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One seldom comes across a book that comprehensively articulates the nuances of every piece of geopolitics. Tim Marshall is a British journalist and author with experience working as a diplomatic editor at Sky News, with earlier stints with BBC radio. In his book "Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need To Know About Global Politics," the author gives a brief insight into important geopolitical regions of the globe, with geography shaping the economy, foreign policy, and security dimensions of states.
His journalistic career has led him to cover conflicts and turmoil in countries of Bosnia, Kosovo, Croatia, Macedonia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, and Israel, which in turn has contributed to his writing career. Accordingly, the book highlights that the roots of instability and conflict lie in the curse of geography. States with favorable geography, which includes suitable topography, hydrography, climatology, and even biosphere, are destined to become great powers. The author has divided the book into ten regions and as many chapters.
The book is a lucid read that is able to capture an audience which does not have domain-specific knowledge in the field of geopolitics. In contrast, basic geography know-how is a must to analyze the region's geopolitical and geo-economic happenings. Since the basis of the book relies on geography, the author also touches upon colonial and imperial history in the context of Asia, Africa, and Latin America. In doing so, he talks about various events and treaties which reduced the regions to mere geographical entities without taking into cognizance the deep impact of culture, language, ethnicity, religion, race, and history.
Opening with one of the most contemporary issues in the Eurasian landmass, the author points out the Russian ambitions to control the East European geopolitical space, which has been the ambition of Napoleon Bonaparte, Adolf Hitler, erstwhile Soviet Union and now its successor state led by Vladimir Putin. The ongoing conflict reinstates the relevance of Mackinder's Heartland Theory. Shifting his focus to the Asian continent, the rise of China is the most pressing geopolitical challenge to the West. Its ability and willingness to tame geography with technological advancements have been a concern for the existing hegemon, the USA. China's global ambitions and subsequent policies of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and regional grouping of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), coupled with a growing blue water navy, make it a continental and maritime power.
The rise of the USA as a global power has been attributed to its navigable river system and its access to the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. In today's competing geopolitical landscape, access to the Arctic Ocean through Alaska makes the USA the only power to become a three-ocean power truly. As the security of Western Europe is closely tied with the USA, the idea of the North Atlantic as a region gains prominence. Both USA and Europe reached their zenith due to control over open seas; thus, it became imperative for them to be the flag bearers of open seas and champions of conducting freedom of navigation operations worldwide.
Moving forward, the author touches upon geographical areas of the Middle East, which is in itself a European construct. The traditional rift between Sunnis and Shias and the quest for regional powers to dominate the region and the Islamic world has also given political space to terrorist groups like ISIS to compete. From Pan Arabism to Political Islam, the region's journey has been marked by unrest and turmoil, with some exceptions that have grown due to the endowed natural resource of oil and natural gas. While West Asia may have used the resources for the best of their use, Africa has yet to be fortunate enough to optimize this wealth of resources, leading to the 'curse of resources.' Marred by coups, ethnic wars, artificial boundaries, underdevelopment, and secessionist movements, the continent has not been successful in projecting itself as a power to reckon with, on the global stage. The 'Scramble of Africa' and subsequent exploitation undertaken by imperial forces are still visible in African states' social, political, and economic realms.
The author then describes the Latin American continent, which has been a shadow of the US for most of modern history. Seen as a continent with immense potential, it has yet to stand up to its reputation due to difficult geographical features characterized by dense forests, cold deserts, and longest running mountain chain in the world. Further, political stability has added to the woes of the continent.
The Indian subcontinent is a region that is yet another example of man-made division that still consolidates the rivalry between India and Pakistan and further complicates the Indian border with China along the Tibetan front. The Indian Ocean to the south has become a new frontier between India and China as China's eyes to become a two-ocean power. While China continues to grow, its repercussions are also felt in the far East of Asia. Japan faces challenges with its scattered landmass, frequent earthquakes, and decreasing population. This is resulting in calls for increased defence expenditure.
The conflict on the Korean peninsula has been frozen since 1953 but is brewing hot with North Korea going nuclear and testing missiles. An artificial border yet again separates this Korean landmass. Sharing borders with China and Russia, the peninsula becomes a playground for global powers.
In the end, the author brings out the geopolitical complexions developing in the Arctic region as the North Pole heats up and the ice caps melt. Newly opened sea lanes of communication and the race to control the maximum continental shelf as an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is fueling tensions. Antarctica in the extreme south is a global common, but the same is not the case for the Arctic due to geographical proximity to human settlements. Reflections of such a rat race are also seen in the space frontier but remain constrained due to technological limitations.
While the author has touched upon all significant regions of the world, Australia does not feature in this book. Another area that could be improved is that of Oceania, which gained considerable importance due to evolving geopolitical rivalry between the USA and China. Climate changes act as an existential threat to the small island nations. Southeast Asia finds a passing reference due to maritime conflict with China. However, it deserves a substantial and comprehensive description as the region acts as an archway between the Indian and Pacific oceans. Collectively the region serves as a vital economic actor.
Tim Marshall has thus put forward the most rudimentary component of geopolitics, i.e., geography, to the audiences.