Crimea 16–21, 25, 27, 30, 104, 110
Crimean War 6, 24
Croatia 91, 99
Cuba 57, 72–73, 80, 84, 132, 212, 280
Cuban Missile Crisis 72
Cyprus 175
Cyrenaica 122–123
Czech Republic 7, 14, 26, 28
Dagestan, Caucasus 12
Dalai Lama 43, 47, 192, 203
Danube River 24, 90–92, 119
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) 122–127, 132, 133, 134, 138
Deng Xiaoping 40
Denmark 17, 99, 102, 107, 271, 272, 275, 276
Destroyers for Bases Agreement 75, 78
Diamond, Jared 116, 118
Dnieper river 7, 20, 23
Dodko/Takeshima Islands 223–224
Dominican Republic 72
dos Santos, José Eduardo 135
drones 131, 159, 197, 201
drug trafficking 244–5
Durand, Mortimer 195
E
East African Community 134
East China Sea 34, 41, 53, 223, 224, 229
East Coast Plain 64
East Turkestan see Xinjiang
Ecuador 238, 241, 249, 254
Egypt 35, 73, 123, 127–129, 145, 163–164, 166–167, 170, 171, 175, 179, 269
Elburz Mountains 168–169
Erdogan, Recep Tayyib 174, 177
Eritrea 117, 125, 127
Estonia 7, 9, 12, 14, 22–23, 26
Ethiopia 58, 127, 128–129
Eurasian Union 14
Europe viii, xiv, 5, 6, 9–12 19, 22, 26, 28, 29, 38, 44, 64, 66, 74–77, 79, 85, 91–95, 97, 100, 103–111, 117, 119–121, 123, 126, 128, 144, 148, 161, 163, 173–174, 176, 177, 198, 218, 236, 239, 256, 269, 279
see also European Union; Western Europe; individual countries by name
European Union (EU) xv, 7, 14–17, 19–20, 25–26, 64, 76, 94, 97–99, 100, 249, 251, 254
eurozone 95–96, 103
F
Falkland Islands 255, 257–259, 267
Fezzan 122–123
Finland 26, 100, 264, 271
First World War vii, 6, 74, 144, 146, 150–152, 163, 173
Florida 65, 69, 72, 84, 280
Florida Straits 72–73
France 5, 38, 68, 91, 93, 98, 100–102, 106, 109, 117, 124, 145, 168, 174, 237, 256
Franco, Francisco 94
Franco-Prussian War 102
Franklin, John 265–266
Free Tibet movement 43, 45–46
G
Gagarin, Yuri 281–282
Gakkel Ridge 272
Ganges River 186, 187
Gaza 163–166
Georges-Picot, François 146
Georgia 12, 14, 21, 25–26, 77
Georgia (USA) 66
Georgia–Russian war (2008) 25–26
Germany 5, 6, 19, 26, 38, 47, 68, 72, 75, 91, 93, 96, 98, 100–104, 107, 109–111, 117, 124, 159, 168, 222, 225, 254, 275
Gibraltar Straits 16
GIUK gap 17, 106, 274
global warming 264, 268–269, 281
Gobi Desert 35, 40
Golan Heights 164, 168
Gorbachev, Mikhail 7
Grand Canal, China 37
Great Wall of China 37, 42
Great Zimbabwe 120
Greece 26, 30, 95–97, 103, 175
Greenland 17, 29, 106, 117, 264, 271, 274, 276
Guam 7, 75
Guatemala 241, 243
Gujarat 186
Gulf of Mexico 65, 67, 72, 237, 242, 280
Gulf Stream 90
Guyana 241
Gwadar 47, 57, 190–191, 207
H
Hanbal, Ahmad ibn 147
Hanbali Islam 147
Hans Island 276
Hashemites 151–152, 162
Hawaii 73
Helmand Province 198
Herodotus 127
Hezbollah 153, 155, 167, 171
Himalayas x, xi, 35, 42, 185, 186, 193, 203, 206, 280
Hindu Kush xi, 12, 185
Hindus 186, 187, 190
Hitler, Adolf 96, 110
Hokkaido 52–53, 230
Holy Roman Empire 100
Hong Kong 40, 54, 247
Honshu 224
Hu Jintao 44
Hudson, Henry 265
Hungary xii, 7, 14, 26, 27, 91
Hussein, Saddam 149–150, 172
Hutu people 125, 126
I
Iberian Peninsula 91
Iceland 17, 76, 106, 264, 271, 274, 278
Imjin-gang River 218
India viii, x, xv, 9, 13, 42, 43, 46, 79, 117, 171, 179, 181–207, 223, 255, 271, 277, 280
Afghanistan and 194–195
Kashmir 189, 190, 192–193
India–China war (1962) 192
Indian Defence Review 184
Indian Ocean 12, 16, 35, 41, 50, 55, 57, 117, 119, 137, 145, 184, 191
Indo-China 38, 227
Indonesia xiv, 50, 55, 78, 82, 161
Indus River 186, 187, 193
Inner Mongolia 35, 39, 40, 45
Interahamwe 125
Iran 83, 144, 145, 151, 153, 155, 161, 168–174, 179, 190
Iran–Iraq War (1980) 169
Iraq xvi, 77, 85, 108, 144–146, 148–152, 154, 156–162, 168. 170–173, 179, 281
Islam
militants/jihadists 83, 84, 123, 128, 130–131, 147, 156–157, 160–162, 179, 185
see also India; Islamic State; Middle East; Pakistan; Shia tribes; Sunni trinbes
Islamic State 107, 141, 144, 156–158, 161, 162
Israel 83, 108, 128, 145, 146, 149, 153, 161–163, 165–167, 170, 171, 176, 177
Italy 27, 68, 72, 73, 76, 94, 252, 256
Ivan the Great 8
Ivan the Terrible 30
J
Japan viii, xv, 10, 34, 41, 52, 53, 59, 73, 75, 78, 81, 85, 206, 209–231, 267, 271, 273, 282
Arctic and 267, 271, 273
China and 52–53
Korea and 216
military forces 228–229
Russia and 12, 217, 218, 221, 226, 230
Second World War 216–217, 229
USA and 73, 74, 75, 79, 81, 227–228, 231
Jefferson, Thomas 67–68, 83
Jerusalem 161, 163, 165
Jews see Israel
Jinnah 188
Jordan 145, 146, 151–152, 161, 162, 164, 166–167, 170
K
Kagan, Robert 110
Kaliningrad 110
Kaplan, Robert 57, 102
Karakoram Range 42, 185
Kashmir 189, 190, 192–194, 202
Kazakhstan 9, 14, 30, 45–46, 77
Kazama, Shinji 267
Kemal, Mustafa see Atatürk
Kenya 50, 58, 22, 127, 133, 134, 138
Khartoum, Sudan 128
Khrushev, Nikita 17
Kiev, Ukraine 7, 15, 16, 19, 20
Kim Jong-il 209, 213
Kissinger, Henry 99
Klitschko, Vitaly 15
Kohl, Helmut 110
Korea xv, 52, 209–231
China and 212, 216, 218, 221–222
Korean War (1950–3) 76, 217
North Korea 9–10, 79–80, 212–214, 217, 219–221
nuclear weapons 213, 219, 222
Russia and 217, 218, 221, 223
South Korea 78, 79, 212–213, 217, 219–221, 223, 229, 231
USA and 212, 219, 222
Kosovo xi, xv, 99, 104
Kublai Khan 37
Kunlun Range 44
Kurds/Kurdistan 85, 145, 148–151, 159, 160, 170, 173
Kuril Islands 53, 230, 273
Kuwait 83, 145, 146, 150, 158
Kyrgyzstan 14, 45, 46
L
Laos 41–42
Latin America xv, 29, 72, 83–84, 233–259
agriculture 238
China and 246–249, 251, 255
climate and terrain 251
drug trafficking 244–245
energy resources 240, 257
UNASUR 254
USA and 236, 244, 249 (see also Mexico)
see also individual names by country
Latvia 7, 9, 12, 14, 22, 26
Lebanon 128, 146, 152–155, 161, 167, 171
Leopold of Belgium, King 124
Lhasa, Tibet 44–45
Liberia 133
Libya 104, 122, 145, 159, 178, 179
Lithuania 7, 9, 14, 22, 26, 28
Little Diomede Island 10
Louisiana Purchase (1803) 68–69
Luanda 132, 135
M
Macau 40
Magna Carta (1215) 105
Malaysia 55, 78, 82, 212
Maldives 281
Mali Empire 120
Manchuria 30, 35, 39, 41, 45, 224, 226
Mao Zedong 39–40
Margvelashvili, Giorgi 26
Marshall Plan 75
Massachusetts 66
Meckel, Klemens 226
Mediterranean Sea 16, 17, 30, 76, 77, 93, 94, 117–118, 120, 128, 144, 146, 151, 163, 168, 171, 176, 265
Mekong River 43
Mercator maps 116–117
Merkel, Angela 96
Meseta Central 94
Mexican War –1846–8 71
Mexico 65, 69–71, 73, 237, 239, 241–245, 251, 280
see also individual countries by name
migrants 107–108, 230
Ming dynasty, Chinese 37, 216
Minneapolis 68
Mischief Islands 55
Mississippi Basin/River 65, 67–69, 71
Moldova (Bessarabia) 14, 21, 23–25
Mongolia 9, 11,–37, 39–41, 45–46
Monroe Doctrine 70, 250
Montreux Convention (1936) 16
Morales, Evo 240
Mozambique 119
Mubarak, Hosni 179
Murmansk Brigades 273
Musharraf, Pervez 197
Muslim Brotherhood 175, 179
Muslims see India; Islam; Middle East; Pakistan; Shia tribes; Sunni tribes
N
Nagaland 205
Namibia 118, 125
Napoleon Bonaparte 5, 6, 69, 94, 110
National Geographic 116
NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) xi–xii, 6, 7, 14–17, 19–23, 25–26, 30, 75, 77, 85, 98, 99, 100, 102, 104, 109, 176, 194, 197–199, 201, 244, 272, 274
Nepal 185, 204
Netherlands 5, 38, 106, 267
New Orleans 67–69, 72, 253
New Zealand 73, 76
Nicaragua Grand Canal 84, 247–249
Niger River 119, 130
Nigeria 9, 120, 122, 129–131, 136, 139
Nile River 35, 119, 127–129, 238
Nixon, Richard 49, 244
North China Plain 35
North European Plain ix, 5, 6, 13, 15, 24, 30, 75, 92, 93, 97, 100, 101, 110, 27
North Korea see under Korea
North Pole 265–267, 271–272
North Sea 17, 77, 101, 106, 110
Northwest Passage 265, 266, 269
Norway 17, 76, 264, 271, 272, 275
Nubian Desert 128
O
Obama, Barack 43, 58, 77, 84, 126–127, 201, 207, 275
Oberdorfer, Don 216
Ohio River 67
Okinawa 53, 75, 81, 227, 229, 230, 231
Oman 134, 144, 145
Ortega, Daniel 248
Ottoman Empire xi, 8, 20, 24, 92, 121, 145, 146, 148, 151, 174, 188
Özal, Turgut 174
P
Pacific Ocean 4, 8, 9, 12, 35, 41, 51–53, 55–57, 65, 67, 69, 73, 75, 76, 79, 81, 224, 227, 228, 231, 237, 247, 248, 266, 276
Pakistan xv, 9, 42, 45–47, 57, 170, 181–207, 223
China and 190–191, 193
internal conflict 189–190, 191–192, 200–201
Kashmir and 189, 190, 192–193
see also Bangladesh
Palestine 108, 145, 146, 152, 153, 162–165, 167
Palin, Sarah 10
Panama 241, 246, 247, 269
Panama Canal 73, 84, 246–249, 269
Papoulias, Karolos 96
Paraguay 254, 256
Parry, Edward 265
Pashtuns 189, 190, 195, 198, 200–203
Pearl Harbor 227
Persian Empire 171
Peru 236, 238, 241, 251
Peshawar 196, 202
Peter the Great 8, 13, 30
Philippines 55, 73, 81, 206, 218, 227
Poland 5, 7, 14, 16, 21, 24, 27, 28, 97–98, 218
Portugal 38, 91, 93, 239, 252
Powell, Colin 197
Provisions of Oxford (1258) 105
Puerto Rico 72–73
Punjab 186, 189, 190, 194, 200, 202, 205
Putin, Vladimir ix, 5, 7, 15–20, 22, 27–28, 30, 77, 99, 273
Pyongyang 214, 215, 221, 223
Pyrenees Mountains 91, 93 94
Pytheas of Massilia 265
Q
Qin dynasty, Chinese 37
R
refugees 107, 152, 163, 187, 212
see also migrants
Reid, John 198–199
Rhine River 91, 102, 119
Rhône River 94
Rio Grande 71, 249
Rocky Mountains 65, 66, 68
Roman Empire 91
Romania 7, 14, 17, 91, 99
Roosevelt, Theodore 73, 80, 250
Rousseff, Dilma 255
Russia /Soviet Union (USSR) xiv, xvi, ix, 1–30, 36, 41, 46, 53, 65, 72–73, 75–77, 95, 97–99, 100, 101, 104, 109, 110, 119, 124, 132, 155, 158, 175–176, 190, 195, 217, 218, 221, 223, 224, 226, 230, 239, 255, 264, 271–274, 279, 280
Afghanistan and 12–13, 22
Arctic and 275
Baltic States and 7, 9, 21–23 (see also individual countries by name)
China and 41, 46
Empire established 9
energy resources 23, 26–28, 104
Georgia and 12, 14, 25
invasions of 6–7
Ivan the Terrible 8, 30
Japan and 12, 217, 218, 221, 226, 230
Korea and 217, 218, 221, 223
military forces 29–30, 207, 272
Moldova and 14, 21, 23–25
NATO and EU 6–7, 14–15, 19–20, 22
naval forces 16–17, 106, 176, 274
Poland and 5, 7, 14, 21
ports and trade 12, 15–17, 41, 212
Ukraine and 14–20, 23, 25, 41
USA and 276
Russo-Japanese War (1904–5) 217, 226
Rwanda 125, 127, 133, 138
Ryukyu Islands 53, 227, 229
S
Saakashvili, Mikhail 26
Sahara Desert 116, 117, 117–121, 131
Sahel region, Africa 121, 131
Salafi Islam 147, 161
San Martín, José de 239
Sargasso Sea 76
satellites 214, 267–268, 282
Saudi Arabia 83, 132, 145–147, 151–152, 155, 162, 170–172, 179, 195
Scandinavia 72, 99
Schäuble, Wolfgang 96
Sea of Japan 12, 41, 52, 221–224
Second World War 6, 9, 39, 74, 94, 96, 97, 101, 104, 110–111, 126, 163, 229, 230
Seine River 93
Seminole Indian nation 69
Serbia xii, 27, 91, 98, 99
Sevastopol 15–17
Seward, William 72
Shang dynasty, Chinese 36
Shanghai 38, 44, 53
Shia tribes 85, 146–149, 153, 159, 160, 161, 170, 171, 172, 190
Siachen Glacier 192
Siberia 4, 8, 10, 11, 269, 272
Sierra Madres Mountains 243
Sierra Nevada Mountains 65
Sikhs 186, 187, 205
Sindhs 189, 190, 202
Singapore 55, 78, 82, 227
Singh, Amarjit 184
Sino-Japanese War, First 226
Six-Day War (1967) 164–165
Skagerrak Strait 17, 274
slavery 37, 121, 237
Slovakia 7, 14, 26, 91
Slovenia 99
Southern African Development Community (SADC) 138
South African National Defence Force 138
South America see Latin America; individual countries by name
South China Sea 37, 51–53, 55–57, 81, 206
South Korea see under Korea
South Ossetia 110
Soviet Union (USSR) see Russia/Soviet Union (USSR)
space programmes 281–283
Spain 38, 68, 69, 72–73, 91, 94, 117, 124, 174, 239, 252
Spratly Islands 55–56, 81
Sri Lanka 57
Stalin, Joseph 13, 25, 30
Strait of Hormuz 106, 168, 171
Strait of Malacca 55, 57, 82, 106, 191, 207
Sudan 122, 127, 129, 133, 135, 139, 281
Suez Canal 16, 116, 128, 269
Suez Crisis (1956) 75
Sui dynasty, Chinese 37
Sunni tribes 85, 146–149, 153, 154, 155, 156, 158, 159, 160, 161, 172, 175, 190
Svalbard Islands 272
Sweden 99–100, 107, 264, 271, 275
Sykes, Mark 146
Sykes–Picot 146
Syria vii, xiii–xiv, xv, xvi, 17, 48, 78, 144–146, 148, 151–154, 156, 158–160, 163–164, 167–168, 173, 175, 177, 179, 281
T
Taiwan (Republic of China) 34, 39, 53–55, 82, 226, 227, 229, 249
Tajikstan xii, 13, 14, 42, 45–47
Taliban xii, 195, 196–203, 244
Tanzania 118, 120, 125–127, 133–134, 137, 138
Texas 38, 67, 80–71, 242, 253
Thailand 50, 78, 206
Theroux, Paul 44
Tibet xvi, 36, 39, 42–45, 192, 193, 203–205
Tibetan Plateau 35, 43
Transcontinental Treaty (1819) 69
Transnistria, Moldova 24–25, 110
Treaty of Tordesillas 239
Triple Entente (1907) 101, 146
Tripolitania 122–123
Turkestan 46
Turkey 13, 16, 17, 24, 27, 47, 80, 95, 151, 168, 170, 172–177
Turkmenistan 13, 169, 175
Tutsi people 125, 126
U
Uganda 118, 125, 127, 133, 138
Uighur people 45–47
Ukraine viii, ix, xiv, 7, 9, 12, 14, 17–20, 23, 25–27, 41, 50, 77, 98, 104, 110
Umayyad Caliphate 186
United Nations 126, 138, 163, 218, 249
Convention on the Law of the Sea 270, 275
Human Development Index 125
Security Council 20, 135, 254
United States of America viii, xiv, xvi, 9, 10, 17–18, 22, 26, 27, 29, 36, 43, 51, 54–57, 59–86, 91, 98, 102, 117, 119, 124, 128, 132, 150, 159, 172, 176, 179, 188, 196, 198, 201, 203, 206–207, 212, 217, 222, 223, 227, 228, 229, 230, 235, 236, 239, 241–246, 250, 255, 258, 264, 271, 273, 280
American Revolutionary War 66
Arctic and 273, 275
Britain and 66–67, 74–76
California Gold Rush 71
Caribbean and 73
China and 34, 51, 53, 54, 55–57, 76, 78–80, 81, 212, 218, 229–230
Cuba and 72–73, 84