As SFS undergraduates and alumni know, Maps of the Modern World is an iconic class that’s integral to the first-year SFS experience. But there are far too many maps to cover in one course, and each map carries a unique story about the political and cultural forces that have shaped our world. So, we’re bringing some of our most unusual maps to social media!
In this episode of Maps with Mark, SFS Professor and Maps of the Modern World instructor Mark Giordano explains the evolution of U.S. State Department maps, which show us how the U.S. government divides the world up for administrative purposes. He describes how State Department maps have changed over time, from earlier versions of the world map to the most recent edition produced in 2021.
These maps reveal the ways in which the U.S. government thinks about the world in political, rather than strictly geographic, terms. They tell the story of both an evolving world and an evolving American worldview. They also display the intermittent tensions between bureaucracy and strategy in American government, with the State Department sometimes supplying different geographic conceptions than those of the U.S. military.
Watch the full episode to learn how State Department maps have evolved, and how the State Department and military can conflict in their geographic understandings of the world.