The Revenge of Geography

Name: The Revenge of Geography
Author: Robert D. Kaplan
ISBN: 9781400069835

by Robert D. Kaplan (2012)

Read Free Sample Buy on Amazon Audible Free Trial

About this book

Kaplan is a realist. This book is about the physical facts of the world we live on and what those facts mean for cultures and nations. Take for example, the two oceans that insulate the isolationist United States from any credible threats and compare this with the non-existence of any mountains or other barriers around Russia that make its’ land easy to invade and the Russians perennially insecure. Just as a child growing up is influenced in his development by local immediate factors like the composition of his family and his neighborhood; cultures exist in the context of their interaction with the geographical surroundings and their cultural neighbors. America is the product of its European and specifically British ‘parents’. With coastlines on two oceans and abundant natural harbors on both coasts, America could hardly have done otherwise than become a sea power. Given our abundance of resources to export, it simply was in our national interest to be focused on maritime trade and the protection of the same. Contrast this with Russia, which is not a sea power and can hardly become one, no matter how much it wishes to do so. Russia is almost completely cut off from the sea lanes by ice to the north and the expanse of South Asian nations in the other direction. Even Vladivostok, which does sit on the Pacific coast, is not as useful as it may seem as it sits thousands of miles away from 90% of Russia’s population. Distance matters as much as elevation and climate. Difficult climates like the Russian steppes, Kaplan says, lead to more centralized authority – because that is what works for the survival of the nation. Humans have an appetite for power, but their environment shapes how easy or difficult it is to acquire it. Kaplan applies these kinds of lessons from geography to all the world’s inhabited regions, looking for the physical factors that have shaped and continue to shape the life of the peoples & nations. For example, the Asiatic steppes produced nomadic horse clans because nothing else made sense there – poor soil, few rivers to use for irrigation or transport, little timber to build homes all point away from sedentary agriculture, and towards a mobile culture that raids outward to acquire the things it needs. The solitary homestead of the American Midwest could not have survived there, the geography just won't allow it. However, Kaplan is not a determinist; geography is not fate. Persons and nations can choose how they will respond to the world, but they will be influenced by geography whether they realize it or not. What your piece of the globe looks like tells us something important about you and the savvy observer will not let the modern talk of ‘One World’ obscure the enduring realities of geography.

Setting / LocationNew York City

Story EraModern Era

Protagonist / CoreThe Revenge of Geography Lead Character

Themes & Moods

Travel & Adventure Political geography New York Times reviewed History Geopolitics War Modern Era

Readers who enjoyed this also loved

Green Alaska

Nancy Lord

"This contemporary account of the 1899 Harriman Alaska Expedition is nature writing at its best. One hundred years after that landmark voyage, Nancy Lord follows by boat and dream, seeking to understand this century's attitudes toward nature, landscape, and culture. The Harriman Alaska Expedition assembled a company of exceptional characters - the nature writers John Burroughs and John Muir, photographer Edward Curtis, scientist William Dall, conservationist and ethnographer George Bird Grinnell, bird artist Louis Agassiz-Fuertes, geologist Henry Gannett, and others - to explore Alaska's untamed coast. They cruised glacial fjords, collected specimens, and photographed Alaska's Native people."--BOOK JACKET. "Nancy Lord, an Alaskan well-rooted in coastal life and commercial fishing, revisits many of the same stops made by the expedition. Lord tells of John Burrough's visit to a cannery where imported Chinese laborers wielded their knives, then boards a modern processing ship turning salmon into frozen "product". Lord witnesses whales and imagines whalers, shows us the Native acculturation of a century ago against the fishing lives of today's villagers, and passes time with a family living in the last house on the contiguous North American continent."--BOOK JACKET.

A guide to gangsters, murderers and weirdos of New York City's Lower East Side

Eric Ferrara

"New York's lower east side is the birthplace of everything from organized crime to anarchist movements. In the nineteenth century, an influx of struggling immigrants seeking opportunity met the harsh realities of industrialization. Poverty and squalor fueled a vicious battle for power and political clout. [author] revealed the wicked history of America's most infamous neighborhood, where the abounding graffiti is a testament to the "soul and spirit of the slum." "--Back cover.

Always a witch

Carolyn MacCullough

This book is about a witch named Tasmin who in the book previous had found out that she indeed had a talent ( magical powers) and is one of the most powerful witches. Now she is faced with her grandmothers predictions, which could lead to the end of the world as she knows it. But on top of that she still needs to Master her talents! Read Once a Witch First!

The show must go on

Gareth Davies

"A memoir of the London Symphony Orchestra on tour, focusing on their historical first visit to America in 1912 and their most recent US tour earlier this year. Gareth Davies, Principal Flautist at the LSO, tells the remarkable story of a groundbreaking expedition through recently discovered diaries, archive material from London and New York and newspaper reports from the time. Against this is set a behind-the-scenes account of the LSO's contemporary US touring schedule, which finds that a surprising number of the same challenges remain. We join Gareth and his colleagues as they contend with airports, volcanoes, travel strikes, illness and even life and death situations. As well as vivid descriptions of sitting centre stage surrounded by music and working with Haitink, Gergiev and Sir Colin Davies, we get to glimpse into the backstage goings on and see inside the mind of a professional musician as never before. Written by someone at the heart of the action, we follow the travels of two musicians, a century apart in the same orchestra. The show does go on." --Publisher description.