This is my second “geography” book I read of Tim Marshall, and in a similar fashion to Prisoners of Geography, it’s marketed as a geography book, but it isn’t really.

It’s more of a general political science book but for the general masses. In this one, Marshall seems to pick arbitrary countries or areas including space! Without any underlying connections.

It’s also important to note, that although it offers an OK introduction to the current political landscape, it is done so with an overwhelming Western gaze and agenda.

You can clearly feel that when you compare a European country to China or Saudi Arabia. The massive differences in celebrating imperial “achievements” while brushing off the massive negative impact using only one or two lines, so that you won’t say he didn’t criticize the West. While at the same time going on and on for pages on how evil are China’s plans and how awful Saudi Arabia is!

And then there’s the “geography” parts, each chapter begins with a geographical overview that takes a couple of paragraphs, then goes on to the political history and current events with almost no mention of geography, only to end the chapter with a weak tie-in to the geography he mentioned in the beginning. He doesn’t really explain how the geography impacts his political theory.

Overall an OK read and introduction, a bit messier than his previous book.