As a student of both geography and (come September) international relations, there is nothing that thrills me more than adding to my understanding of how the world works on political, geographical and economic levels. There is so much to learn, whether fact or reasoned opinion, and while a lot can be gleaned from watching the news and keeping up with current affairs those fora only present a small snapshot of the events playing out in the world in the present day. I've found that an easy and enjoyable way to supplement my growing knowledge of geopolitical realities is to delve into a range of what I think of as 'pop geography' (or, arguably, 'pop IR' or 'pop economics') books. These are basically books about geopolitics or international relations which, although usually written by academics or experts, are not in a typical academic style with many-layered theoretical arguments drawing on other academic sources.

I've heard this genre of book denigrated by quite a few academics (some of my own lecturers included), and I do agree to a point that these topics are immensely complicated and benefit from being treated critically by experts. However, there's a simple reason these 'non-academic' takes are so popular: they make (geo)politics accessible, and everyone has to start somewhere. To be clear, these aren't the kind of books I would ever reference in an essay or bring up in conversation in an academic context - but they're something I enjoy reading recreationally to enhance my own knowledge. They also provide an opportunity to engage in some critical reading, especially if you have prior knowledge of the topics.

So today I wanted to share some of the best 'pop geography' books I have come across and own, in no particular order.

The World in Conflict by John Andrews

In this book the author presents a region-by-region analysis of contemporary conflicts and considers the causes, contexts, participants, impacts and likely outcomes. The book is really well-structured: each section begins with a general short chapter contextualising the politics and history of the region as a whole (e.g. Africa, or the Americas) which is followed by a selection of the most pertinent conflicts divided up by country. The exception is the USA, which has its own section and the subsections are more thematic. 

As is to be expected when discussing conflict in the present day, there is a fair amount of historical background and lots of names and dates which are essential to following the arguments and threads. As a result it's relatively dense but definitely readable, though I would still recommend reading this in short bursts and not trying to power through the whole thing in a couple of sittings. 

The contents lists every country discussed, so for instance if you specifically wanted to read about conflict in Uganda or the Philippines you would know to turn to pages 135 or 262 respectively. There are also mini maps before each country section which help to orient yourself in the world before you plunge in. It also has a useful index at the back, so while it's possible to sit down and read this cover to cover it also works well as a reference book. I plan to take this to university with me this year in case I need a quick concise geopolitical primers on a particular country or region as part of my coursework.

Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of Flags by Tim Marshall

By tracing their emergence and contestation through history to the present day, the author attempts to explain why flags are such potent political symbols and how the meaning attached to them can render them 'worth dying for'. He situates the impetus for the discussion within the recent resurgence of nationalism and national symbols and aims to answer the question of what it means to encapsulate a national identity within a flag. 

A couple of flags have chapters to themselves ('The Stars and the Stripes' and 'The Union and the Jack', for instance) but mostly they are grouped into themes such as 'Flags of Fear', 'Flags of Freedom' and 'Flags of Revolution'. These are also semi-geographical, as the latter two cover Africa and South America respectively. There is also a section at the end on non-nation-state flags including the NATO flag, the LGBTQ+ flag, the Red Cross flag and even the Jolly Rodger.

Nationalism is only of my particular academic interests so I enjoyed this book immensely because it addresses a dimension which we so often take for granted or don't see as explicitly political, essentially re-politicising the flag. It was also refreshing visual in places, with a guide to the flags mentioned in the middle of the book and also discusses the significance of the colours and even dimensions of individual flags. Flags are something we're all aware of and may even have flown or waved ourselves, so this book is inherently interesting and accessible. It's also highly readable and well-written.

Tim Marshall is also the author of Prisoners of Geography which I have also read and thoroughly enjoyed, but I think Worth Dying For is even better and more original. 

This book maps out what the authors see as the new security framework facing state and non-state actors today. Their central thesis is that the proliferation of technology (in the form of the internet, cybertechnology, biotechnology, robotics etc.) is enabling what they call the 'distribution of offensive capability', or essentially the ability for ordinary people to represent considerable threats to states and their populations with minimal expert knowledge and specialised technology. Basically, it's become easier for the average person to engage in activity which might have serious security consequences for a wide range of people (or, the 'distribution of vulnerability'). They then go on to explore the implications of this for privacy, liberty, legal jurisdiction and sovereignty, delving in political philosophy debates in some detail. Finally, they outline some options for domestic and international governance in light of the preceding discussions.

I'm not going to lie, this book was hard going. Although extremely well-written, the writing is dense (not to mention tiny) and definitely more academic in nature, and there are some extremely long sentences which I often had to read twice to grasp. But if you're genuinely interested in the content I advise you to stick at it, because it is worth the slog. The arguments are compelling and the hypothetical scenarios the authors present the reader with are especially helpful in demonstrating their points, and in general there is a good balance between theory and practical examples.

The Almighty Dollar: Follow the incredible journey of a single dollar to see how the global economy really works by Dharshini David

This book traces the journey of a single American dollar through the world's financial and economic circuits, from the US to China to Nigeria to India to Iraq to Russia to Germany to the UK and finally back to the USA. Each chapter is thematic and is centred around a single subsection of the journey ('Spicing up the recipe for success - Nigeria to India', for example) but also covers other related topics and draws comparisons with other countries. Although it has an economic focus, in explaining why certain countries' economies function in particular ways - and especially the relations between states - the book also covers a lot of history and (geo)political context and often touches on the concept of globalisation. It also uses some localised fictional examples, for instance giving names to typical figures who participate in the economy like 'Lauren Miller', a Texan woman who spends the initial dollar in a Walmart store, or 'Arjun Kumar', an Indian rice farmer. This does something to put the people back into the abstract web of transactions that is the global economy and makes the whole thing more tangible.

I found this book especially well-pitched in terms of the language and level. It's super accessible and easy to read with an almost colloquial register and the writing flows beautifully. In some places it really brings it back to basics with simple explanations of fundamental economic concepts like supply and demand or exchange rates, which makes it easy to understand even if you have only a rudimentary knowledge of the global economy (like I do). To top it off it was only published in 2018 so it's very up to date - and it has one of the most beautiful covers I've ever seen!

That's all for now - I have plenty of other 'pop geography' books that I've yet to read so I might do a second part of this post when I get round to those.