Invisible Countries

June 15, 2018

Keating (foreign policy analyst & staff writer, Slate) writes about a topic that far too often gets treated as a joke. All over the world there are small, or not so small, areas that make a claim to "nationhood" but are not recognized by the geopolitical world at large. Keating examines some of these countries and how their continued existence questions the current world order. This volume takes a detailed look at "unrecognized" countries--including Abkhazia, Somaliland, Kurdistan, and Akwesasne--and passing looks at another four outliers that mark exceptions to the worldview defined by national borders (The Knights of Malta, Estonia's e-residency, Liberland, and stateless people). Keating successfully fulfills his larger purpose by exploring how the borders of the modern world came to be, what holds them in place, and what might be the implications of changing them. He accomplishes this through discussions of the difference among state, nation, and country, while taking thought-provoking side discussions about whether a country can survive the loss of its geographical location (Kiribati) or if a state is truly needed (12 million stateless people). VERDICT A great book for general readers and undergraduates.--John Sandstrom, New Mexico State Univ. Lib., Las Cruces

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.