Join War on the Rocks and gain access to content trusted by policymakers, military leaders, and strategic thinkers worldwide.
If a steady stream of surveys is to be believed, declining geographic literacy is a growing threat to American security. Asked to identify Iran, for example, a surprising number of respondents put it in the Balkans. Some confused it with Greenland, and others, more inexplicably, located it Atlantis-like in the middle of the ocean. The one guy who guessed it was near Phoenix presumably wasn’t trying. Perhaps he resented being asked. Methodology matters, and if you interrupt someone during lunch demanding to know where Iran is you can’t expect them to throw down their sandwich and help you find it. Needless
