Human Geography

Victorian geography is back in vogue. In The End of Poverty, Jeffrey Sachs blames geography for poverty, while in Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond says that the different shapes of Eurasia and the Americas explain the course of global economic development. And now, in "The Revenge of Geography," Robert Kaplan suggests that states have had their day and that global society will dissolve into tribal conflicts over dwindling resources. He commends British geographer Halford Mackinder for his 1904 essay, "The Geographical Pivot of History," and its analysis of the geographical dynamics of the perennial struggle over Eurasia.For Kaplan, the appeal of environmental determinism is evident. It reduces otherwise complex theories of economic development or of international relations to a stable set of factors (such as climate, physiography, and location) and further suggests that the primary causes of social, political, and economic inequality lie outside the realm of human intervention. The revenge of geography centers on environmental realities that never cease to frustrate the grand schemes of men who would remake the world after their own ideals. But there are four problems with Mackinder's case, and ultimately Kaplan's argument, as he builds upon it. First, the fact that today's conflicts are in many of the same places as yesterday's is a testament not to the guiding hand of Mother Nature, but to the pitiful legacy of those earlier wars -- colonialism, political instability, and economic exploitation. (The British alone fought wars in Iraq during 1914-1918, 1920-1921, 1922-1924, 1943, and 1945, and in Afghanistan during 1839-1842, 1878-1880, and 1919, and of course are again in both places.) Second, cultural identities are created as distinct communities interact with one another, not through isolated communion with the Earth. Third, rich and powerful countries' interests in the affairs of poorer countries are driven as much by their economic needs as by the problems afflicting the poorer countries. Finally, for all the U.N.'s flaws, international relations are not solely structured around the threat of force; Wilsonian values are credible pillars of international institutions and affairs. Ideas matter more than Kaplan admits. None of these critiques is new and they were made by Mackinder's contemporaries. John Hobson, the author of the famous work, Imperialism: A Study (1902), wrote from a rich liberal tradition that was hostile to warmongering and he criticized the colonial wars that Mackinder celebrated. Élisée Reclus, who put together a monumental 19-volume survey of global geography, likewise argued that colonialism had serious and continuing consequences. In particular, Reclus showed that the commodification of land and resources produced food insecurity throughout indigenous societies. Another of Mackinder's contemporaries, geographer and anarchist Peter Kropótkin, insisted that identity was neither biological nor environmental fate, but rather a social creation enabling people to cultivate their higher natures. Mackinder, by contrast, saw colonialism as diffusing technology and civilized values to benighted savages. For him, environment determined racial character and this in turn dictated people's intellectual firepower and level of civilization. He saw a clear hierarchy of civilizations -- the further from Anglo-Saxon values you were, the more inferior your society. If we are to rehabilitate Victorian geography, as Kaplan attempts to do here, then, we must also recall its contested nature, and against simplistic environmentalism we must urge the relevance of a historical analysis that emphasizes colonialism, an understanding of cultures as dynamic and interdependent, and a recognition of the importance of cooperation, justice, and multilateral institutions.

but geography largely determines them, now more than ever

it’s time to dust off the Victorian thinkers who knew the physical world best.

And of all the unsavory truths in which realism is rooted, the bluntest, most uncomfortable, and most deterministic of all is geography.