Why Geography Matters: Three Challenges Facing America: Climate Change, the Rise of China, and Global Terrorism

Book Description

Over the next half century, the human population, divided by culture and economics and armed with weapons of mass destruction, will expand to nearly 9 billion people. Abrupt climate change may throw the global system into chaos; China will emerge as a superpower; and Islamic terrorism and insurgency will threaten vital American interests. How can we understand these and other global challenges? Harm de Blij has a simple answer: by improving our understanding of the world's geography. In Why Geography Matters, de Blij demonstrates how geography's perspectives yield unique and penetrating insights into the interconnections that mark our shrinking world. Preparing for climate change, averting a cold war with China, defeating terrorism: all of this requires geographic knowledge. De Blij also makes an urgent call to restore geography to America's educational curriculum. He shows how and why the U.S. has become the world's most geographically illiterate society of consequence, and demonstrates the great risk this poses to America's national security. Peppering his writing with anecdotes from his own professional travels, de Blij provides an original treatise that is as engaging as it is eye opening. Casual or professional readers in areas such as education, politics, or national security will find themselves with a stimulating new perspective on geography as it continues to affect our world.

Customer Reviews:

Occasionally insightful, but generally uninspired.......2007-08-29

I would describe this book as the rambling--but occasionally insightful--musings of a thoughtful scholar. Unfortunately, many, if not most, of Blij's arguments are not made from a geographic perspective. For instance, his chapter on the European Union rambles on for page after page about the history of the EU from the European Coal and Steel Community, to the European Economic Community, to the European Community, and, finally, to the European Union. That's not to say that's not and interesting and important history lesson for people who are unfamiliar with EU history, but its not geographic! I was hoping for a book of theories explaining human events using reasoning built on spatial orientations or location. Why Geography Matters had some of that, but Blij could have, in my view, omitted much of the voluminous background information. Doing some would have made his book more concise and allowing his genuine insights to be featured more prominently.

And for what its worth, the book could have used a better editor. For instance, on p.160 it refers to "South Ossetia" as a Russian Republic instead of North Ossetia. I noticed a couple errors like this.

Perhaps, I would be more positive about this book if its last chapter hadn't been the low point. The chapter on Africa had absolutely nothing original to say (AIDS is bad, we need to do more to stop it; colonization and slavery were bad too; Africa has been plagued by bad leadership; etc.).

Important book.......2007-08-28

This is an exceptional and needed introduction to Geography and how it relates to world problems.

What we should have learned in school about the world..........2007-05-27

This is essential reading for anyone who should have a sound foundation of knowledge to back up one's social commentary, but doesn't. Geography can be understood and used to understand our world with great clarity. Everyone who watched Al Gore's movie should read this book if only to know that Harm de Blij has been explaining geographic issues for decades better than nearly anyone.

The US Department of Education needs to buy and issue a copy of this book to every teacher in America.

Very informative reading.......2007-05-13

This is definitely a quality work in the field of Geography with an emphasis on Politics i.e. GeoPolitics. However, it is important to point out a couple of incorrect facts I found while reading this work.

1. On page 190 we have the statement, "On an aircraft carrier off the coast of California, President Bush declared "mission accomplished.", regarding the war in Iraq. If you read the speech that President Bush gave, you will find that he never uttered the words "mission accomplished." The author just regurgitated this line from the biased print media i.e. The NYTimes, Time, Newsweek, etc... Intuitively, if you think about it, George Bush, assigns the mission to the military and after assigning the mission to the military he is not going to turn around and say good "mission accomplished. That is what the military's response, will be, to the President, after they have completed the mission. This is reflected by the fact that the military hung a banner up on the aircraft carrier that said "Mission Accomplished."

2. On pages 193-194 The author states. "The American invasion severly damaged the city, which was for months afterward, and remains as of this writing, without a reliable water supply, power, medical facilities, or schools." It is very true that much of the infrastructure in Iraq is severly damaged, but the author has tried to blame this on American firepower and it is simply not true. The precision guided weapons our U.S. forces utilized were excellent at avoiding collateral damage. The truth is more damning for the Saddam regime. THE INFRASTUCTURE DAMAGE WAS CAUSED BY 30 PLUS YEARS OF NEGLECT ON THE PART OF THE BAATH PARTY AND NOT AMERICAN MILITARY MIGHT. Also, the military planners who provided for getting the infrastructure back online, after the war, grossly underestimated the level of the existing infrastructure of Iraq, before the U.S. military even set foot inside the country.

Overall I recommend this work, but it cannot be given five stars due to these errors.

Debunking the global warming myth!.......2007-03-08

This is an excellent book based on scientific fact debunking the "global warming" myth.

I highly recommend this book.

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Education in Post-Mao China
Jing Lin
Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0275942708

Book Description

A rare insider's view of educational development and problems in China since economic reform began in 1978, this volume critically examines the issue of political socialization through curriculum and compares the curriculum used during the Cultural Revolution with that compiled and used throughout China in 1988. Also explored are problems with student dropouts and teacher motivation in rural education and government-supported nonformal education; the tracking system and vocational education development in urban schools; problems that came about with economic and political reform; and the issue of inequality existing between and within rural and urban schools. Turning to recent decentralization efforts in school administration, Jing Lin analyzes evidence suggesting that educational policy is politically controlled. Additionally, the development of educational research in the 1980s and 1990s constitutes the topic of one chapter, based on hundreds of published books and papers. Finally, Lin reflects on the massive student movement that arose in the spring of 1989 and delineates the social, economic, and political changes that sparked it. This final section treats these educational changes as an interconnected whole that underlay the movement and gave it such distinctive characteristics as nonviolence and a rational, constructive outlook.

Chinese Society: Change, Conflict and Resistance (Asia's Transformations)

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Chinese Society: Change, Conflict and Resistance (Asia's Transformations)

Manufacturer: Routledge
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Binding: Paperback

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Governing China: From Revolution Through Reform, Second Edition
Wild Grass: Three Portraits of Change in Modern China
Governance and Politics of China: Second Edition (Comparative Government and Politics)
Rightful Resistance in Rural China (Cambridge Studies in Contentious Politics)
The Paradox of Chinas Post-Mao Reforms (Harvard Contemporary China Series)

ASIN: 0415301696

Book Description

This introduction to Chinese society uses the themes of resistance and protest to explore the complexity of life in contemporary China. The book draws on perspectives from sociology, anthropology, psychology, history and political science and covers a broad range of issues including women, labour, ethnic conflict and suicide. The new edition brings the text fully up to date, adding three new chapters on Falun Gong, Christianity and land struggles.

The Spiral Road: The Change in a Chinese Village Through the Eyes of a Communist Party Leader (Conflict and Social Change Series)

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communism in rural China
A nicley done book.
A novel of suspense in the jungles of New Guinea

The Spiral Road: The Change in a Chinese Village Through the Eyes of a Communist Party Leader (Conflict and Social Change Series)
Shu-Min Huang
Manufacturer: Westview Press
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The People of the Sierra (Phoenix Books)
Gopalpur; A South Indian Village. (Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology)
The Zinacantecos of Mexico: A Modern Mayan Way of Life
Only Hope: Coming of Age Under Chinas One-Child Policy
Strangers in the City: Reconfigurations of Space, Power, and Social Networks Within China's Floating Population

ASIN: 0813334470

Book Description

The leading Party cadre of Lin Village in southeast China describes in this book nearly fifty years of turbulent events that affected individuals and families in the village: the downfall of the landlords during the Land Reform, the rise of poor peasants to political power, the political fanaticism of the Great Leap Forward and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, and recent efforts to restore rational, pragmatic policies in China's countryside. The magnitude of change in Lin Village since 1949 has been considerable. Most villagers have benefited from tangible improvements in agriculture, education, and medicine, and they have developed a sense of political participation and integration into the national political arena. Significantly, while these dynamic changes have been taking place, the observance of cultural tradition has persisted. Attempts made by the government to change "feudalistic" beliefs and practices have yet to make any lasting impression on village life. The second edition includes two new chapters, based on the author's continuing visits to China. One chapter details changes in Lin Village, such as Taiwanese investment of capital, large-scale production, international marketing, and new lifestyles. Physically, Lin Village has become a small market town with large department stores and daily vegetable markets; and living in European-style villas, driving imported automobiles, and walking with a cellular phone in hand has become the prototype of the successful person. The other chapter focuses on the continuing story of Mr. Ye: his ideas for expanding the villagers' wealth, his wheeling and dealing to set up lucrative businesses in Lin Village, and his arrangements to secure jobs for his family members and close kin. More than an account of one village, this book documents for readers the cataclysmic changes of China's entire post-liberation era, detailing their effects in a personalized style. An American anthropologist of Chinese descent, Huang Shu-min employs participant-observation and personal interviews to shape this unique view of rural China today and to delineate some of the misconceptions held by Western academics.

Customer Reviews:

communism in rural China.......2000-12-16

An outstanding book that lets you see how communism worked in this village to transform the way of life. Mr. Shu-min was an American professor who had permission to spend time in this village. He made friends with the Man who was in charge, who had been born in 1946 a few short years before the communists won out. Change in village really started with the land reform of the early fifties, that tried to even out land ownership. Every thing went great for the first few years, production increased, life got better for everyone. The people became believers, then in 1958 Mao led them down the path of the insanity called the great leap forward with the establishment of the People's Communes. There was supposed to be rural industrial development by building backyard furnaces to make steel.They backed away from the farming and wasted time on the furnace. As this happened everywhere in China it led to starvation. It was made worse by local officials trying to meet assigned targets lying to higher officials about what was really happened. This led to their continuing down the wrong path. Not everything that happened in the village was such a disaster. Finally the village worked things out and started to build a better life for everyone. I found especially interesting the discussion of the way they handled birth control. Having male heirs to continue the family is of extreme importance to the Chinese. But also the curtailing of population increase means only one child per family. How all that is handled is extremely interesting. Really a fascinating story of how a well run village works.

A nicley done book........2000-10-08

I read the book for my sociology class and I will say that I am impressed by it. It is written very well and Huang Shu-min did a great job conveying the changes in Lin Village after the Chinese Communist Party takes over CHina. The book can be challenging to people, especially those who are forced to read it. An I feel you have to have an interst of Asia to actually get into the book. So if you do have this intrest, I recomend that you buy it.

A novel of suspense in the jungles of New Guinea.......1998-11-22

"Spiral Road" by Jan De Hartog

This book is superbly written. Its characters are very realistic. The main character, Anton Zorgdrager, receives a "scholarship" to medical school from the Dutch government in exchange for several years of medical services to pygmies, aborigines, and natives of the jungles of Borneo, New Guinea, and other Dutch colonial East Indies islands. From his experiences with a series of atheists and Christians (Salvation Army soldiers) he becomes convinced that he has a gift (a sixth sense) that enables him to immediately recognize symptoms of the early stages of various diseases (leprosy, frambesia, satyriasis) that other doctors are unable to perceive. This leads Zorgdrager to hypothesize that God does not exist, and that the evils of mankind can be cured by a "serum of conversion" which he will discover and which will transform the patient into a God-fearing, pious individual. He, of course, expects someday to be the discoverer of such a vaccine. This hubris leads him into a series of failed human relationships. Self-obsession and thanatos ultimately cause him to forsake the comforts of civilization for the "purification" of his soul, alone in the heart of a terrifying jungle. The suspense is virtually nonstop (there is a somewhat incoherent dream sequence that briefly interrupts the suspense, but this was only a minor irritant in what was otherwise totaly captivating reading). I would put this book in the same class as "Shogun," as mesmerizing the reader with visually descriptive passages of the East Indies (climate, scenery, culture, and humorous accounts of bureaucracy) and intricate character development. It is also reminiscent of Hermann Hesse's "Steppenwolf" and Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," as it is difficult to resist becoming intensely involved with Zorgdrager's character in solitude as the book reaches its climax.

Wild Grass: Three Portraits of Change in Modern China
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How to make reading a pleasure!

Beijing and Prairie grasses

Another book reflecting the "dark side"?

An excellent book about my homeland

Great Choice!

Wild Grass: Three Portraits of Change in Modern China
Ian Johnson
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze (P.S.)

Will the Boat Sink the Water?: The Life of China's Peasants

Chinese Lessons: Five Classmates and the Story of the New China

Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present

Governing China: From Revolution Through Reform, Second Edition

ASIN: 0375719199
Release Date: 2005-03-08

Book Description

In Wild Grass, Pulitzer Prize—winning journalist Ian Johnson tells the stories of three ordinary Chinese citizens moved to extraordinary acts of courage: a peasant legal clerk who filed a class-action suit on behalf of overtaxed farmers, a young architect who defended the rights of dispossessed homeowners, and a bereaved woman who tried to find out why her elderly mother had been beaten to death in police custody. Representing the first cracks in the otherwise seamless façade of Communist Party control, these small acts of resistance demonstrate the unconquerable power of the human conscience and prophesy an increasingly open political future for China.

Customer Reviews:

How to make reading a pleasure!.......2006-11-06

I'm glad I found this book. These three stories are very well written and, hence, smooth reading. Each includes information about the "big picture" (historical background, explanation about what's happening in the rest of the country, etc.), as well as the little details, such as clothing styles. These stories are about what to me are normal or understandable ebbs and flows of real human endeavors (involving politics, greed, stubbornness, altruism, learning to deal with the system, and so forth), making China much less the usual mysterious caricature.

Beijing and Prairie grasses.......2006-09-07

Books on China can often grow stale and out of date only a handful of years after they are written, given the pace of change in the Middle Kingdom. With this in mind I was slightly hesitant to pick up Johnson's book, even though it was a mere two years old! However, the poignant topics and character-development in each of these three stories ensures that Wild Grass will remain relevant up through the coming Olympics and beyond.

Although he won the Pulitzer for his reportage on Falun Gong, my favorite segment of the book was the section dealing with the destruction of Beijing...especially the ancient walled neighborhoods known as hutongs. These centuries-old dwelling, so difinitive of Chinese culture, and the city of Beijing, could easily have been upgraded and preserved as viable living spaces for Chinese citizens; however, nonexistent planning and massive corruption has destroyed all but a small percentage of these communities, and a way of life.

Johnson' narrative of this travesty reminded me of the overall destruction of the prairie grasses of the American Midwest, now "preserved" in nearly insignificant scattered acreages sprinkled across the landscape...a fraction of one percent of what once was. With the loss of the hutongs, Beijing has similarly lost it's identity.

I highly recommend Wild Grass for anyone interested in reading about this nation in a more focused, human level, rather than the numerous, awe inspired accounts that seem to concentrate China's staggering economies of scale.

Another book reflecting the "dark side"?.......2005-01-08

I have not read this book yet and I do not intend to after reading almost all the reviews on Amazon. One major reason is that it is jsut another book that depicts the dark side of the country. Don't we feel that we've already had too many of them? No matter how well they are written and how informative they are, no readers will be able to get an accurate picture of the country when only the dark side is presented. In China, especially big cities, there are so many successful stories that worth mentioning. Yet, not a single book I know of cares about it. Maybe it is just a marketing strategy to satisfy ordinary readers' curiosity. Certainly It is another feel-better book. "How lucky we are! We can enjoy all the democracy we have here in US while people from other countries have to suffer. Oh, okay. Maybe we can help them a bit, just like we did in somewhere else, to return our so-treasured democracy to them." Now as a Chinese, I will tell you the truth: People there do not care, they are enjoying their lives too much to care. They have learnt that you have to be indifferent to be able to enjoy. That is to be indifferent to all the unfortunes happening around them and to be indifferent from all the sympathies that foreigners have towards them.

An excellent book about my homeland.......2004-09-11

I've lived in China since 1999, and I often read stories about
China in the Western media that I simply don't believe. Others
report on abuses that do occur here without giving a reader any
understanding of why. So, China remains "inscrutable." (I'm
rolling my eyes...)

China is a complex subject. How can a Westerner who has never
been here know what's happening? China is so far away and
shrouded in a bit of mystery, some due to the sheer length of
its history and some due to the power of the Party. In my
case, I don't speak Chinese, so getting past the public face is
impossible.

Ian Johnson of the Wall Street Journal won a Pulitzer Prize for
his reporting on China. He speaks the language. And, he's one
heck of a fine journalist. In WILD GRASS, he recounts the
stories of three ordinary Chinese citizens who find themselves
fighting the repression of the system, risking imprisonment
and even death.

Johnson understands "the big picture," and after reading this
book, so will you. A nation is not just a single entity. It's
made of people. All nations, not just the one you live in. So
what are the people in China like? Read this book, and you'll
feel like you've met some of them. A peasant lawyer, a young
architectural student, a bereaved daughter. Poor farmers in
Yulin and Party officials in Beijing.

Johnson also brings the scenery to life, makes the unfamiliar
familiar, and captures many little details and episodes and
ironies. A compelling subject in the hands of a masterful
author.

China is experiencing unprecented economic development. What
effect will this ultimately have on its social and political
system? I don't agree with all of the author's conclusions --
it surprises me how much I agree with the Party -- but it
doesn't matter. That's part of the beauty of this book. To
bandy about phrases like "evil empire" is the simplistic
idiocy that will (I hope) eventually doom morons like Dubya.
Can we please move past that and try to genuinely understand?

There can be no doubt that what Johnson reports in this book
is factually accurate. If you want to learn about China, this
is a good place to start. And then, form your own conclusions.
There's plenty of room for you to do that here. Which, in the
end, is what journalism is all about.

I'm quite glad that I read this book. This is literature, same
as George Orwell, who I also don't always agree with. And
agreement does not matter. Spurring a reader to think is what
matters. Johnson can do that with the best of them.

Great Choice!.......2004-08-24

If you're looking for an inside look into China, this is your book! It's not often that one thinks of a non-fiction book as a "page turner," yet I found myself speeding through the book, disappointed when I came to the last page. Cheering for the many underdogs depicted, Mr. Johnson's light and lively writing style helps to paint a clear picture of the social inequities found in modern day China. I particularly enjoyed the second story about the demolition of the old hutongs to make way for new construction. Johnson's prose paints a vivid picture of the beauty that is now forever lost and the fight the long-time residents have sadly lost.

I've travelled to China twice and never felt as connected to the people as I do now. China seems to be struggling with its identity, working on cleaning up its image as the 2008 Olympics approach. Wild Grass is an invaluable depiction of the fight that is carried on daily by ordinary people simply trying to live what we accept to be a normal life.

China's Geography: Globalization and the Dynamics of Political, Economic, and Social Change (Changing Regions in a Global Context: New Perspectives in Regional Geography)

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China's Geography: Globalization and the Dynamics of Political, Economic, and Social Change (Changing Regions in a Global Context: New Perspectives in Regional Geography)
Youqin Huang
Manufacturer: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Geography of China
Japan in the 21st Century: Environment, Economy, and Society
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Understanding China: A Guide to China's Economy, History, and Political Culture

ASIN: 0742554023

Book Description

Despite China's growing importance on the world stage, it is often and easily misunderstood. Indeed, there are many Chinas, as this sustained survey of contemporary China vividly illustrates. Offering the first comprehensive geography of the reform era, the authors trace the changes occurring in this ancient nation across both time and space. Beginning with China's diverse landscapes and environments, and continuing through its formative history and tumultuous recent past, this text places China in its international context as a massive developing nation that must meet the needs of its 1.3 billion citizens while becoming a major regional and global player. Through clear prose and abundant maps and photos, the book highlights the diverse landscapes, economies, and cultures that represent China today.

Farewell to Peasant China: Rural Urbanization and Social Change in the Late Twentieth Century (Studies on Contemporary China)

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Farewell to Peasant China: Rural Urbanization and Social Change in the Late Twentieth Century (Studies on Contemporary China)

Manufacturer: M.E. Sharpe
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Binding: Hardcover

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Revolution and Its Past: Indentities and Change in Modern Chinese History (2nd Edition)

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Readable

Revolution and Its Past: Indentities and Change in Modern Chinese History (2nd Edition)
R. Keith Schoppa
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Search for Modern China: A Documentary Collection
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Family
Japan Rising: The Resurgence of Japanese Power And Purpose

ASIN: 0131930397

Customer Reviews:

Readable.......2007-05-27

This is a readable history of China, though it lacks depth. It was grateful for it in my history class because I wasn't all that interested in the subject. That should speak volumes to readers who ARE interested in modern Chinese history. As a text book it was problematic because of the infrequent use of dates to accompany the narrative. Wouldn't you think mentioning the date of an event would be useful in a HISTORY book? The narrative chugs along and you find yourself flicking through the pages trying to figure out when in the timeline of Chinese history you are reading about. Good maps, good analysis of events if lacking a bit of depth and nice use of conversational language to convey the history. I would recommend this book for the casual reader of Chinese history.

Private Life under Socialism: Love, Intimacy, and Family Change in a Chinese Village, 1949-1999

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Private Life under Socialism: Love, Intimacy, and Family Change in a Chinese Village, 1949-1999
Yunxiang Yan
Manufacturer: Stanford University Press
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Binding: Paperback

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Strangers in the City: Reconfigurations of Space, Power, and Social Networks Within China's Floating Population
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Opening Up: Youth Sex Culture and Market Reform in Shanghai

ASIN: 0804744564
Release Date: 2003-03-12

Book Description

For seven years in the 1970s, the author lived in a village in northeast China as an ordinary farmer. In 1989, he returned to the village as an anthropologist to begin the unparalleled span of eleven years’ fieldwork that has resulted in this book—a comprehensive, vivid, and nuanced account of family change and the transformation of private life in rural China from 1949 to 1999.

The author’s focus on the personal and the emotional sets this book apart from most studies of the Chinese family. Yan explores private lives to examine areas of family life that have been largely overlooked, such as emotion, desire, intimacy, privacy, conjugality, and individuality.

He concludes that the past five decades have witnessed a dual transformation of private life: the rise of the private family, within which the private lives of individual women and men are thriving.

Identity and Change in East Asian Conflicts: The Cases of China, Taiwan, and the Koreas

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Identity and Change in East Asian Conflicts: The Cases of China, Taiwan, and the Koreas
Shale Horowitz , Uk Heo , and Alexander C. Tan
Manufacturer: Palgrave Macmillan
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1403977879
Release Date: 2007-02-06

Book Description

Changing national identities have transformed the China-Taiwan and Korean conflicts. Democratization in Taiwan and South Korea, and liberalization in China, have forced leaders to compete for popular legitimacy by appealing to national identities. Along with the collapse of the Soviet Union, these contested national identities have been the main factors driving change in the conflicts—pushing China and Taiwan inexorably apart and toward a showdown, while helping to prop up what appeared to be a mortally wounded North Korea. This explains why one U.S. ally, Taiwan, becomes more hawkish, while the other, South Korea, becomes more dovish. U.S. foreign policy is struggling to adjust.

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