Geographic Illiteracy and National Security

This was the title of the Keynote address here at Medical Library Association conference in Washington DC. Harm J. de Blij gave a very entertaining and informative talk on the state of geographical literacy in the United States, where only 18% of children are taught geography in schools. His premise was that this has horrifying implications for the country at a time when awareness of the connectivity of the world in spatial terms is crucial to world stability. He said the US is in a race against time with three key threats to national security: environmental change and global warming; the inevitable competition with the China as the next aspiring super power; and the terrorist threat in Iraq.

He also had some very amusing insights into the decline of the British Empire and why you should never trust a Brit in the dark!

Sara Whittaker