Geography has always played a role in the creation and reduction of powers. Venice, for instance, rose and fell with the importance of the Mediterranean trade. The Safavid empire in Iran, meanwhile, failed to flourish because of a lack of geographic outlets.

Superpowers are an interesting examination. The United States has definitely benefitted from its geographic isolation. That isolation has allowed for a protected industrial base from which power can safely be projected. The same can be said of China and Russia who have forms of isolation that have kept strong powers away from the industrial bases