The Power of Geography: Ten Maps That Reveal the Future of Our World by Tim Marshall

The Power of Geography: Ten Maps That Reveal the Future of Our World Reviews

• 
  Baba

  I recently earned a fair amount of National Book Tokens so went to a superstore selling books to do a splurge on some new books, but after finding 7(!) works of fiction that looked interesting I really struggled to find a final 8th read, so I skedaddled to the non-fiction section and found this book in the top ten bestsellers. Geography! A book about geography is not something you see everyday, so I bought it... and I am now so happy that I did. Writer
  Tim Marshall in a documentary but engaging style looks at ten regional maps and then in historical, political, economic and most of all geographical detail explains.. did I say explains? I meant to say educates ...educates the reader on how fundamental geography is, as one of the prime reasons why in the past, present and future these regions have, do and will shape global politics. Geography!
  
  The book has chapters on Australia, Ethiopia, Greece, Iran, the Sahel, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey ... and space! The easy readability of a book that is packed to the brims with confirmed and notarised information is an educational joy, but that not being enough for Marshall it is so delightfully FACT filled, with its no holds barred, fair and just criticisms of the so called Imperial (European) Powers of the past, of the actual real impact of climate change, and a joy to behold, no watering down of the continual piracy, savagery and in modern times terrorist like interventions by larger nations like the US, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, France, Turkey and others in the internal politics and development of smaller /weaker nations... all with clear concise evidence backed writing! Some times the truth hurts... don't shoot the messenger, learn from the past, is the final message I got from this scintillating read!
  
  2022 read
• 
  Lou (nonfiction fiend)

  The Power of Geography is the much-anticipated sequel to Prisoners of Geography, a book that illustrated that a countries choices are constrained by both its landscape and climate. In this follow-up Tim Marshall examines another ten countries of geopolitical interest; this time in terms of the importance they hold for the future, Marshall emphasises how crucial geography is to an understanding of global politics - and how surprising it is that this fact often gets ignored. The book explores different states and regions that are increasingly relevant to our current times and our future: a country’s story begins from its location, and what lies within and near its borders. Which way do its rivers flow and are they conducive to navigation and internal and external trade? Do the mountains on its borders limit its ability to expand, or protect it from a potentially hostile larger neighbour? Does the climate, topography and soil allow the growth of a large population as in the USA or, as in the case of Greece and Australia, limit it? This is a solid foundation upon which to layer history and current events to not only understand why events are happening, but to predict a country’s likely future behaviour. Maps reveal as much about a government’s strategy as any high-powered summit or overly blown rhetorical speech. If you want to go somewhere, you can only start from where you are.
  
  That may sound obvious, perhaps trite, but a government or a leader forgets it at their peril. They must understand exactly where they are and how much fuel they have in the tank – Napoleon was not the first or last to forget that lesson and he was taught a harsh one in the Russian winter of 1812. An example in the book is Saudi Arabia. The tribal character of the country was forged in the heat of its deserts, and its place in the world is founded on its key resource underneath the sand. But when the oil was found the population was about 2 million. Now it is 34 million. If the world weans itself off oil, what sustains 34 million people in a country with limited agricultural land? The decisions the House of Saud is now making to diversify its economy are based on geography. Since the end of the Second World War, putting geography front and centre in international relations has been regarded with suspicion due to its alleged ‘determinism’, and has been eclipsed by hard economics and technology. The high priests of foreign policy, more in academia than in government, came to see it as poor thinking akin to fatalism. That, however, is in itself poor thinking and flies in the face of common sense. Russia’s President Putin did not take a keen interest in the 2020 election in Belarus due to its potential consumer market for Russian goods or as an emerging high-tech nation.
  
  Every Russian leader involves themselves in the immediate territories west of Moscow because it is mostly flat land through which Russia has been invaded, or through which Russian power projects westward. In the case of Belarus it is also linked with the Suwalki Gap, connecting to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. It’s also the pathway to the Smolensk Gate – territory into which military forces are channelled during conflicts, recent examples being the Germans into Russia in 1941, and then the Russians into Poland and on to Germany two years later. What happens in Belarus is of huge interest to Washington DC, Berlin, Paris, Warsaw, Russia and others, and that interest is overwhelmingly based on the continuity of geography. When we see the news of pro-democracy demonstrations in Minsk, we are looking at people’s aspirations about freedom and economic wellbeing, but we are also looking at geographic insecurities. Words can tell you the ‘what’; maps can help you understand the ‘why’. Rivers, mountains, deserts, islands and the seas are determining factors in history. Leaders, ideas and economics are crucial, but they are temporary, and geography is ever present. As the Dutch-American geopolitical writer Nicholas Spykman said: ‘Geography does not argue. It simply is’. This is an accessible, fascinating and information-rich read filled with up to the minute facts and statistics about our would, its geography and the story that can be foretold from the way things are currently. Highly recommended.
• 
  Meike

  After all these prize lists, it's a delight to tackle some non-fiction - and Marshall's accessible overview of global politics is just fun to read. While
  Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics looked at broader regional dynamics, this installment tackles eight countries (Australia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UK, Greece, Turkey, Ethiopia, Spain), the Sahel and - outer space.
  
  I have to admit though that geography, while it is certainly mentioned, now feels like a mere hook to give the author an underlying concept to venture into the history and future trajectory of the places he elaborates on. Readers also certainly have to keep in mind that this is popular science - Marshall is not here to ponder intricacies with PoliSci students, but to open the minds of an general audience to problems on the international stage, and he does so from a decidedly Western perspective. The predictions regarding the future are pretty vague as well.
  
  But still, I enjoyed this book: As it covers such a vast area (literally), there are some countries I was well informed about, while other chapters contained lots of new insights although they are crafted to offer a cursory overview. I particularly appreciate that Marshall aims to illustrate the interconnectedness of world politics, an obvious fact that does not go away even if some people (both politicians and voters) try to deny it.
• 
  Lee Prescott

  This one isn't really about geography - there is lip service to geographical features e.g. Iran is a fortress as its surrounded by mountains, Australia is an island etc but I think the reference is there just to sell more books, given the success of its predecessor.
  
  Instead, this is a collection of geopolitical essays which run through some regional history and then talk about the current state of affairs in that area. Its the sort of thing you'd read in a Sunday supplement and acts well as a primer for further reading about what's going on in a particular area. Its interesting and informative and the author throws in some light touches, but ultimately I think the text would be better served in a newspaper or magazine.
• 
  Peter Baran

  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.
  
  The opening chapter on Australia is far and away the best thing here. Australia's position as a "Western nation" in the Pacific, its closest neighbours being a set of stepping stones to China, means its defence considerations are quite unlike that of other Western nations. Its huge mass and low population density (and inhospitability of much of the country to human life), makes it at difficult country to defend, and an example of how to use your minimal resources well. Potentially because conversations about Australia's defence from China are not commonplace meant this was genuinely eye opening. It may be more that because I understand more about the geography (and politics) of Greece and Turkey and Iran that those chapters felt less vital - and since much of the future Marshall is considering is that of war - also relatively contingent. Saudi Arabia on the other hand works better as a historical take down of an extremely problematic state. Indeed the section on Saudi / Iran and African States (particularly the Sahel), are less driven by physical geography than political, where lines were drawn on maps colonially in the 19th Century, and how Britain in particular withdrew from the Middle East.
  
  Like Prisoners, I learnt a lot here (and I am someone who already knows a passing amount about Ethiopian history and the Sahel) that Marshall tends to bring this back to conflict is perhaps part of his journalistic training but also binds him a bit to certain kinds of narrative. It definately feels like the Great Britain / Brexit chapter was forced in against his will and to be fair what he can add in thirty pages is minimal). His biggest bit of futurology here (and mapless in itself) is the idea of Space conflicts - and it is a decent primer though the subject in itself is knotty and is surprisingly geographical (once you consider the longitude of launch sites). I was disappointed there wasn't so much on the impact of climate change, which has the potential to significantly change the world's geography (not least what happens with sea routes if the Arctic breaks up), and whilst mass migration is mentioned the geography and politics of that is scant (though the Turkey / Greece aspect of that was well done). I enjoyed The Power Of Geography, but it did feel a little like a less cohesive sequel, and more a collection of individual briefings on various parts of the world, and a pessimistic one about human nature.
  
  [Netgalley ARC]
• 
  Taha Rabbani

  کتاب قدرت جغرافیا ادامه‌ای است بر کتاب جبر جغرافیا، که حتی در ایران هم گویا کتاب پرفروشی بوده، چون حداقل سه ناشر آن را چاپ کرده بودند. تا الان، ندیده‌ام که ناشر دیگری به جز نشرِ همان کتاب قدرت جغرافیا را منتشر کرده باشد.
  کتاب‌های ژئوپلیتیک عامه‌پسند کم به چشمم می‌خورد. مطمئن نیستم که بازار نشر کمبودی از این جهت داشته باشد، هرچند کمبود مترجم و ناشر کاربلد در این زمینه حتماً هست. کتاب‌های ژئوپلیتیکی موجود کار ناشران دانشگاهی است. خیلی از استادان دانشگاه و دانشگاهی‌هایی که به ترجمه ورود می‌کنند از هنربودن ترجمه بی‌اطلاعند و آن را کاری مکانیکی در حد گوگل‌ترنسلیت می‌بینند. آثار این دانشگاهی‌ها را در کتابفروشی‌ها هم نمی‌توان پیدا کرد، چون اساساً هدف از چاپ این نوع کتاب‌ها مخاطب عام نیست و نیازهای دیگری را ارضا می‌کنند.
  اما خانم پرناز طالبی کتاب قدرت جغرافیا را به روانی ترجمه کرده و ناشر هم در جلب رضایت منِ مخاطب سلیقه‌ی کافی به خرج داده است. جذاب‌ترین بخش ظاهری کتاب قطع کتاب است که به‌نظرم به آن قطع پالتویی می‌گویند. کوچکتر از رقعی است و راحت در یک دست می‌توان آن را گرفت. و بدترین بخشش قیمت وحشتناک کتاب که منحصر به این کتابِ چاپ ۱۴۰۱ نیست و در دو سه سال اخیر، بازار هر روز رکوردهای جدیدی می‌زند.
  باسلیقگی نشرِ همان در جای دیگری هم نمود پیدا می‌کند و آن ضمیمه‌کردن مقاله‌ای از نویسنده درباره‌ی حمله‌ی روسیه به اوکراین است که تر-و-تازگی این کتاب را بیشتر از قبل حفظ می‌کند. من درباره‌ی کتاب راه‌های جدید ابریشم، نوشته‌ی پیتر فرانکوپن، نوشته بودم که آن کتاب بسیار به‌روز است و برای همین تاریخ مصرف دارد. خوبی کار تیم مارشال، نویسنده‌ی کتاب قدرت جغرافیا، این است که نوشته‌اش -درست مثل ادعایی که درباره‌ی ژئوپلیتیک می‌کند- همیشگی است (البته با مقادیری اغراق). جغرافیا همیشه هست و کشورها و سیاستمدارها نمی‌توانند وجود آن را نادیده بگیرند، حتی اگر تکنولوژی‌های ارتباطی از همیشه پیشرفته‌تر شده باشند و ما هم در عصر مراودات جهانی زندگی کنیم.
  کتاب ده فصل به‌اضافه‌ی یک ضمیمه و یک فصل آغازین دارد. با خواندن فصل ایران احساس می‌کنیم که بسیاری از اطلاعات ارائه‌شده در حد اطلاعات عمومی است، بااین‌حال کمتر از زاویه‌ی ژئوپلیتیک به آن نگاه کرده‌ایم و همین باعث می‌شود این فصل هم طراوت خود را حفظ کند.
  اگر در کتاب اول، یعنی جبر جغرافیا، آنچه بیش از همه در یاد من ماند تاثیر جغرافیا بر رابطه‌ی روسیه و اروپا بود، فکر می‌کنم در این کتاب نقشه‌ی یونان و دریای اژه باشد که در ذهنم ماندگار می‌شود. نقشه‌ی کوهستانی یونان توضیح می‌دهد که چرا از بقیه‌ی اروپا جدا افتاده و چطور در دوران باستان مأمن دولت‌شهرها بوده است و نقشه‌ی جزائر آن دلیل تنش همیشگی با ترکیه را روشن می‌کند. دو فصل جذاب دیگر هم -و البته که همه‌ی فصل‌های آن برای من جذاب است- استرالیا و اسپانیا است.
  تنها تاسف می‌تواند این باشد که ای کاش این کتاب را پیش از بیست‌سالگی می‌خواندم و نه در آستانه‌ی چهل‌سالگی. این کتابی است که می‌تواند تخیل جوان‌هایی را که در آستانه‌ی یافتن مسیر زندگی خود هستند تحریک کند و انگیزه و سرنخ‌های کافی برای غور در دریای دانش را برایشان فراهم کند. 
• 
  AnnaG

  Prisoners of Geography was one of the most insightful books that I have read in a long time and I found the follow-ups about Flags and Borders to be interesting, although not as radical. This book however, feels very laboured and I did not get on with it.
  
  The first books covered whole continents and massive areas, here Marshall has tried to focus in on specific countries that weren't dealt with as thoroughly in the first book and through that it has become less relevant and also less focused on geography and more on the national boundaries. It reads as a general brief introduction to the history and politics of each of the target countries and then occasionally disappears off into futurology and fantasy. Already predictions in the book (eg Australia potentially developing closer ties to China) look like hostages to fortune.
• 
  Irina

  I struggle to explain exactly what I didn't like about this book but it was kind of ... boring? I really liked Marshall's other book, Prisoners of Geography, but this one felt more like listening to your uncle retelling a Wikipedia article at a family gathering.
• 
  Kuszma

  Tim Marshall egy olyan teniszezőre emlékeztet engem, aki csak egyféleképpen tudja megütni a labdát, de azt senki nem tudja visszaadni. A kötet tíz esszéje ugyanis mind ugyanarra a kaptafára készült, amely kaptafa semmiben sem különbözik „A földrajz fogságában” található írásokban felhasználttól. A szerző először is kiválaszt egy államot, esetleg régiót, felvázolja annak földrajzi sajátosságait a hegy- és vízrajztól a tengeri kijáratokig, aztán erre az alapra építve uszkve 5-6 oldalban végigmegy a terület történelmén*. Ennek végeztével aztán eljut a jelenkorba, amit tárgyszerűen és informatívan interpretál, hogy aztán az egészet berekessze a várható veszélyek illetve lehetőségek bemutatásával. Mindig ugyanaz az ív, mindig ugyanaz az olvasmányos objektivitás, a széles látókör érzékeny kombinációja a lényegre töréssel. Akár Etiópia, akár Nagy-Britannia, akár a világűr van terítéken, Marshall magabiztos, labdája mindig az alapvonalon belül csattan.
  
  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.
  
  Bár olyan tanárok készítenék a tanterveket, mint Marshall.
  
  * Mivel magam is vért szoktam izzadni, amikor 400-500 oldalas könyvek cselekményét kell egy-két bekezdésben összefoglalnom, fel tudom mérni, milyen bravúr Marshall részéről, hogy több ezer éves történelmeket képes pár oldalra zsugorítani. Ezért külön jár a buksisimi.
• 
  Elena

  Tim Marshall ist anerkannter Experte für Außenpolitik und arbeitete als Politik-Redakteur für die BBC und Sky News. In seinen Büchern erörtert er die großen internationalen Konflikte unserer Zeit auf geopolitischer Ebene. Sein neuestes, von Lutz-W. Wolff übersetztes Buch "Die Macht der Geographie im 21. Jahrhundert" wurde mir vor allem zum Verständnis des Kriegs in der Ukraine und den damit verbundenen Hintergründen und Zusammenhängen empfohlen.
  
  Tim Marshall geht in seinem Sachbuch anhand von 10 Karten auf die Politik von heute und die Krisen der Zukunft ein. Seinen Fokus legt er dabei auf Australien, den Iran, Saudi-Arabien, das Vereinigte Königreich, Griechenland, die Türkei, die Sahelzone, Äthiopien, Spanien und den Weltraum. Jedem Kapitel wird eine Karte vorangestellt, zudem geht der Autor vor seinen geopolitischen Analysen zunächst auf die geschichtlichen Hintergründe der Länder und Gebiete ein. Diese Struktur hat sehr dabei geholfen, beim Lesen nicht den Faden zu verlieren und sich immer wieder in die neuen Themen einzufinden. Tim Marshall kommt mit einer Flut an Informationen daher, eine Analyse trifft auf die nächste.
  
  Obwohl ich viele Aspekte des Buchs wirklich interessant fand und das Gefühl hatte, einiges Neues zu lernen, konnte mich "Die Macht der Geographie im 21. Jahrhundert" leider nicht wirklich überzeugen. Mir war die Lektüre zu trocken, die "Spannung", mit der der Autor die geopolitische Lage der Welt laut des Buchumschlags rüberbringen soll, kam bei mir nicht an und ich musste mich durch viele eher schleppende Passagen kämpfen. Was mich auch sehr gestört hat, war, dass in der Übersetzung nicht gegendert wurde bzw. gendersensible Sprache verwendet wurde.
  
  Für mich war diese Empfehlung also leider nichts - ich denke aber, dass Menschen, die sich mehr für Geopolitik interessieren als ich und hier auch vor einer etwas faden Lektüre nicht zurückschrecken, dem Buch durchaus etwas abgewinnen könnten. Um die Meldungen in der Tagesschau oder auch andere Nachrichtenformaten besser nachvollziehen zu können, lohnt sich "Die Macht der Geographie im 21. Jahrhundert" aber jedenfalls!
• 
  Dan AF

  Yeah. No. I am very disappointed with this one. It should come with a warning that it is not an impartial view of the world but an account if the author's understanding of the world - which is perfectly fine and valid but never during the 300 pages of this book is that made clear.
• 
  Emiliya Bozhilova

  Маршал директно продължава обзора си от
  “Prisoners of Geography” с актуализация към 2020 г., и фокус към държави с по-слаб акцент от предната книга, или с нови такива. Стилът е все така журналистически достъпен, на места с размах, на м��ста с хумор, макар на моменти вдъхновението му май да се поизчерпва.
  
  Най-интересни ми бяха Саудитска Арабия и Иран. Пясъци, планини, свети места, петрол и студена (засега) война между двата основни клона на исляма. И куп интересни сценарии за бъдещото им влияние в световен мащаб. Ако МБС (Мохамед бин Салман) наследи де юре престола в Риад, политиката му на иконочически реформи чрез рекет и държавно одобрени убийства, лавиране с наследниците на Ал-Уахаб (да, родителите на ухабизма, живи са и днес и носят тази фамилия), прокси война в Йемен и петролни игри ще е от световен интерес. А наследниците на аятоласите не изглежда да отпускат хватката на властта, сладка им е, и угодна на техния Аллах.
  
  Етиопия е също много интересен представител на африканския географски пейзаж, дори само заради факта, че е единствената никога неколонизирана африканска държава с най-силна за този (и не само) континент държавна традиция. Дали фактът, че там са открити най-ранните човешки останки, е само щастлива случайност, всъщност няма значение - значение има фактът, че това е “водната кула” на Африка и мястото с почти вълшебно изглеждащите скални храмове на Лалибела. Областта Сахел пък, граничеща с Етиопия, информира за провалена държавност и човешки трагедии.
  
  Космосът ме вълнува като последната (засега) граница, както се казваше в сериала Star-trek Enterprise.
  
  За родния си остров Маршал нещо е смотал информация на две - на три - нищо по-забележително извън новините в 7 и всички ��ериали за Тюдорите. Направо срамота. Гърция пък е скучна, Турция едва-едва бива. Испания е завладяваща. Изобщо, колкото по на изток отива, толкова по-интересно обобщава. Аудиторията е тази на любителите. За професионално занимаващите се едва ли ще има нещо особено, но те пък не са чак толкова много.
  
  П.П. И не, картите не разкриват нищо за бъдещето. Просто напомнят кое къде е, и защо това е важно - в текста.
  
  ⭐️3,5 звезди⭐️
• 
  Kirti Upreti

  "The history of the world is the triumph of the heartless over the mindless." - Sir Humphrey Appleby, Yes, Prime Minister
  
  The highly acclaimed BBC series is perhaps the greatest creation in the history of television. Often considered to be a comedy, all the five seasons deserve to be viewed again and again - until you reach a point where you can't hear the sound of the background laughter. And that's when you realise its true greatness - you feel an uncanny chill running down your spine; your molten beliefs suddenly turning frigid and then crumbling, killing something inside you. Oh, the numbing apathy and indifference that creeps inside your heart and makes it stone cold! The joke, as it turns out, had always been on you. Sheer magnificence!
  
  Tim Marshall's previous book 'Prisoners of Geography' is like a splash of water on your half asleep mind. 'The Power of Geography' goes one step further. It checks that you are still awake and if you aren't, this time it slaps you hard.
  
  The planet's geography is apathetic, indifferent, absolutely heartless and therefore - it rules. Those who proclaim to be its imperators and czars are able to hold those epithets only by being indistinguishable in its camouflage - the fusion thereby making 'geopolitics'.
  
  About the mindless - they are simply to be kept indulged with an incessant stream of sentimental filibusters. And as Sherlock says,
  
  "Sentiment is a chemical defect found on the losing side."
  
  You know on which side you lie and if you read Tim Marshall, you might also come to know the reason.
• 
  Jack Burrows

  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.
  
  I think perhaps my expectations were so high and I was so excited for it - not to mentioned it is billed as the "sequel" to Prisoners of Geography, which I adored.
  
  For there is nothing bad about The Power of Geography at all. The book spotlights ten hotspots for future conflict around the globe and for each of these, Marshall delves into each country's intricate history (and they're nearly always linked to European colonialism). He uses his deep knowledge of each country's past to establish and contextualise the possible future conflict he softly predicts. This came across as condensed histories, dense in places and fleeting and so lacking Marshall's usual easy tone.
  
  Where Prisoners was almost solely the influence of physical geography, The Power of Geography is almost exclusively human geography (see also: history) and I am personally more of a fan of the former.
  
  I still learned much, however, and greatly enjoyed the book. The chapters on Spain, Ethiopia and Turkey were particularly insightful and intriguing, whilst the closing chapter on Space is sure to contain many accuracies for the future.
• 
  Bartu AKCABA

  Even coming from a subjective reviewer who loves Geography, Tim Marshall is a bit confused here. Even though the book is focused on future each chapter spends so majority of time talking about each countries past and seems slightly biased towards Western countries.
• 
  Anesa

  I absolutely LOVED this book. It is a blast for interested in geopolitics. Would love to see a sequel with more countries/regions covered.
• 
  Claudia

  Having read Marshall's earlier book
  Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Explain Everything About the World and hearing that he had an 'updated' sequel, I figured I'd see what had changed.
  
  Well, for the most part, Marshall looks at new areas:
  Australia - whose population is restricted to the coasts and is under threat of more devastating drought and possible wildfires as climate changes along with carefully watching the actions of China to the north.
  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.
  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.
  United Kingdom - building an empire and then breaking it apart. Brexit could lead to further division especially with Scotland wanting independence - Northern Ireland and Wales leaning that way too.
  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.
  Turkey - tension with Greece about the 'Blue Wave' territory as well as preferring non-interference while working at rebuilding it's destiny as a global power. "Democracy" (power/control) for the Islamist authorities while removal/elimination of dissents.
  The Sahel - the southern edge of the Sahara (sub-Sahara) of Sudan, Chad, Niger, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal is profoundly poor with widely dispersed population, ethnic/tribal and religious conflicts. Dealing with post-colonial borders as well as former powers 'trying' to help more in keeping Russia and China out than actually any altruism.
  Ethiopia - land-locked with lots of rivers/water although still suffers from military coups that overthrew the monarchy. Ethnic tensions especially with the massive dam being built. Hand on the tap of the Nile River which concerns all countries especially Sudan and Egypt.
  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.
  
  The last section actually has the takeaway that 'cooperation is the key to the future' and it is true on the moon, in space and definitely on the Earth.
  
  2022-122
• 
  Federico Castillo

  My high school was supposed to be one of the best. And I remember all that junk information they dumped on us to memorize. Maps full of rivers, mountains, and country names. All of that was raw information. Zero cooking. I had to wait more than ten years to fill all of that with context. Thanks to this book.
  
  This should be mandatory reading for young people learning about the world. Is not about which country is called what and the capital named after whom. It's about the the consequence of the resources. The fact that Ethiopia has the Nile's source and Egypt depend heavily on it, so how this molds their relationship. Also, colonialism may be outdated but its consequences are everywhere if you look close enough.
  
  I cannot even count the number of times I've passed like a complete illiterate by saying stuff like Iranians are Arabic. And this is no small thing. One day a girl asked me if all Colombians were Mexicans. I was so confused by what she even meant with the question. Of course, I'm sure I've been on the ignorant side of the question more times that I've realized.
  
  So if you want to understand a little bit when someone speaks about the situation in Mali (or even know where is it) this book is 10/10 recommended. The last chapter on the Space is a weird but very real. Soon we will see some fierce competition for deep space rights.
• 
  Tom

  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.
  
  However, Marshall’s journalistic approach to research and explaining events allows it to read like an ‘important world history and future world politics’ handbook.
  
  But the way in which Marshall can simply weave together centuries of human development and use geography to outline the forces that shape our World’s nations is just so yum.
  
  This book tickled my geography bone and satiated my geography-nerd cravings.
• 
  G.R. Matthews

  This excellent follow up to Prisoners of Geography combines politics, history and physical geography to give us a clear look at the changing world, and its ancient influences. The two books really are a guide to the modern Geopolitical world and should be read by as many people as possible!
• 
  May Ling

  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.
  
  p. 70 - "Economically it is in a hole which may yet get deeper, but the government appears to have officials with doctorates in getting around sanctions, and the economy staggers on year after year."
  
  p 74 - "Barack Obama opened a few doors in his presidency but is accused of allowing the Iranians to continue working on a nuclear bomb due to the perceived weaknesses in the nuclear deal of 2015. President Rouhani walked through some of those doors, but was hammered by the hawks in Tehran.
  
  p. 75 - "It cannot liberalized, as that undermines the foundations of what legitimacy it has left among the millions of people who still support it. But if it does not, each year passes the increasingly young population will chafe against a system more in tune with the sixteenth century than the twenty-first."
  
  p. 100 "Between 2014 and 2020 the oil price halved, and the Saudi's foreign reserves fell from $737bln to $475 billion as the state tried to plug the gaps. The crash in oil prices and the limited future of fossil-fuel energy means there has to be change. In this context it makes sense to try to purge the state of corruption, even if it is window-dressing for removing rivals and putting some serious money back into the government's coffers. It also requires a long-term plan- one called Vision 2030."
  
  p. 101 "Replacing these workers with Saudis and the oil with Technology, is a gamble, a fast-forward into a future the conservatives in the country don't want; one that overrides religious and tribal identities. The plan also risks exacerbating regional tensions. Already investments seem to be drawn towards two of the kingdom's thirteen administrative regions - those housing Riyadh and Jeddah. If this continues then regions such as the Shia-Dominated Eastern Province and the borderland with Yemen will ask: What's the vision for us? and identify even less with central Power.
  
  p. 103 - "The massive desalination plants require large amounts of electricity which comes from oil. In a land without a river, desalination may be the only options, albeit an expensive and still polluting one."
  "In the previous century there was easily enough water to fill Lake Erie, but intensive farming practices have steadily reduced supplies, which due to lack of rainfall, are not being replenished. The irrigated lands are used to grow crops and raise livestock for the domestic and foreign markets at prices only achievable because the government subsidizes the cost of the water. The farmers are not known for their careful use of this most precious of all liquids."
  
  p. 104 - "Without a security guarantee from the USA the country's maritime borders are insecure because the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea are narrow, and each has choke points. In the absence of a strong Saudi Arabian navy, a hostile power could block Saudi exports from reaching the indian Ocean or the Suez Canal."
  
  p. 133 - "This is partially drive by the English language, which is spoken as a first tongue by upwards of 500 million people and by 1 billion people as a second. It remains the main language of commerce and international legal contracts. the UK's higher education system continues to attract some of the brightest and best (and richest) students."
  
  p. 134 "The list of potentially hostile countries capable of mounting an invasion is short: China and at a push, Russia. As for the rest, if it did not have a fleet of aircraft carrier, an enemy would have to base itself close to the UK in order to gain air superiority; it would need to invade nearby countries, or slowly take them over a period of time."
  
  p. 136 "Scottish independence might not be the end of the break-up. It would accelerate the slowly growing trend in Northern Ireland that unification with the Republic of Ireland ight be a good idea. The Republic was formed in 1922 after a campaign of violence achieved independence - an early example of the long-drawn-out roar of the dying British empire."
  
  p. 149 "The Second Balkan War started in 1913. The first was everyone against Turkey; the second was everyone against Bulgaria, which was still smarting over being beaten in Thessalonika. Bulgarian forces attacked Greek and Serbian positions, but were soon pushed back. The Romanians joined in, followed by the Turks, and with the Romanian army approaching Sofia, the Bulgarians, realizing they'd got in horribly wrong, sued for peace, subsequently losing territory to all four opponents."
  
  p. 158 "The discovery of potentially huge reserves of natural gas in the eastern Mediterranean has complicated what was already a potential source of conflict between Greece and Turkey. Gas fields have been found off Egypt, Israel, Cyprus and Greece. Turkey, anxious that its own waters have not yielded energy, is scouting around in Cypriot and Greek territory, and has signed an agreement with Libya to drill there. Lebanon has a maritime dispute with Israel over part of one gas field, BP, Total, Eni, and Exxon Mobil have all become involved, and Russia is watching the whole scene nervously as its dominant position supplying natural gas to Europe comes under threat."
  
  p. 162 - Greece is positioning itself to become the indispensable US ally in the region. The Americans are hedging: they are ensuring reliable access for their military while also being able to use this fact to pressure Turkey to re-establish itself as a reliable NATO partner and guarantee that the Americans can continue to lease its air base in Incirlik, near the Syrian border."
  
  p. 176 - "In the 1990s Turkey had re-established itself as a major trade route after building gas and oil pipes running from Iraq and the Caspian Sea through Anatolia to supply Europe. It had also put together one of the largest and most efficient militaries in NATO, giving it confidence as it assessed the new world around it."
  
  "It wasn't that Turkey opposed the intervention against Saddam; it was more than it helped create a semi-autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq (which, as we will see, was problematic as Turkey was trying to suppress its own Kurdish nationalism)."
  
  
  p. 185 - "By 2020 Turkey had fallan out with Syria, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE Kuwait, Israel Iran, Amenia, Greece Cyprus, and France and had irritated all of its NATO allies by buying the S-400 missile defence system from NATO's great rival Russia. The Americans were so angry about what they regarded as a breach of trust that in December 2020 they imposed sanctions on the Turkish defence industry and pointed out that the S-400 had been designed to shoot down the US F-35 stealth fighter."
  "Ankara's relations with its immediate neighbours are also affected by the two major challenges it has faced on the domestic front: the development of Anatolia, and its 'forever war' against the Kurds."
  
  p. 197 - talks about 10k years ago, the Sahara was lush. Then climate change it became a desert. The reversal happened about 5k year ago and this pushed people back into the Meditarranean Sea or south to the Sahel and below.
  
  p. 209 - "President Macron has been keen to persuade Algeria to commit its well-equipped 'Armee nationale populaire' to the fray, but given colonial history, Algiers is not about to put its troops in effect under command of Paris. The Algerians insist that if they are involved, their troops should be within the umbrella group of the African Union."
  
  p. 210 - "The wider argument is that a US withdrawal will leave China to dominate the region, and also that America needs to be seen to be supporting European allies, especially as massive population movements into Europe would destabilize them."
  
  p. 211 "Niger is surrounded by countries beset with Islamist terror - Nigeria Burkina Faso, Mali, Algeria, Libya, and Chad. These house the centuries - old trade routes previously discussed, one of which runs north and south through Agadez, another along the niger - Algeria border. Both of these are now used by people smugglers who have funnelled hundreds of thousands of desperate souls along these corridors in the past decade."
  
  p. 224- Regarding Mali - "The French are concerned that they may be trapped in a conflict they cannot win and from which they cannot escape - it risks becoming with their 'Forever War'. The british and others worry that a point may come when they have to become even more involved. All the while millions of civilians across thousands of kilometers from the Atlantic to the Re Sea watch, and experience wave upon wave of violence washing up their shores"
  
  
• 
  Daniel Hrenak

  Ako povedal Gustič Gustafson Pazuchovič: pri čítaní tejto knihy máte pocit, že rozumiete celému svetu a jeho problémom, viete, prečo je ten ktorý konflikt a aké ďalšie nás čakajú a pravdepodobne neminú. A potom knihu dočítate a na väčšinu vecí zabudnete, lebo sú buď geograficky alebo časovo ďaleko. Ale ony si nás postupne nájdu. Takže určite odporúčam prečítať, aby sme boli potom menej nepríjemne prekvapení. Stále budeme. A v to v nemalej miere. Ale Tim Marschall si vtedy povie: Ja som vám to hovoril.
• 
  Beth Bonini

  In this follow-up to Prisoners of Geography, the author utilises the same format - but instead of looking at the major powers (the US, China, Russia, India), he delves into countries who are becoming key players in their region of the world. Australia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Ethiopia. He also looks at particularly troubled regions - especially those who have historically had trouble maintaining boundaries, mostly for geographical reasons. Greece and the Sahel region of Africa are two important examples. In his first book, Marshall ends with a chapter on the Arctic - and the race to claim dominion over the resources there. In this book, space is the next frontier.
  
  This book - whilst informative and entertaining - is not quite as compelling as his first book, and I couldn’t really put my finger on why that’s the case. Still, it’s excellent - and there was plenty to learn from it.
  
  My main takeaway - other than being frightened by how many areas of instability there are in the world - is how interconnected we all are. The chapter on The Sahel was definitely the most impactful and terrifying to me. It was the region I knew the least about and yet its troubles are threatening to spill over its borders in a big, big way. Food security, water security and energy security are just the baseline for functioning countries. And yet they are a ‘baseline’ which is extremely complicated to maintain.
  
  Perhaps I’ve just forgotten, but this book seems to focus more on the internal schisms (cultural and religious) of countries and to what degree a lack of national identity can contribute to instability. There is a lot of emphasis on the various Islamic jihadi groups who are slipping into the vacuums created by poverty and lack of fair leadership.
  
  Marshall ends on a positive, if cautionary, note: basically, there has never been a greater opportunity (or need) for cooperation and resource-sharing.
• 
  Lilisa

  This was my first Tim Marshall book and I enjoyed it. The author focuses on ten regions he believes will play significant roles in future global politics as a result of their geography. To do this he takes us back to each of the region’s past and through the lens of history lays the case for why the regions, because of their geography and political conditions and ambitions, will all play pivotal roles in our global future. The ten regions are: Australia, Iran, Saudi Arabia,the U.K., Greece, Turkey, the Sahel, Ethiopia, Spain, and Space. Marshall packages history, geography, and his insights together to project what the future may look like in years to come. Despite the density and range of information, the book was surprisingly easy to digest and moved at a nice clip. This was a fascinating, enjoyable, and interesting read with a powerful case to be made for why geography has influenced and will continue to influence the politics of the world as we know it, and potentially the fate of space in the future. A highly recommended read. Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.
• 
  Alexandru

  The name of the book is a bit misleading. There is very little talk about maps and the future of the world. It's more of a general history of 10 countries/regions, an analysis of their current situation and a few words about their potential future.
  
  The 10 countries/regions discussed in the book are:
  
  - Australia
  - United Kingdom
  - Iran
  - Saudi Arabia
  - Greece
  - Turkey
  - The Sahel (Central Africa)
  - Ethiopia
  - Spain
  - Space
  
  The sections about well known Western countries such as Australia and United Kingdom feel very redundant, especially their history which takes up way too much space (don't really need a lengthy historical summary of the UK). The most interesting parts are the ones about Ethiopia, Iran and the Sahel.
  
  Also, I am really not sure why Greece was chosen as one of the ten countries/regions. It is indeed in a fairly strategic region however with a population of 10 million it is hardly an important global player other than in the Mediterranean region. Would have thought that countries such as Brasil, Germany or even Poland would have fit better. Perhaps even treating Greece and Turkey together would have been a good idea due to so much interaction and politics between the two.
  
  Overall it is a decent read but there is not much new information for the Western countries covered. The book would have benefited if it focused less on history and more on the potential future of the regions discussed.
• 
  Rita Costa (Lusitania Geek)

  Que livro maravilhoso, deu para viajar, conhecer as culturas, a sua história e diversidade entre países que o autor deu a continuação, desde o primeiro livro: “Prisioneiros de Geografia”.
  
  Tal como o primeiro livro, a estrutura do livro é dividido por dez capítulos, um capítulo = um país, apenas o último capítulo fala não de um país mas sim o espaço internacional. Ele escolhe os países que teve impacto na geo-política e na sociedade ao longo dos anos, mas infelizmente ainda não incluiu Portugal.
  
  Em cada país, ele fala sobre a história que o país teve, o papel dele na perspectiva internacional e a política que teve no passado até aos dias de hoje. Havia certos paises que mal conhecia, como por exemplo: a Etiópia, Irão e a faixa Sael.
  
  Recomendo seguir este autor !
  
  5 ⭐️
• 
  Nektarios kouloumpos

  Είναι η συνέχεια του «Αιχμάλωτοι της γεωγραφίας», καταπιάνεται με γεωγραφικές περιοχές που δεν αναλύθηκαν στο πρώτο μέρος. Το βρήκα ιδιαίτερα ενδιαφέρον γι αυτό το κατάπια σε στο τρεις μέρες!
  Γενικά δεν έχει ξεφύγει απο το ύφος του πρώτου μέρους, είναι το ίδιο κατατοπιστικός, ευκολοδιάβαστος και γεμάτος χιούμορ!
  
  Καλή ανάγνωση
• 
  Ujjwala Singhania

  Another good book by Tim Marshal, where he uses ten maps to show the readers how powerful a nations/states geography and its natural borders are in shaping its socio-political and economic trajectory. And how the man-made rules and the changing world order will impact the fate of these nations' and the whole world in turn.