L et’s start with a question. Why did China’s population grow so much? Because the rainfall on the North China Plain allowed two harvests a year. Flowing from that? A lot of history.
Geography is one of the key factors underpinning current affairs. And yet until recently geopolitics had fallen out of fashion. At the turn of the century it was argued that big corporations were replacing the nation state, and that technology was overcoming nature’s barriers.
But technology has only (occasionally) changed which bits of geography are considered important. For example, in the 20th century the location of oil drove many countries’ foreign policy. So, to understand the world, we must grasp the importance of geography and who controls it.
Why? Look at a map and you’ll start to see at least part of the answer take shape. How much do you know?.
