Why are Some Nations Rich and Some Poor? Climate, Location, and Agriculture are critical to a civilization’s ability to prosper, and have shaped the world’s political and economic climate since the beginning of civilization. Jared Diamond’s book Guns, Germs, and Steel asserts that in order for a society to become complex a surplus and steady supply of food is needed, for the more food a civilization has the bigger the population becomes. It is within these large populations that advanced technologies, such as a writing system, evolve (Diamond 226). This paper will examine the success of early civilizations, and power shifts throughout human history; this paper will compare those factors, which allowed the past world powers to succeed to the
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Early civilizations such as the Mesopotamians settled here, and developed the first human complex societies. This region of the world was highly sought after by powerful civilizations such as Babylon and Assyria. This region and the surrounding Mediterranean led the world in technological advances and military expertise for thousands of years before Europe. It was the home of some of the first known writing system, and had many technological advances such aqueducts or bronze (Diamond 395). The key to the Fertile Crescent’s and Mediterranean’s success was its favorable climate and fertile land. The Fertile Crescent, and the neighboring lands of Greece and the Mediterranean, were once full of woodlands full of resources with adequate rainfall. However, you would not assume this by looking at the region today. The once lush woodlands are now desolate deserts and are unsuitable for food production. Once the home of powerful empires, full of resources; this region today, lacks many resources besides oil, which only recently has become a valuable resource (Diamond 394). The woodlands dissipated and became vast deserts because of overgrazing, lack of rainfall, and deforestation. The land simply could not keep up with the populations of these societies causing them to collapse. The fragility of this land caused new powers to emerge westward, which it still remains …show more content…
China was equal to Europe in terms of agricultural advances and was even more advanced than Europe in terms of technology. China had the first compass, gunpowder, paper, and printing when most people in Europe were illiterate. However, around the age of exploration china lost its lead. Diamond argues that this is because China, unlike Europe, was politically unified. China was politically unified under one government since 221 BC and stayed this way to modern times. Diamond equates this unification to China’s smooth coastline because China is geographically unified the government is unified. This unification however, is what led to China’s demise (Diamond 398). China’s political unification and geographical isolation directed them toward an isolationist policy. This policy discouraged outside innovations and encouraged self-reliance on old ideas. There was also very little political competition within and around the country because the whole area was unified. These reasons are why China fell behind Europe (Diamond, 397). However today, China is thought of as becoming a world a power and has the continued agricultural success. However, the isolated location of this country still politically isolates China from the rest of the world. Also, China has an extractive economic policy and political institutions. Extractive policies are ones that encourage
Early civilizations such as the Mesopotamians settled here, and developed the first human complex societies. This region of the world was highly sought after by powerful civilizations such as Babylon and Assyria. This region and the surrounding Mediterranean led the world in technological advances and military expertise for thousands of years before Europe. It was the home of some of the first known writing system, and had many technological advances such aqueducts or bronze (Diamond 395). The key to the Fertile Crescent’s and Mediterranean’s success was its favorable climate and fertile land. The Fertile Crescent, and the neighboring lands of Greece and the Mediterranean, were once full of woodlands full of resources with adequate rainfall. However, you would not assume this by looking at the region today. The once lush woodlands are now desolate deserts and are unsuitable for food production. Once the home of powerful empires, full of resources; this region today, lacks many resources besides oil, which only recently has become a valuable resource (Diamond 394). The woodlands dissipated and became vast deserts because of overgrazing, lack of rainfall, and deforestation. The land simply could not keep up with the populations of these societies causing them to collapse. The fragility of this land caused new powers to emerge westward, which it still remains …show more content…
China was equal to Europe in terms of agricultural advances and was even more advanced than Europe in terms of technology. China had the first compass, gunpowder, paper, and printing when most people in Europe were illiterate. However, around the age of exploration china lost its lead. Diamond argues that this is because China, unlike Europe, was politically unified. China was politically unified under one government since 221 BC and stayed this way to modern times. Diamond equates this unification to China’s smooth coastline because China is geographically unified the government is unified. This unification however, is what led to China’s demise (Diamond 398). China’s political unification and geographical isolation directed them toward an isolationist policy. This policy discouraged outside innovations and encouraged self-reliance on old ideas. There was also very little political competition within and around the country because the whole area was unified. These reasons are why China fell behind Europe (Diamond, 397). However today, China is thought of as becoming a world a power and has the continued agricultural success. However, the isolated location of this country still politically isolates China from the rest of the world. Also, China has an extractive economic policy and political institutions. Extractive policies are ones that encourage