“To solve the world’s problems,
We must break free from the geographical prison we have imagined until now.”

“A provocative and important book for understanding 21st-century geopolitics.”
Jerry Broughton, author of The Map of Desire and The Renaissance

"Who, when, and why drew the lines on Earth's land and sea?" "A Whole New Geopolitics Lesson" poses questions about things we have taken for granted so far.
The aim is to deeply analyze how humanity has understood the world through various geopolitical factors such as geography, politics, and history, and to suggest alternatives for dealing with global problems.
It explores how human-created and used concepts like nation, sovereignty, and GDP, as well as visible geographical elements like continents and borders, have blinded us.
Based on these truths, it helps us to understand Russia, China, and Africa, which are major countries that always attract attention in global geopolitics.
Break free from the geographical prison you've always imagined with this book, which offers a completely new and accurate understanding of geopolitics from the very first chapter.

No matter how the vast metaspace of the continent is structured, the map of the continent always precedes its territory.
In any case, the continental structure inevitably reduces the richness and diversity of human and natural worlds to four to seven arbitrary and artificial spatial masses, which are then filled with their outlines and contents.
As with other myths covered in this book, the continent conceals far more than it reveals.
Only by shaking off the scales of continentality from our eyes can we hope to see the world and other human beings in a new way.
Until that happens, the countless connections, encounters, and interrelationships that define our world will remain hidden from view across continents.
--- 「Chapter 1.
Continents_How many continents exist?

There may be some benefit to be gained from this barrier.
But what will humanity have to offer in return? We seem trapped in a worldview where there's only one solution: expanding borders.
We are so obsessed with the idea that borders are the solution that we project our modern interpretation of barriers onto the Great Wall of China.
But borders are not always what they seem.
These days, the notion that borders are for protection and security seems increasingly to be a myth.
Arming border walls would exacerbate everyday violence, solidify authoritarian control, and heighten insecurity throughout communities.
As a result, the most vulnerable are further marginalized.
If more border walls make the world feel less safe, and higher walls create more fear, what's the point of building and expanding more border walls?
--- 「Chapter 2.
From "Why are border barriers useless?"

It's worth recalling that only a few decades ago, the concept of empire was a widely accepted framework for understanding how the world was always kept in order.
Britain claimed to be the empire on which the sun never set, but that empire eventually disappeared.
The idea that colonial 'natives' had the capacity for self-government went from 'inconceivable to commonplace'.
The lens of the 'empire' through which we viewed the world was cracked and shattered in the blink of an eye, replaced by the lens of the 'state'.
--- Chapter 3.
From "What is a Nation?"

By emphasizing our relationships and connections on a local, national, and transnational scale, our sense of belonging can become more harmonious.
As people experience, they always recognize a more flexible identity, but nation-states that grant privileges only to their own people have greatly damaged this flexible identity.
If we integrate this scale of identity, the community will have a sense of balance and equilibrium, and will not be divided along national, ethnic, religious, or tribal lines.
Because it is when nationalist politicians foment such divisions that the myth of the nation is perhaps most clearly revealed.
This unstable, unchangeable, and illusory concept is so fragile that it requires a strong leader to protect it, and strong leaders have always been those who identify themselves with the state, saying, "I am the state."
--- 「Chapter 3.
From "What is a Nation?"

In June 2016, the British government announced that it would hold a referendum on whether to remain in the EU.
A subsequent, unprecedented experiment in this area revealed the complex implications of sovereignty in the modern world.
One central figure in this experiment is Dominic Cummings, the leader of the Vote Leave campaign and later Boris Johnson's chief of staff when he became prime minister in 2019.
Cummings had been trying to understand what sovereignty really meant for years before the referendum.
He ran focus groups discussing Britain's relationship with Europe, asking people to write down what "sovereignty" meant to them, hoping to find a message that would resonate with the public.
When one focus group reported that “everyone, unanimously, answered ‘royalty,’” Cummings quickly concluded that the concept of sovereignty alone was not enough to get the message across.
A newer, more intuitive slogan was needed.
As he listened to various focus groups and tried various variations, the slogan "Let's take back control" began to emerge.
Cummings judged the slogan to capture the essence of the campaign to leave the UK.
The reason this slogan succeeded was its simplicity, and it encapsulated the myth of 'sovereignty'.
That is, it is a myth that makes control over people and territory seem natural, self-evident, and clearly distinguishable and exercisable.
In this myth, the world is simplified as if some territory is either completely 'inside' or completely 'outside' the control of the state. --- 「Chapter 4.
From “Sovereignty_A vague claim whose substance is unknown”

Although it is difficult to quantify subjective factors like happiness, the growing recognition that it is important to evaluate progress beyond GDP has led the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network to publish the World Happiness Report.
The report assesses the state of happiness in most parts of the world through a series of annual surveys since 2012.
In the 2019 World Happiness Report, Bhutan ranked 95th out of 156 countries.
Even though the ranking is relatively low, it still scores high in happiness compared to GDP.
In 2019, the World Bank gave Bhutan an economic ranking of 174 out of 203.
The second place in the World Bank rankings was taken by China, whose GDP is 5,851 times that of Bhutan.
Even on a per capita basis, China's GDP was about 35 percent higher than Bhutan's.
However, in the 2019 World Happiness Report, China ranked 93rd, only slightly higher than Bhutan.
For Bhutan, which is guided by the philosophy of happiness, a ranking of 95th might not seem all that impressive.
But judging by the example of China, even if a country becomes very wealthy and its economy grows rapidly, happiness is not easily bought.
--- From "Chapter 5. GDP_Wealth, Health, or Happiness?"

Now, more than two decades into Putin's presidency, the obsession with portraying Russia as a victim of Western aggression, the veneration of the Soviet victory in World War II, the restoration of Russian influence, and the denigration of Western liberal values ​​have all become defining features of his tenure.
The primary goal of foreign policy is no longer to advance Russia's national interests (whatever those may be).
Instead, Putin has only a desire to preserve himself and protect himself from legal prosecution and worse.
For this purpose, accumulating power and wealth is important to him.
This is not so much an agenda for expansionism as it is an agenda for the survival of an authoritarian regime wearing the black mask of revanchism.
The direction of the war in Ukraine depends not on geographical determinism, but on Putin's fate.
This war will deal a fatal blow to Putin's false claim that Russia is a great power and will divide Russia and Ukraine for generations to come.
Putin's wars have cost Russia trade and influence with Europe, but have also given it the status of a junior partner to China.
It will take some time for Putin and the rest of the elite in this new Russia to get used to the reality that their country has little influence over the political, military, and economic powers of the East and West.
--- Chapter 6.
From "Russia_How Putin Became Caught Up in Revanchism"

China's strategy appears less like a grand geopolitical strategy to dominate Eurasia and more like a preemptive bid to secure open markets and new regions for Chinese goods and capital.
However, it is not easy to separate the economic logic and strategic elements of this project.
The reshaping of world geography through the Silk Road is complex and contradictory, as even Chinese officials have estimated that investments in the Silk Road project could result in losses of up to 80 percent in Pakistan, 50 percent in Myanmar, and 30 percent in Central Asia.
Port projects in the Indian Ocean were also assessed as having little chance of financial success.
Judging by the scale of the losses, it seems that there are more important interests at stake than simply the return on investment.
The question of how to untangle the intertwined real investment opportunities and political challenges is even more confusing.
Because "Chinese investment" encompasses everything from central state-owned enterprises and policy banks, including the Export-Import Bank of China and the China Development Bank, to regional state-owned enterprises and private enterprises of various sizes, as well as individual and family-run businesses with an entrepreneurial nature.
This creates diverse and competitive investment objectives that demand national, strategic, and profit-driven interests from diverse actors.
It is difficult to categorize the New Silk Road and its projects, as its meaning varies depending on the region and the people.
Moreover, it is virtually impossible to find a comprehensive organizing principle, origin, or destination that runs through the New Silk Road.
--- Chapter 7.
From "China's New Silk Road: Why Not All Roads Lead to China"

To insist on a 'balanced' approach to empire is simply another way of sidestepping the age-old tricks of African mythology, while also revealing the deep insecurities of former colonial powers about their own identities and histories.
Rather than viewing Africa through the monochromatic lens of empire, or as a poverty-stricken land in desperate need of compassionate intervention and charity, Africa should be seen as a vibrant, vibrant, multi-colored, living, breathing, complex place.
Africa is the birthplace of some of the greatest and most wondrous world civilizations and the ultimate origin of humanity.
This is a region where bold innovations in the form of post-state sovereignty emerged in the post-colonial era.

--- Chapter 8.
From "Africa_The Lost History of the Cinematic Empire"