Oxford University Press's
Academic Insights for the Thinking World
Napa Valley Coordinates: 38° 30 N | 122° 20 W Area: 754 square miles (1,953 sq. km) Bavarian beer baths are fine for some, but the more sophisticated may prefer a Chardonnay massage–a truly intoxicating way to de-stress. Popular among the Parisian upper class in the eighteenth century, the long relaxing soak in a barrel […]
Washington Park Arboretum Designed by James Dawson (1874-1941) of the Olmsted Brothers firm, and was founded in the 1930s with funds and labour from the Works Progress Administration, which provided relief during the Depression. Covering 93 hectares/230 acres in the heart of the city, and encompassing collections of Rhododendron, Cornus, Malus, Ilex, Magnolia, Camellia, Sorbus, […]
Stone Circles of Senegambia Coordinates: 13° 41 N | 15° 31 W Approximate area: 15,000 square miles (39,000 sq. km) Mention stone circles and most people probably think of the photogenic megaliths that beckon tourists to England’s Salisbury Plain. Farther to the south however, along the River Gambia in West Africa, 93 stone circles arranged […]
By Brian Fagan When I sat down to compile my latest book From Stonehenge to Samarkand, I found my greatest inspiration in the writings of a virtually forgotten English writer, Rose Macaulay. Her classic book, Pleasure of Ruins, first appeared in the 1950s and was reprinted with evocative photographs by Reny Beloff a decade later. […]
Tallinn Coordinates: 59° 22′ N | 24° 48′ E Population: 401,502 (2005 est.) Novel as it may seem, some places in the world are actually attempting to make their governments more efficient, and their societies more open. Across the Gulf of Finland, not quite fifty miles from Helsinki, the Estonian cabinet conducts its paperless meetings […]
By Charlayne Hunter-Gault I’m a journalist, not a poll-taker, however, over the past month, while touring the country to talk about my book New News Out of Africa, I’ve been conducting an informal, highly un-scientific survey about how much Americans know about Africa. I know that the majority of the people I talk to are […]
Coordinates: 44° 33′ N | 4° 45′ E Distance from Beziers: 143 miles (230 km) Geographic Theme: Movement Yellow jerseys and stuffed lions are fine prizes, sure, but after completing the longest leg of the Tour de France, wouldn’t a tired cyclist rather cross the finish line for the promise of something sweeter, say a […]
Lawrence E. Harrison directed the USAID missions in the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Haiti and Nicaragua between 1961 and 1985. He also co-edited, with Samuel Huntington, Culture Matters: How Values Shape Human Progress. In this podcast, Harrison discusses his latest book The Central Liberal Truth. Click here to listen to the podcast (Lawrence_Harrison_podcast_MD1.mp3)
Coordinates: 36° 40′ N | 4° 55′ E Number of provinces included: 8 As a descriptive category, world music succeeds in being a particularly vague label for such a wide range of sound. The musical styles and traditions rooted in specific places usually have more meaningful names. Kabylia for example, a small region along Algeria’s […]
Coordinates: 43° 12′ N | 41° 5′ E Deepest point reached: 6,824 feet (2,080 m) With the onset of summer in the Northern Hemisphere and average temperatures worldwide on the rise, the question on the minds of many is: how to beat the heat? For cavers willing to travel to Abkhazia on the eastern coast […]
By Rachel Bronson The United States and Saudi Arabia form one of the world’s most misunderstood partnerships. The Saudis are a longtime oil supplier for the U.S. economy but on 9/11 their kingdom accounted for 15 of the 19 hijackers. The Bush family and the House of Saud are close yet Secretary of State Condoleezza […]
by Harm de Blij It is noteworthy that the troubling results of the National Geographic Society’s survey of geographic literacy in America were reported in the media during the same week Joseph Biden and Leslie H. Gelb, an unannounced candidate for the presidency and a former staffer of the New York Times, respectively, published their […]
Based on the results of a survey released this week by the National Geographic Society, young people in the United States continue to struggle with geography and demonstrate a lack of understanding about our world. The consequences of this deficiency in education are serious when you consider the rising level of interconnectivity between nations and […]
By Harm de Blij The debate over the prospective takeover of several U.S. port operations by a company based on the Arabian Peninsula is over. Both sides marshaled powerful arguments. Proponents favored rewarding a progressive, modernizing Arab ally in the struggle against terrorism. Opponents cited dangers of infiltration and security risks. The opponents prevailed. President […]
by H. J. de Blij In the current dilemma arising from the Hamas election victory, it may be useful to recall a French experience. Following the war of independence fought by Algerian Arabs against their French colonial rulers, France acknowledged Algeria’s independence in July 1962, leaving in charge a government of which Paris approved. That […]
by Harm de Blij Since New Year’s Day, a troubling series of events has caused Europe to wonder just what kind of neighbor Russia plans to be. By virtue of a network of pipelines leading from Russian reserves to European consumers, Europe has become strongly dependent on Russian natural gas, now accounting for nearly one-quarter […]