RICS Geomatics Evening Lectures 2016-17 sessions

Location: RICS HQ Parliament Square, 17.30 for 18.00, lectures last 1 hour (19.00) and are free and open to all. To book a place send a quick email to [email protected] mentioning your name and the date/title of the lecture you wish to attend.

Thursday 26th January 2017 – Geo Forum lecture – Tim Marshall – Prisoners of Geography

Foreign correspondent for BBC & Sky News, Tim reported from Belgrade during the Balkan Wars of the 1990s and went on to send back news from Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria. He has written for the Times, the Daily Telegraph, the Guardian and the Sunday Times. Tim has been shot with bird pellet in Cairo, hit over the head with a plank of wood in London, bruised by the police in Tehran, arrested by Serbian intelligence, detained in Damascus, declared persona non grata in Croatia, bombed by the RAF in Belgrade and tear-gassed all over the world. However, he says none of this compares with the experience of going to see his beloved Leeds United away at Millwall FC in London.

His latest book, Prisoners of Geography describes through the use of maps, the physical restrictions that have shaped the global political landscape. http://www.thewhatandthewhy.com/about/ All leaders are constrained by geography. Their choices are limited by mountains, rivers, seas and concrete. Yes, to follow world events you need to understand people, ideas and movements - but if you don't know geography, you'll never have the full picture.

If you've ever wondered why Putin is so obsessed with Crimea, why the USA was destined to become a global superpower, or why China's power base continues to expand ever outwards, the answers are all here.

In ten chapters (covering Russia; China; the USA; Latin America; the Middle East; Africa; India and Pakistan; Europe; Japan and Korea; and the Arctic), using maps, essays and occasionally the personal experiences of the widely travelled author, Prisoners of Geography looks at the past, present and future to offer an essential insight into one of the major factors that determines world history.

It's time to put the 'geo' back into geopolitics.

If you fancy a slightly different evening out, send an email with your name and contact details to [email protected] to reserve a ticket.