Western Europe was superior because did not form an empire after the Roman one. Geography had something to do with that, but not as this professor says.
What made Western Europe so innovative was extreme competition among a new kind of political “shape”: the nations. And the formation of nations had many causes, some of them geographic, such as Europe being constitued of a series of peninsulae (it was easier to build nations on borders stabilized by geography), but also religion (Benedictine monks preserved knowledge during the Dark Ages and the Church a sense of union beyond feudal kingdoms).
When nations were constituted, during the 15 and 16 centuries, Europe was already superior than China. It might not have the same military strength or technical development, but Europe knew how to use what it had in much better way than China. And it wasn’t China the one to sail to Europe, they were Europeans the ones to reach China, coming from opposite directions!
What has made weak Europe during the 20th has been that the concept of nation has been developed to its limit and surpassed. Only “surrounded” by a belt of colonies could nations have survived, and there were not enough colonies for everyone, hence the struggle for Lebensraum. In this case, geography and demography had a lot to do, since Germany could dream of building a colonial empire (in the east) fighting rapid wars from his central position in Europe.
The West is what it is thanks to a political system that allowed innovation and competition in a extreme way. Empires that search for uniformity cannot match that. IMHO China has a deep contradiction on its political system, and each second this contradiction grows bigger and bigger (and more dangerous for everyone). Furthermore, I think that articles like this what really aim is to justify the wrong decissions of powerful people.
I suspect that the rise of “technology” over the last 2 centuries made geography less important through improvements in communication and transportation. In that environment America could thrive when it’s economic engine was unleashed by freedom. Money is like a wild animal, it will go where it is least encumbered.