ABSTRACT
Fortunatelyforthegeographer,hissciencedoesnotrequirehimtoforetelltheeconomicandpoliticalfutureoftheregionshestudies.Hisjob istoexplainthepastandthepresent.Thepitfallsofpredictionarebest lefttoothers.Butsomereferencetothefutureisappropriateattheend ofabookofthiskindbecausethatfuturewillrapidlybecomethepresent whichthestudentwillberequiredtoexplain.Politicalchangesand economictrendswhichatthetimeofwritingeithercannotbediscerned orseemtooimmaturetoclaimmuchspaceinatextbookmightwell becomegreatissues.Soitisclearlyessentialthatstudentskeepintouch withcurrentdevelopments.Goodsourcesofinformationarethenews itemsandoccasionalspecialarticlesinT h e T i m e s andT h e Economist, bothofwhichpresentup-to-datefacts.Ingeneraltheydonotgivea geographicalinterpretationofthesefacts:thattaskislefttothestudent, withthehelpoftextbooks.
