Geography and International Knowledge. A Report of the Committee on Geography and International Studies of the Association of American Geographers.

This report illustrates how geography can play an important role in improving America's performance in international matters. The degree of interdependence among nations intensifies daily. Today world interaction affects everyone. For example, a frost in Brazil raises coffee prices in the United States and a strike in Africa's Copperbelt affects American metal producers. The United States is critically short of many strategic minerals and the political stability of the producing nations strongly influences our ability to maintain industrial and technological excellence. As the appetite for specialized imports by highly industrialized nations increases, serious environmental degradation may occur in the producing nations of the world. Most seriously affected are the marginal economies of the Third World. These complex intricacies of spatial interaction can be understood only with a sophisticated knowledge of geography. There are five major parts to the report, including an introduction. Part II examines the international characteristics of geography. It discusses the environment and society, maps and location, realms and regions, spatial interaction, and global perspectives. Part III examines the contributions of geographic curricula to international studies. Part IV presents some international applications of geography in business, in economic, urban, and regional development, and in international fields. Part V discusses geography in liberal education. (RM)