Not Quite Flat Yet

In 2005, Thomas Friedman's Book The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century was published.  This painted a view of our rapidly globalizing world as one that is becoming "flat".  By this he meant that geography was increasingly becoming irrelevant.  For the average high school student, this viewpoint is easy to grasp as we spend a ridiculous amount of time on the internet accessing information that would otherwise be separated from us by thousands of miles of terrain.  In Glenview, I can watch a video of the war in Syria, experiencing the realities of the conflict.  Previously, I would have to traverse half the globe in order to find that experience.

However, the world isn't as flat as it seems.  Geography isn't dead quite yet.  The recent political flare up over the Senkaku Islands reveals that underlying globalization and technological innovation are natural resources and trade routes (which are shaped by and are subject to the interests of certain countries as a result of geography).  The island that are the subject of the dispute are basically glorified rocks.  They are uninhabited.

However, in the region supposedly lies a substantial reserve of hydrocarbons.  In addition, the Senkaku's lie on a major trading route. Control over the islands offers significant geopolitical advantages.  This issue doesn't only spark tensions between the big two, China and Japan, but have also brought Taiwan into the mix.  Taiwan isn't too fond of the Chinese or the Japanese, but have tended to work with Japan and the US (we are officially "neutral", but it is assumed we are on the Japanese side) in order to help contain Chinese expansion.  It is interesting to see how Taiwan is actually backlashing against Japan on this issue, further showing how vital to national interests geography is, even in the 21st century.  Thankfully, the conflict hasn't escalated militarily, yet.  Most anger has been expressed in passive aggressive moves that mirror how a moody teenager would fight with a sibling.  From Super Soaker fights to redrawing maps on passports, both sides are doing everything short of war to gain the strategic advantage in the East China Sea.