Why is There no Discussion About Geopolitics?

Having skipped college, I never even knew the word “geopolitics” until well into my adult life. It was around 9/11 that I began to broaden my interest in history to include this esoteric term. Now it’s a central part of how I try to view the world.

Mr. Friedman’s book is certainly a good start. As the decades stretch on, I am eager to re-examine the core arguments therein. How will they be right and wrong? Most importantly, where does this leave my understanding of the world? What new geopolitical perspectives will I embrace that make this current work seem dated?

But the main question I have is why the hell is this not discussed in any meaningful fashion? While portions of the intelligentsia – historical experts and political scientists – are very much aware of these things, there’s no public discussion.

There is very poor geopolitical literacy in this country. To the extent that geography is considered at all, it’s usually expressed in passing. We seem to have no problem understanding that the soul of a people is bound up in their traditions, but not in their mountains and rivers, no matter what the songs say.

There are two problems I identify:

1. A lack of critical thinking skills
   The study of current events seldom asks us to make predictions, revise them, and incorporate new data into the picture. Our nation’s scientific illiteracy is one indicator of this fact. The rejection of theories like evolution is not the cause, but a symptom. Maybe this is too little science.
2. Ultra-specialization
   This has created deep divisions where there should be more consilience. Our tendency is to break things down so much that we can’t see the big picture. It certainly benefits our industry, but I am concerned that it hurts our philosophies and whatever passes for our soul. Maybe this is too much science.

The reason why this blog is called The Long Game is because geopolitical issues are bound up in the big questions about humanity. Human civilization has persisted for around 6,000 years, but if we expect to double that time period and gain any lasting wisdom along the way, we need to think hard about the world we’re creating.

Its cliché, but our technological prowess is growing at a rate that is not commensurate with our growing wisdom. Perhaps this is an erroneous assumption, but it lies at the heart of why I’m driven to investigate these things.

Climate change isn’t something new to planet Earth. Our world will persist. Change has been happening throughout the history of this rock, but our home – this Earth – the one that we’re uniquely evolved for, will only be inhabitable by humans if we give some thought to our long future. How we organize ourselves, from family, to clan, to state, to nation, to whatever other forms of community we invent, will determine our fate.

We owe it to ourselves to investigate these matters further.