2. Geopolitics is a major theme that occurs in this book. Lewis Carroll wrote that “it is a poor sort of memory which only works backwards.” It is unlike history because it looks backwards for the sole purpose of moving forward. Friedrich Ratzel (a German political geographer) states that an empire must grow in order for it to survive. Geopolitics
3. Russia remains the world’s largest puzzle. The huge mass of land that Russia occupies is not just one unit but four. Those units or regions are: “Slavic, European Russia lying in the Volga basin; Caucasian Russia between the Black and the Caspian seas; Ural and Siberian Russia as the gateway to Central Asia; and Pacific Russia bordering Mongolia and China.” These regions were made due the mismatch of the population. Since Russia remained so large the United States, Europe, or China did not want it to be strong. According to Khanna, “ Russia’s diplomatic position is purely residual… America, Europe and China are far more influential arbiters. Gazprom is Russia’s largest urban and rural landowners and they shape Russia’s foreign policy and they have also became the state. Khanna also states that Russia’s superpower days are over and its economy is still smaller than France’s. The Russian Devolution
4. Russia’s two Asiatic zones, Siberia and the Far East, determine weather NATO or SCO will have the upper hand in Central Asia. Khanna states the Great wall is crumbling and 600,000 illegal Chinese migrant are rushing into Russia a year, and it is depoulating the Far East, only seven million Russian’s still live there. China is developing the region in ways Russia could not. “Through the SCO and their “special relationship,” China and Russia conduct a large-scale joint military exercises, while China has become the largest purchaser of Russian weapons- giving the world’s largest army increasingly sophisticated technology.” The Russia That Was
5. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was suppose to put Mexico into the fist world on the day the agreement went into effect. But in January of 1994 the Zapatista National Liberation Army displayed actions that caused Mexico’s deal to go sour. A Mexican diplomat stated that, “Globalization is our real existence crisis: harsh adjustments to international competition, wider income gaps, and more drug and people trafficking through our territory to the U.S” Regardless of Mexico’s geographic advantages more than 300,000 maquiladores shut down and moved to China, resulting in the same number of jobs lost. Khanna states that this could be the reason why there was a massive spike of illegal immigration in the United States. “schemes like Mexico’s “Puebla to Panama” plan that Central America can take advantage of its geographical position between two large continents and become a significant corridor of intercontinental globalization.” The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) has lowered U.S Tariffs. The out come of this should create more jobs and raise exports much like NAFTA did for Mexico. Mexico: The Umbilical Cord
6. Khanna, Parag. The Second World: How Emerging Powers Are Redefining Global Competition in the Twenty-First Century. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks. 2009. Print. Google Images Sources
