And I'm making the most of it while Padma is away in Indonesia. No, it wasn't "JAWS" I was reading last night, but Tim Marshall's "Prisoners of Geography", an essential primer on geopolitics, helping readers around the globe understand what’s happening in our fast-changing world.
Tim Marshall is one of the world’s most successful authors on foreign affairs. He’s the writer who put the ‘geo’ into geopolitics with his best-selling books "Prisoners of Geography" and "The Power of Geography".
His principal argument is that without geography we cannot understand the world. Geography explains why Donald Trump wants to control Greenland, which is of strategic military importance given it sits in the Arctic Ocean along the shortest route for Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles or submarines to reach the United States. It is also a land mass rich in rare earth metals like lithium and tungsten which are the key in building artificial intelligence and military hardware.
Geography also explains why China would find it highly difficult to invade Taiwan. The Taiwan Strait is about 130 km wide at its narrowest point, which is roughly three times the distance from Dover to Calais. Any invading force would face inhospitable coastlines, unpredictable monsoons and muddy, tidal beaches. Beijing might decide in time that these are risks worth taking. But these basic and immutable facts of natural terrain still matter hugely in international affairs.
In this amazing book, Tim Marshall unveils the hidden forces that shape our world, revealing how geography is the silent architect of history and international relations. With a keen eye for detail and a wealth of first-hand experience in conflict zones, Marshall argues that the physical landscape — mountains, rivers, and borders — plays a decisive role in determining the fate of nations.
As you follow this book, from the expansive plains of Russia to the strategic waterways of the Middle East, you discover how geography influences everything from military strategy to economic development. Marshall deftly illustrates how the decisions made by world leaders are often dictated by their geographical realities, whether it’s China’s quest for resources or America’s oceanic buffers against invasion.
Another sleepless night well spent!
