World Order!
Geography is destiny

After delving into the strategic realities of the four superpowers in World Order, it’s time to explore how geography shapes their ambitions and challenges. Each country’s unique terrain, natural barriers, and vulnerabilities have been critical in forming their political, military, and economic strategies throughout history. Now, as a player, you’ll experience how these geographical factors influence their global behavior and shape the course of international relations.

Geography has historically been a critical determinant in the rise and fall of civilizations, empires, states, and powers of any size, proving to be the most important factor shaping domestic policies, military doctrines and foreign policy strategies.

From the natural barriers that have protected civilizations, empires and states from invasions to the strategic chokepoints that have been the focus of conflicts, the physical landscape has influenced the actions, ideas, and behaviors of states and statesmen throughout history. And it will never cease to influence them, since that geography is an inevitable destiny.

In World Order, the importance of geography is embedded in the gameplay, allowing players to understand how the geographic realities of Russia, China, the European Union, and the United States shape their strategies and interactions on the global stage.

Let’s take the example of Russia. The awareness to have inherited from the tsars and the Soviets the world’s largest country, as well as the evergreen memory about the Golden Horde and the periodic invasions from both Europe and Asia, has played a pivotal role in shaping the Putin era’s aggressive foreign policy and its security concerns. Russia’s quenchless overreach is aggravated by the lack of natural barriers, such as mountains or oceans, which, as history shows, allow invaders to penetrate deep in the territory in a relatively short period of time. 

Such a geography-related weakness has made Russia’s decision makers inherently paranoid and their policies aggressive and expansion-driven. In fact, since the Tsarist times, Russia has been trying to solve its security dilemma by extending its borders, both formally – through annexation –  and informally – through the creation of puppet states.

If Russia doesn’t feel safe, its neighbors will pay a price for it – whether they are actually guilty or not of those security concerns. Not even the systemic changes occurred in Russia have changed this geography-caused attitude, with the Putin era’s foreign policy substantially unchanged from Brezhnev’s or from Nicolas II’s: have a foothold in the Balkans, be the hegemon in the South Caucasus-Central Asia region, have a presence between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean, go on war when the perception of border insecurity and foreign encirclement becomes too high – Georgia 2008, Crimea 2014, Ukraine 2022. 

In World Order, players have the opportunity to experience firsthand these geographic challenges, using the country’s vast territory to their advantage while also managing the insecurity that comes with such a large and often difficult-to-defend expanse. World Order allows players to have a taste of the strategic imperatives that have historically driven Russia’s actions, from seeking control over buffer states to managing relations with neighboring powers.

Geography played no less important role in shaping the US’s foreign policy. Bordered by two vast oceans and with relatively peaceful and backward neighbors to the north and south, the US has enjoyed a level of geographic security that few other powers can match and have matched throughout history. Strengthened by the absence of regional rivals, with the exception of early 19th century’s Mexico, the US capitalized this isolation to develop without the constant threat of foreign invasions, enabling it to focus on internal expansion and economic growth during its formative years.

Driven by the goal to make legal what geography made natural, the US unilaterally declared the Western Hemisphere off-limits to non-American actors by enacting the so-called Monroe doctrine in 1823. The doctrine, which still exists, was a direct response to the evolving political realities of the time, as the US sought to take advantage of Spain’s and Portugal’s withdrawals from the continent and prevent other European powers, such as France and the British Empire, from replacing them. This policy laid the groundwork for the US to become first the dominant power in the Americas and later a global superpower.

In World Order, playing as the US allows you to take full advantage of the country’s unique geography. With its isolated position, unmatched dominance in the Western Hemisphere, and the ability to project power across both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the US player can strategically navigate global challenges with a strong foundation. World Order simulates the strategic decisions that have defined US foreign policy, from the Monroe doctrine emblematized by the other players’ limited room for maneuver in the Americas to the presence of military bases around the world, reflecting how geography has allowed the US to rise to worldwide dominance.

As for China, geography has been both a blessing and a curse throughout its long history. The natural barriers of the Himalayas, the Gobi Desert, and the Pacific Ocean have provided some degree of protection from foreign incursions, while their absence in the north made China simultaneously vulnerable to nomadic invasions from current-day Mongolia, encouraging it to build the Great Wall. However, China’s geographic position has led to a sense of isolation, shaping its view of itself as the “Middle Kingdom” at the center of the world. This perspective has influenced China’s strategy and contributed to its struggles during the great power rivalries of the 19th century.

Since the second postwar, which marked the end of a century-long period of turmoil, China’s geostrategic imperatives have shifted towards reasserting strong state control over foreign-influenced border regions like Tibet and Xinjiang, securing maritime access in the close but uncontrolled South China Sea, and ensuring access to Southeast Asia-based mineral supply chains. In World Order, these concerns come to life. As the China player, you’ll need to focus on Central and South Asia while managing the challenging American presence in the Western Pacific.

Then there’s Europe. The Old Continent’s fragmented landscape, with its numerous peninsulas, mountain ranges, lakes, and rivers, has been essential to the development of hundreds of cultures and micro-states. This geography-driven cultural diversity has resulted in a century-long period of harsh competition and conflict, as shown by the hundreds of wars erupted from the Roman Empire’s decline to the 20th century’s world wars.

The same geography that once divided Europe has driven the quest for unity in the aftermath of World War II. In fact, the EU was born out of the desire to overcome the small continent’s millennia-old geopolitical divisions and create a war-free, united, prosperous bloc. The EU founding fathers’ idea to kick-start a step-by-step political unification through economic integration was due to their understanding that geography, while a source of division, as shown by the two world wars, could and can also be a basis for cooperation.

In World Order, the EU player must navigate the challenges of hegemonizing a continent that keeps being diverse and sometimes divided, as shown by the Western Balkans, Moldova, and others, using the tools of diplomacy, economic power, and soft power to protect itself from Russia’s expansionism and project influence elsewhere, especially in neighboring MENA countries.

Geography has always been, and always will be, a decisive factor in shaping the rise and fall of global powers. In World Order, you’ll get to experience how these forces of nature drive strategy and conflict, whether managing Russia’s vast territory, navigating China’s regional ambitions, leveraging America’s geographic advantages, or uniting Europe in the face of historical divisions. Ready to test your strategic insight? Join us in shaping the next era of global power dynamics. Get notified when World Order launches on Kickstarter!

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