“The Europeans used ink to draw lines on maps: they were lines that did not exist in reality and created some of the most artificial borders the world has seen.” – Tim Marshall, Prisoners of Geography
Unfortunately, geography is often taught as an exercise in memorizing places on map. In reality, what is on those maps have defined and constrained nations, wars, and civilizations.
As Marshall details in his book, Prisoners of Geography, the success and failure of nations is directly affected by the physical characteristics (weather, rivers, seas, mountains and deserts) of their location. Decisions by leaders, and their nation’s “strength and vulnerabilities,” must yield to geography.
Sometimes, it is artificial geography, as the quote at the beginning alludes to, that is impacting our world. Many of the problems in Africa and the Middle East are caused by borders not drawn along cultural or natural lines, but rather are arbitrary ones imagined by empire builders. The downstream affects of these fabricated boundaries have saddled world history with a legacy of war and chaos.
Even in our modern world where technology can overcome these obstacles to an extent, geography still can be an immovable force.
Just look at what is going on in the Straits of Hormuz.
Darrick Dean 