Some More Core-Periphary Maps

16 February 2010 | David Eaves | Comments (7)

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Those who've been reading my blog for a long time may remember one of my more popular posts comparing the Firefox 3 Pledge Map (locations of downloads of Firefox 3 back in June 2008) versus Thomas Barnett's Map (published in The Pentagon's New Map - his blog here).

A little while back a friend shared with me a new map, called The Walled World, that she'd found over at The Raw Feed (a great site, BTW) which offers a similar perspective... but with clearly delineated walls that show who is being kept out of which parts of the world.

All three maps continue reasonate with me. The first offers us a stategic overlay. Which countries are powers/maintainers of the international system - which places are seeking to radical alter it, or cannot seem to become part of the core.

The second shows the virtual implications of that gap. Here, the gap between core and periphery is made starkly clear in technology use.

The final shows the physical manifestation of the gap. A stark reminder of the fences we build and the enormous sums of money and energy poured into keeping certain people out.

As a final note, I do think the third map is slightly misleading. As disturbing as it is, it is actually far, far too flattering to many traditional western powers as it continues to place them at the "centre." In a world where the United States appears to be in decline this type of map makes China, Brazil, India and Russia (and even South Africa) look like non entities. Nothing could be further from the truth.

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    • Mark Mclaughlin

      I think it's a little misleading to show a 'border' between the USA and Mexico. There wouldn't be 30 million illegals there if it had any really stopping power.

      The advent of air travel makes physical walls, or highly militarized borders pretty pointless anyway. Most illegals fly right over the border and just don't go back home.

      Another point. The countries who are being 'kept out' are historically the most culturally exclusive countries in the world. The industrialized nations of the world get flak for not being inclusive enough, which is hogwash. We have populations that are orders of magnitude more diverse than anything you'll see in the Middle East, Aisa or Africa.

      Try getting into Saudia Arabia. Their borders are CLOSED. If you don't have family there or have a work visa, you are not allowed to vacation there. Nobody seems to give them a hard time for it.

    • http://brentonwalters.blogspot.com/ Brenton

      Maybe it's as significant, Mark, that the walls are built and intended to keep people out. Whether they succeed or not is almost a separate matter. It is more telling that those countries/entities inside want to keep others out.

    • the rat

      Nice maps but very short on historical context. Like saying the environment is about to collapse without understanding how much worse things were 50 or 60 years ago, looking at a map of “walls” without comparing it to just 20 years ago is short sighted. Walls to keep people out are better than walls to keep people in. Ask a North Korean today or an East German from 1985. As for integration, what do you think a map from 1975 would look like? Would Brazil, India, China, or any Eastern European nation have made that map? Keeping people out is necessary unless you want to see true equality in the world. Not equally good but equally bad. Your maps would imply that you think we should just open up borders but I'd suggest it's much better to slowly expand those borders to the people. Progress is made slowly but things get better, the core expands. History bears that out, I think.

    • Mark Mclaughlin

      I think it's a little misleading to show a 'border' between the USA and Mexico. There wouldn't be 30 million illegals there if it had any really stopping power.

      The advent of air travel makes physical walls, or highly militarized borders pretty pointless anyway. Most illegals fly right over the border and just don't go back home.

      Another point. The countries who are being 'kept out' are historically the most culturally exclusive countries in the world. The industrialized nations of the world get flak for not being inclusive enough, which is hogwash. We have populations that are orders of magnitude more diverse than anything you'll see in the Middle East, Aisa or Africa.

      Try getting into Saudia Arabia. Their borders are CLOSED. If you don't have family there or have a work visa, you are not allowed to vacation there. Nobody seems to give them a hard time for it.

    • http://brentonwalters.blogspot.com/ Brenton

      Maybe it's as significant, Mark, that the walls are built and intended to keep people out. Whether they succeed or not is almost a separate matter. It is more telling that those countries/entities inside want to keep others out.

    • the rat

      Nice maps but very short on historical context. Like saying the environment is about to collapse without understanding how much worse things were 50 or 60 years ago, looking at a map of “walls” without comparing it to just 20 years ago is short sighted. Walls to keep people out are better than walls to keep people in. Ask a North Korean today or an East German from 1985. As for integration, what do you think a map from 1975 would look like? Would Brazil, India, China, or any Eastern European nation have made that map? Keeping people out is necessary unless you want to see true equality in the world. Not equally good but equally bad. Your maps would imply that you think we should just open up borders but I'd suggest it's much better to slowly expand those borders to the people. Progress is made slowly but things get better, the core expands. History bears that out, I think.

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