After all, the first book did feature a map prominently. ;-)

First up, Chirol's at it again with his fourth installment of Mapping the Gap, this time relative to the military deployments of our allies.

Secondly... Chirol again, this time linking to Foreign Policy's Failed States Index for 2006. As Chirol says, comparing the FSI to PNM 'there’s almost a perfect match'.

And, third, Tom's esteemed brother Andy sends in:

Worldmapper: The World as You've Never Seen It Before

This site features cartograms, maps showing global regions "re-sized according to the subject of interest." Some of the many map subjects include births, total population, children, elderly, refugees, immigrants, tourism, transportation, and imports and exports. Maps are available in a printable poster format, and are accompanied by explanatory text and data files. A collaboration among the University of Sheffield (England), University of Michigan, and other groups.

URL: http://www.sasi.group.shef.ac.uk/worldmapper/

LII Item: http://lii.org/cs/lii/view/item/21269

Enjoy!