Geopolitics
The USA is a superpower that has military and economic might, and it is generally influential to other countries to which it is superior. Geography played a significant role in making the USA a superpower nation. Since the USA’s inception, geography has contributed vitally to influencing and guiding the country’s development, as will be outlined in this paper.
Geography is a science that focuses on examining and describing the earth and what processes are responsible for the formation of the changes that occur on the surface. Physical geography encompasses processes and features that make up the earth and how these features interface with human activities to contribute to economic advantages or losses. Among the aspects that physical geography focuses on are; climate, soils, and topography, and we will discuss how these factors have contributed to the USA being a superpower that it is.
The USA is bound on the east and the west by oceans meaning that no countries are neighbouring the USA on these parts that can be potential threats to the country. The USA is not landlocked hence the advantage of water transportation, which is relatively cheaper. With established transport, other human activities such as trade will be promoted, which gives the country an upper hand because its economy will significantly develop. On the north and south, the USA has neighbours that have weak military forces, and the states are also friendly. Due to the geographical location of the USA, the country rarely experiences threats on its home front. Without risks, there is plenty of time available for the state to establish a defined political system that steers the country towards economic success, unlike other countries that are in constant wars with their neighbours. The USA enjoys peace, which gives it more resources to invest in education, science, development, and politics to become more robust than the other nations.
The New England region in the USA is heavily forested with exotic natural ports such as Boston. The area has a short growing season, the landscape is rocky, which means that plants do not do well in this region. The city, therefore, ended up being a centre for shipbuilding and fishing. The main economic activities in the region were determined by the landscape, location, and climate. Because food does not grow in the area, there is a constant need to trade food from other regions such as the Mid-Atlantic region. The Mid-Atlantic region of the USA is suitable for farming with plenty of arable soil and an extended warm growing area making the place ideal for farming food crops and other cash crops that are traded. With the conditions which favour food production, there is food security in the region and surplus to supply to other states within the country, and this gives the country an upper hand than other countries that experience hunger. The Mid-Atlantic region has navigable rivers. It stretches a great deal to the inland, which makes it have a good transportation network to ferry their products for sale, giving it the economic advantage.
Some cities like Philadelphia and New York are located at the mouth of significant navigable rivers, and they grew as a result of transport, promoting trade. Parts of the USA are located on the fall line; a fall line is where soft sedimentary rocks forming the coastal plain meets the hard stones which form the basement of the land that is further inland. Those parts below the line are navigable, and due to their location, they are strategically protected from invasion during attacks.
The USA has a strategic isolation advantage because of the Mississippi River, which gives the USA a position of having the ocean to ocean access. There are no roads that connect the east and west sides of the state due to rugged terrains caused by the Appalachian Mountains. Therefore, by dominating control over the Mississippi, the USA has several economic advantages. With this connection, the USA is untouchable because, for other countries neighbouring it to attack, they have to ferry their ammunition across the oceans, which are within the USA territory and this has contributed significantly to the reduction of threats the USA faces which is suitable for the country’s development.
The northern parts of the USA are densely populated because of climate and terrain. Therefore in this region, the transportation system is well-developed compare to the southern area, which is very hot and hence is scarcely populated. Due to the sparse population, road systems in the south of parts are rudimentary. Developed transport networks support trade and give a country or region economic development, which contributes significantly to making the USA a superpower nation.
In conclusion, access to the oceans, navigable rivers, climate that favours food production, and landscape that supports settlement and road construction are all factors studied in physical geography. These factors determine and contribute to making a country grow economically. The USA enjoys peace because of its location, which, together with physical elements that enhance economic growth, has contributed to making the USA a superpower nation in the world.