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

WHY GEOGRAPHY MATTERS: Three Challenges Facing America: Climate Change, the Rise of China, and Global Terrorism

HARM DE BLIJ 

Geography professor de Blij argues that most people in the United States, including the country's elected officials, are dangerously ignorant of basic geography. The consequence, he writes, is that leaders lack insights to connections in a world facing climate change, overpopulation, and the continuing threat of terrorism. In an attempt to rectify this shortcoming for people in and out of government, the author starts by explaining what a geographer does and why it's important. Geography deals with both the natural and the human worlds and so offers insights to modern problems, according to the author. The book opens with a section on maps and how to read them. Other chapters include geopolitical analyses of not only the topics listed in the book's subtitle, but also of Europe, Russia, and Africa. Although de Blij intends his work for a broad readership, this volume has the heft and tone of a scholarly tome. Oxford University Press, 2005, 308 p., b&w illus., hardcover, $30.00.