Location, location and how the West was won

Ian Morris, Stanford University professor and author of a recent book entitled Why the West Rules - For Now: The Patterns of History, and What they Reveal About the Future has placed a summary of his findings in the BBC News Magazine:

full article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-11721671

On his current visit to Beijing, UK Prime Minister David Cameron has said China will soon reclaim its position as the world's biggest economy - a role it has held for 18 of the past 20 centuries. But how did the US, Britain and the rest of Europe interrupt this reign of supremacy? It comes down to location.

Morris combines a close examination of developing economic realities with a large dose of geographical determinism to explain the world we live in—and the world we may yet live in!