The Power of Geography: Ten Maps That Reveal the Future of Our World - The Much-Anticipated Sequel to the Global Bestseller Prisoners of Geography

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The power of geography then looks at Britain after Brexit. Tim Marshall presents Britain the way it actually is. Britain has always been different from the rest of the Europe. Waters around it continue to play a central role in its culture and geopolitics. Its conflicts with France since its departure from the EU are given context. Compared to Marshall's previous book, "Prisoners of Geography," "The Power of Geography" is a bit less focused. While the former book zoomed in on the geopolitical implications of physical features like mountains, rivers, and coastlines, the latter takes a broader view of geography, considering everything from climate patterns to migration patterns. While this does make for a more comprehensive look at the subject, it can also feel a bit scattered at times. It also tends to oversimplify some of the complex issues it covers.

Now, in this revelatory new book, Marshall takes us into ten regions that are set to shape global politics and power. Find out why the Earth’s atmosphere is the world’s next battleground; why the fight for the Pacific is just beginning; and why Europe’s next refugee crisis is closer than we think. Delivered with Marshall’s trademark wit and insight, this is a lucid and gripping exploration of the power of geography to shape humanity’s past, present – and future. 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."He has written for many of the national newspapers including the Times, the Guardian, the Daily Telegraph, and the Sunday Times. Iran is another country with interesting geopolitical concerns as it needs to access the seas to exports its lucrative oil reserves. Most of its oilfields are towards the country’s south, with some gas fields near the Persian Gulf. Iran exports these commodities to international markets through the Strait of Hormuz. The Strait is tight at its narrowest part. This enables Iran to muscle significant influence in the region as countries like Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait need the Strait to export their commodities to access the Arabian Sea. Iran uses this chokepoint to gain influence and focuses its navy in the Strait. As a result, part of the geopolitical struggle in the Middle East is not just based on religious divides but just as much on geopolitical power and exporting oil. 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.

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.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. non-fiction book by Tim Marshall The Power of Geography: Ten Maps that Reveal the Future of Our World The book opens with a chapter on Australia. As an Australian I found it quite interesting reading a perspective on my country and people... “Now Australia looks around at its neighbourhood and wonders what role it should play, and whom it should play it with”... “Australia’s size and location are both it’s strength and its weakness...”