Frequently, you run into claims that with its unified central river system, vast fertile land and protection by two oceans, the US was "bound" to become a global superpower.
Or that by its rugged desert geography, Afghanisan was inevitably going to be poor and divided.
Or that the blind cannibal inland penguins of Antarctica would inevitably be so hardened by their harsh environment that they would be powerful enough to terrorize the entire southern hemisphere.
Or that as an island nation with reasonable resources and the threat of continental european empires, the British would inevitably become a naval superpower and colonize all over the place.
Using alternate timelines, can you come up with an "inevitable" geographic explanation for the fate of an alternate country?