The Return of Marco Polo's World: War, Strategy, and American Interests in the Twenty-First Century

This is a collection of foreign affairs essays with an "intellectual conservative" bent. The essays look at conflicts from a long term perspective. To somebody like Kissinger, the cold war was a continuation of World War 2. However, the new generation does not have that influence, and thus comes to different conclusions. Korea is viewed as a challenging situation. None of the major players (China, US, South Korea) are ready for the dictatorship in North Korea to fall. It is easy to criticise foreign policy decisions. However, we don't know what would have happened otherwise. Would a bad outcome have been replaced by an even worse one? There are many interesting points to ponder in the essays even if you don't agree with the conclusions. 

The Revenge of Geography: What the Map Tells Us About Coming Conflicts and the Battle Against Fate

Geography is not destiny, but it is a very strong influence. Location and natural borders have played a large role in the destiny of empires and the shape of the world today. Iran/Persia has had a very logical border on the Iranian plateau. It has been one of the longest lived civilizations. Egypt had an easily navigable river base and was protected on other sides. This facilitated a stable empire. Mesopotamia was not so well protected and was the site of regular churn. Europe is fairly dense with a huge amount of coastline and that has contributed to their maritime prowess. 

While some borders are natural, others are artificial. Most of the borders in Africa were arbitrarily drawn. The northern and southern borders of the United States are also fairly arbitrary. Northern Mexico is fairly well separated from southern Mexico, but very connected to the US. Some argue that the border region could choose to form its own country. The residents are different from other immigrants in that they can argue that they once occupied this area. 

India also has overlapping culture and borders. Pakistan and Bangladesh have both been part of India, but have been separated. Other countries, like Nepal and Afghanistan have also historically been part of the India sphere of influence. 

Geography has allowed growth and knowledge dissemination to take place in various regions. Eurasia is oriented east-west, with similar climate zones stretched over long ranges. This allows similar agricultural technologies to spread over fast ranges. South America and Africa are north-south oriented, and thus have much more limited climate bands. Africa also has areas such as the Sahara that further block connections.

The book has an interesting story of the influence of geography and politics. I was hoping for a broader argument, but the narrow approach did have some good points.

Earning the Rockies: How Geography Shapes America's Role in the World

Earning the Rockies is part travelogue, part history of the importance of geography in the growth of geography. History came alive through the experience with his father and the history of Bernard Devoto. He wrote the type of grand "American Exceptionalism" history that is not very popular these days. America was able to adopt a very individualistic culture because it was settled from the east. An individual could fairly easily farm land with their own effort. Even the big southern plantations were somewhat independent. This was compared to Utah which required the communal effort of the Mormon population in order to irrigate a difficult land.
He also explores the homestead of presidents. Buchanan was a "bad" president in part because he was willing to "appease" rather than make the bold moves that Lincoln made.
In the seocnd half of the book, he explores the United States. He notes that a lot of the "unique" parts of the country have become very homogenous. Rest stops used to have (whites only) table service and gourmet food. Now anybody can get unhealthy fast food at rest stops. The same chains are all over the united states. The author explores many of the small towns that are "dying". Wheeling West Virginia was a poster child for the small town decline. There were other cities in the midwest that experience similar population decline. The retail left the city for the exurban malls. The people live a homogenous "lower class" life, different than the "brewpub" life of those in small college towns and big cities. This did have the advantage of giving the local hotel and restaurants a feel that was "different" from the sameness of the hotels and meals throughout the trip.