I read and enjoyed “prisoners of geography” that brought valuable insights. I wasn’t expecting this book to be about space! It was very well timed though, since India successfully landed an unmanned craft on the South Pole of the moon this week. The Future of Geography, however, doesn’t just explore the future of space exploration but explores our earliest expeditions and the growing competition between the USA and USSR who based their own expeditions on the pioneering engineer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, whose equations helped the USSR dominate space throughout the 1950s and 1960s. It’s not to say that, because we don’t have the laws… I don’t think there will necessarily be a war in space. Marshall poses many questions around unrelated military activity out there in the great beyond, at some points he even creates possible scenarios, sometimes taking a bit too much artistic license, but his overall point is serious and certainly valid. Space: the biggest geopolitical story of the coming century - new from the multi-million-copy international bestselling author of Prisoners of Geography and The Power of Geography

It is worth noting, however, that it is not a pessimistic picture that Marshall paints. He repeatedly makes the call for global cooperation as the method and vehicle through which, space exploration can continue in a positive manner. ‘The ISS is a symbol of what can achieved in space through cooperation.’ Without global cooperation, his fear is that ‘we may end up fighting over the geography of space, just as we have done over the geography of Earth.’ We don’t have the laws really governing the moon. A brief example, we, the UK are part of the Artemus Accords, which are US-led.Marshall is an engaging writer, good at explaining the science as well as the politics, and with an eye for a telling fact." — New Statesman A survey of the current state of astropolitics (focusing primarily on China, Russia, and the United States, with one chapter summarizing the rest of the world's space programs) In his latest analysis of international relations, Marshall turns his attention to the skies and the geopolitics of outer space, or ‘astropolitics’. If you’re wondering how geography relates to space, you may be surprised (as I was) to learn that it has its own geographical features – from Earth’s own debris-cluttered low orbit and mineral-rich Moon to gravitational corridors and strategic locations. With thousands of satellites already in low-Earth orbit (LEO), we’re used to the idea of mature technology circulating in space. But the 21st century has seen the emergence of private space-tech entrepreneurs who smell money in the stars, and it is a rare news cycle that rolls by without mention of another ‘Moon shot’ and its inevitable claim to be a step further towards Mars. Space, as Marshall observes, is the new geographical frontier.

I loved the first section about the history of our understanding of space. From Ancient Greece, The Abbasids to The Renaissance up to the space race it was all fascinating when all put in its context. I also quite enjoyed the China chapter and Marshals writing style is always digestible, informative and a pleasure to read.There are many very positive things going on in space about solar power, medical experiments, which will benefit all of humankind. But I just wanted to write a book that talked about where we are now, that there’s a geography to this and there’s an international relations to this. After I read The Power of Geography: Ten Maps that Reveal the Future of Our World and Prisoners of Geography Several attendees at the special session in Tampa advocated that the AAG and its members reach out to other societies, such as AGU, and have a more visible presence at their meetings to promote the disciplinary-relatedness of geography. To quote an attendee, “the AAG should bring geography to other disciplines.” One potential avenue would be for professional societies to jointly organize sessions at each other’s meetings. Active recruitment of physical scientists, whose primary membership is in another scholarly society, could also be worthwhile. Additionally, outreach within geography itself is recognized as important. Physical geographers need to be involved in structuring the discipline of geography and guiding its future.

In the densely populated and diverse city of the future, historical heritage is preserved and celebrated.The spark for writing a book on the subject came after overcoming what George Orwell described as a constant struggle ‘to see what is in front of your nose’. Once the blindingly apparent became obvious – that international relations have moved into space – it was a small step to putting fingers to keyboard. Centered on the key humanistic component of place, this series of essays delves into the humanities via literature. Although a few entries are focused on epistemological and ontological endeavors, humanistic and place-based analyses also include such notables as authors D. H. Lawrence and George Eliot, painters John Ruskin and George Crabb, as well as one on The Grapes of Wrath. The training of physical geographers is an important, ongoing issue that received considerable attention at the Tampa special session. Physical geographers interested in academic positions often compete with graduates from other disciplines, especially when the advertised position is in a merged or a broad geosciences department. Consequently, geography graduates need to have publication records and opportunities for professional development comparable to those of other disciplines. A move to publication-based dissertations, where each chapter is a publishable manuscript, is one approach to placing our graduates in a poised position for advancing their publication records at the time when they are applying for faculty positions. The need for more post-doctoral opportunities for physical geography graduates was also raised, and the AAG was encouraged to take the lead in approaching public and private funding agencies to establish prestigious post-doctoral positions explicitly for physical geography. The career path you choose may depend on whether you have studied physical geography or human geography. The former is a natural science, focusing on the Earth’s physical materials and processes, while the latter is a social science, focusing on issues relating to human communities and cultures. I think it’s it’s impossible that we won’t end up with something similar in space. But that does not mean, of course, that they have to be used.

Space exploration is not a topic I’m particularly interested in but I’ve seen some of the authors other books and thought it might be interesting.Timothy John Marshall is a British journalist, author, and broadcaster, specialising in foreign affairs and international diplomacy. Marshall is a guest commentator on world events for the BBC, Sky News and a guest presenter on LBC, and was formerly the diplomatic and foreign affairs editor for Sky News. Then when you get to the moon, that’s more geography. There’s plains and mountains, caves and tunnels and there’s rare earth minerals, precious metals and water.”