What the world is reading

What shaped China into a soon-to-be-superpower? Economic dynamism? National assertiveness? But one obvious point missed by many is the countrys blessed geography. On land and at sea,abetted by Chinas favourable location on the map,Beijings influence is emanating and expanding from Central Asia to the South China Sea,from the Russian Far East to the Indian Ocean…As Napoleon famously said,the policies of such states are inherent in their geography, writes Robert D Kaplan. Chinas blessed geography means that it will stand at the hub of geopolitics even if the countrys path toward global power is not necessarily linear. China today is consolidating its land borders and beginning to turn outward and it will project hard power abroad primarily through its navy,Kaplan says.

THE INDEPENDENT

Perils of splitting the anti-Tory vote

David Cameron must be a worried man. Not very long ago,he was sprinting to 10,Downing Street. That was until Nick Clegg erected a hurdle on the track. Cameron is at the head of the pack but worries remain. Will the Liberal Democrats spoil his party? Not if history repeats itself. The last time a third party posed a significant challenge to Conservatives and Labour was in 1983. Then,the SDP-Liberal Alliance was fighting Labour for second place and splitting the anti-Tory vote,Margaret Thatcher won a majority of 144, writes Andrew Grice. This time,Lib Democrats may do what SDP-Liberal Alliance did then: spilt anti-Conservative vote and thus,put Cameron comfortably in 10 Downing.

ARAB NEWS

Desperate plea

So Palestinians have given up their ambition to drive Israelis to the sea and are now desperate for a solution. The request by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas,that US President Barack Obama impose a Middle East peace settlement,shows how desperate the Palestinians have become for a solution, says an editorial. The traditional view is that the US can help,but the final decisions lie with the parties directly involved…But with someone like Benjamin Netanyahu at the helm in Israel,it is clear the Palestinians need helpnot to mention the US itself.

But will a US-imposed solution do any good? Short of an incredible,unprecedented U-turn,the US will continue its policies in the region that have brought very little to the Palestinians,most importantly their land.

Los Angeles Times

Life has never been so good for our species

Really? Sure,the future looks gloomy if you focus on environmental problems or world hunger,but in many ways,things have never been better for us, says Michael Shermer. It is fashionable among environmentalists today to paint a gloomy portrait of our future. Although there are many environmental issues yet to be solved,too many species endangered,more pollution than most of us would like and far too many people still going hungry each day,lets not forget how far weve come,starting 10,000 years ago.

After explaining,with the help of a lot of numbers,how our life is far bettermaterially and socially (Americans now enjoy a shorter workweek)than our hunter-gatherer ancestors and our brethren of a few generations ago,Shermer writes: Given these facts…it would be perfectly sane to decline a trip in a time machine to any point in the past if you had to actually live out your life there. These are the good old days,and without neglecting problems that still need solving,its high time we recognised that it is a better life for more people in more places more of the time.