I really like parts of your post, but I need to call BS on the strength of &quot;geography as destiny&quot;.  I think I support something like a &quot;weak geography as destiny&quot;.<p>Like, I believe that China did have periods of peace that would have been long enough to develop liberal democracies.  China was the strongest country in their region, sure they had borders to watch but they were just as protected as France or Germany during their conversions to democracy or republics.  I don&#x27;t think that it&#x27;s peace that drives that kind of change-- it&#x27;s a cultural change, and people in the country need to want it to happen.  France is a great example of this-- they underwent a revolution and faced multiple challenges from their european neighbors, simply because they were choosing to rule with a republic rather than with a monarch.<p>If peaceful &amp; isolated countries should develop into democracies, what about ancient Egypt?<p>The US fluorish, and our geographical heritage is part of that, but it&#x27;s not all of it. I think that the things that helped us were: being cast off from europe (their legacy bureaucracies didn&#x27;t suppress innovation), being free-market inclined, having a group identity (&quot;American&quot;) that all migrants can share, practicing freedom of religion and inheriting the british common law framework.