scepticism. The question, however, is not whether it’s bleak, but whether it’s right. Past decades have brought major technological, intellectual and institutional changes. But are we still, as Marshall contends, “prisoners of geography”? Unlike his first book, Marshall’s “The Power of Geography” to me, was more dense. It speaks less about spatial influences on geopolitics and more about the geopolitical history of various countries. its enlightening, in the same way that shinning a torch into the dark corners of the kitchen cupboards reveals stuff that you've happily ignored for a while.Published in the UK since 1935, Geographical is the official magazine of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). non-fiction book by Tim Marshall The Power of Geography: Ten Maps that Reveal the Future of Our World The noted conservative economist delivers arguments both fiscal and political against social justice initiatives such as welfare and a federal minimum wage.
Saudi Arabia - religion vs. economics vs. a large extended royal family who is trying to replace oil with technology even as it's also watching extremist organizations. Originally from Leeds, Tim arrived at broadcasting from the road less traveled. Not a media studies or journalism graduate, in fact not a graduate at all, after a wholly unsuccessful career as a painter and decorator he worked his way through newsroom nightshifts, and unpaid stints as a researcher and runner before eventually securing himself a foothold on the first rung of the broadcasting career ladder.
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Summery: Great book with some wonderful pointers to my personal geographic and historical blind sides. a bit disappointing title that isn't achieved in the book. That said, a lot of people might like it for the exact reason I reduced a star, i.e. they don't want stronger conclusions. There is a name for Marshall’s line of thinking: geopolitics. Although the term is often used loosely to mean “international relations”, it refers more precisely to the view that geography – mountains, land bridges, water tables – governs world affairs. Ideas, laws and culture are interesting, geopoliticians argue, but to truly understand politics you must look hard at maps. And when you do, the world reveals itself to be a zero-sum contest in which every neighbour is a potential rival, and success depends on controlling territory, as in the boardgame Risk. In its cynical view of human motives, geopolitics resembles Marxism, just with topography replacing class struggle as the engine of history. Prisoners Of Geography was a deserved smash, a clever angle to use geography to actually tell historical stories about current affairs, why the world is the way it is partially due to the way countries grew from their physical limitations. And so there is no shame in a sequel, and it is partially the fault of doing such a good job the first time around that what is left does feel like the off-cuts and crumbs from that book. The focus has shifted slightly, to look to the future. and how geography might affect future conflicts. But considering the land masses looked at in Prisoners were so massive, there is a little bit of going over the same ground. Spain - tension with regions wanting independence - Basque region as well as Catalonia - although placing authority in regional governmental hands has eased some stress. Many parts of Europe want to support self-determination but in turn, are afraid that allowing it will encourage autonomy movements within. The UK was given as an example - encourages self-determination for Gibraltar and the Falklands but doesn't want it for Scotland and Northern Ireland. Space - the Artemis Accords (not signed by China and Russia). Control of Earth space where satellites live/work/spy on other countries and debris of decades is even more of a threat. Discussing agreements regarding settlements on the moon and who gets mining rights and how far would boundaries be.
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