BANGLADESH
Can it host trade routes connecting China and India?
More than 160 million people -- greater than the population of Russia -- populate Bangladesh's sea-level, semi-aquatic landscape. While the northern part of the country is prone to drought due to China and India's damming of the Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers, the flatlands of southern Bangladesh are threatened by rising sea levels, which deplete soil with the addition of salt. In other words, as Kaplan puts it, the country is "squeezed by water problems from both directions." What's more, the country's rough terrain has hindered both internal economic development and trade. That could change if China, India, and Myanmar open trade routes through Bangladesh. "Geography has been a curse to Bangladesh, threatened as it is by both drought and rising sea levels," Kaplan says. "But geography could become a blessing in an era that might see routes and pipelines operating in many directions, organically connecting the Indian subcontinent with Tibet and China."
MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP/Getty Images
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