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Is Geography Destiny?

03/05/2025
62 min
[video_views]

While geography has remained unchanged since sea levels stabilised after the Ice Age, its impact on human societies has shifted dramatically over millennia—and is now evolving faster than ever. For 10,000 years, the Middle East has been a critical land bridge between Africa and Asia, by turns marginal to global affairs or at the very heart of history. Stanford historian and author of Why the West Rules – For Now, Ian Morris, joins City Lit Principal Mark Malcomson to explore how geography shapes human destiny, how human choices shape geography, and what it all means for our interconnected world.

An event from Jewish Book Week 2025.

About the speakers

Ian Morris

Ian Morris teaches at Stanford University and is a Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Society for the Arts, and at LSE. He studies long-term global history, asking what the patterns of the past tell us about the future. His 15 books include the prize-winning Why the West Rules—For Now.
Mark Malcomson CBE

Mark is Principal and Chief Executive of City Lit. Previously, he was the Director of Executive Education at London Business School and President of the New York Institute of Finance. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2017 New Year’s Honours List for services to adult education.

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Is Geography Destiny?

03/05/2025
|
62 min

Speaker

Ian Morris

Read More

Ian Morris teaches at Stanford University and is a Fellow of the British Academy, the Royal Society for the Arts, and at LSE. He...

Mark Malcomson CBE

Read More

Mark is Principal and Chief Executive of City Lit. Previously, he was the Director of Executive Education at London Business School and President of...