The International Geography Classic Reprint

Author : Isaiah Bowman
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781330799239
Total Pages : 644 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (992 download)

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Download or read book The New World written by Isaiah Bowman and published by . This book was released on 2015-07-06 with total page 644 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from The New World: Problems in Political Geography Whether we wish to do so or not we are obliged to take hold of the present world situation in one way or another. Though that situation is based upon a group of international problems of extraordinary complexity, opinions respecting these problems must in many cases be translated into immediate action on the part of government executives. In an autocracy the people are asked to accept unquestioningly the judgments of officials reputed to be wiser than they; in a democracy like ours we periodically ask the voters (suddenly doubled in number by the extension of the suffrage to women) to express an opinion and commit the government to a policy. No one can contemplate our relation to affairs with equanimity in view of the state of political education in the United States. Our hitherto domestic point of view, our century-long and uninterrupted success in territorial expansion, the high and false values set upon material wealth, even our view of party politics and the responsibilities of party leaders, all alike increase the difficulties of a time beset by perils of a new order. To grasp the full meaning of questions which involve other powers that like ourselves have patriotic pride and the means to defend their honor, requires something more than native common sense and a willingness to deal fairly. For these questions have a geographical and historical setting and require scholarly consideration. It is to the roots of wrong that the voters and the constructive statesmen of our time must address themselves. In England and France the government leaders can depend upon a body of specialists and experienced administrators. In America we have never had a trained and permanent foreign-office staff; and however lofty our intentions, we work, so far as scholarship goes, on administrative principles little different from those of a hundred years ago. It is therefore unnecessary to elaborate an explanation for a book that deals with so many political questions as this one. As a general review it is likely to display many faults of judgment and emphasis. It goes without saying that no one could hope to present a wholly balanced account of present political conditions. However, the attempt has been made to avoid all hut the most necessary expressions of editorial opinion, leaving the facts on the two sides of a given question to speak for themselves. Where this principle has been set aside, it has been for the purpose of pointing more explicitly than could otherwise have been done to the gravest of existing dangers. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.