Invisible Countries

Mr. Keating offers few answers, but he raises good questions. As secessionist movements flourish in Europe, and climate change threatens to obliterate littoral states, the issue of what it means to be a nation is acquiring new salience. -The Economist Fascinating, thought-provoking read -Brian Maye, Irish Times Invisible Countries is a serious, indefatigable attempt to explore the vexing issue of national identity. --Robert D. Kaplan, author of The Revenge of Geography Invisible Countries takes its readers on an incredible journey to some of the world's most unlikely, fragile but determined would-be nations. It's also a wonderfully humane and urgent intellectual quest to find out why countries and borders still matter so much in our supposedly globalizing era. --Alastair Bonnett, author of Unruly Places: Lost Spaces, Secret Cities, and Other Inscrutable Geographies Through fascinating journeys to quasi-states and nations lacking UN membership, Keating deftly illustrates his case: we must remember our current set of countries are means to the good life, not ends in themselves. --Charles Kenny [either Senior Fellow, the Center for Global Development and/or author Getting Better: How Global Development is Succeeding]. With sharp reporting and a far-flung sense of adventure, Joshua Keating provides an unprecedented examination of what it means to be a nation in the twenty-first century. You'll never look at the world map the same way after reading this thought-provoking book.-Doug Mack, author of The Not-Quite States of America