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95-555: At the level of international relations, geopolitics is a method of studying foreign policy to understand, explain, and predict international political behavior through geographical variables. These include area studies , climate , topography , demography , natural resources , and applied science of the region being evaluated. Geopolitics focuses on political power linked to geographic space, in particular, territorial waters and land territory in correlation with diplomatic history . Topics of geopolitics include relations between

190-542: A basis of Colombian era empire (roughly from 1492 to the 19th century), and predicted the 20th century to be domain of land power. The Heartland theory hypothesized a huge empire being brought into existence in the Heartland—which would not need to use coastal or transoceanic transport to remain coherent. The basic notions of Mackinder's doctrine involve considering the geography of the Earth as being divided into two sections:

285-469: A country are far removed from the border." He wrote that all states tend towards expansion, "Other things being equal, all states have a tendency to expand." Even small states seek to expand, but are limited in doing so by various barriers. He died of heart complications on 26 June 1943, at the age of 49, in New Haven, Connecticut , a result of kidney disease contracted when young. He was married to

380-466: A country's role in the global economy. Additionally, many states have developed humanitarian programs based on the responsibility to protect, supporting less powerful countries through various forms of assistance. The study of foreign policy examines the reasons and methods behind state interactions, with think tanks and academic institutions providing research and analysis to inform policy decisions. The idea of long-term management of relationships followed

475-711: A diplomatic assistant for the Netherlands in Egypt and the Dutch East Indies . He then came to the United States around 1920 to enter a doctoral program at the University of California, Berkeley , where he received a bachelor's degree in 1921, a master's degree in 1922, and a Ph.D. in 1923. The subject of his dissertation, which he subsequently revised for publication, was Georg Simmel . He then

570-476: A fixed geography. French geography is focused on the evolution of polymorphic territories being the result of mankind's actions. It also relies on the consideration of long time periods through a refusal to take specific events into account. This method has been theorized by Professor Lacoste according to three principles: Representation ; Diachronie; and Diatopie. In The Spirit of the Laws , Montesquieu outlined

665-622: A fleet, were conducive to control over the sea. He proposed six conditions required for a nation to have sea power : Mahan distinguished a key region of the world in the Eurasian context, namely, the Central Zone of Asia lying between 30° and 40° north and stretching from Asia Minor to Japan. In this zone independent countries still survived – Turkey, Persia, Afghanistan, China, and Japan. Mahan regarded those countries, located between Britain and Russia, as if between "Scylla and Charybdis". Of

760-571: A foreign policy vision for Britain with his Eurocentric analysis of historical geography. His formulation of the Heartland Theory was set out in his article entitled " The Geographical Pivot of History ", published in England in 1904. Mackinder's doctrine of geopolitics involved concepts diametrically opposed to the notion of Alfred Thayer Mahan about the significance of navies (he coined the term sea power ) in world conflict. He saw navy as

855-616: A foundation for the German variant of geopolitics, geopolitik . Influenced by the American geostrategist Alfred Thayer Mahan, Ratzel wrote of aspirations for German naval reach, agreeing that sea power was self-sustaining, as the profit from trade would pay for the merchant marine, unlike land power. The geopolitical theory of Ratzel has been criticized as being too sweeping, and his interpretation of human history and geography being too simple and mechanistic. Critically, he also underestimated

950-463: A global vision. However, in complete opposition to Ratzel's vision, Reclus considers geography not to be unchanging; it is supposed to evolve commensurately to the development of human society. His marginal political views resulted in his rejection by academia. French geographer and geopolitician Jacques Ancel (1879–1936) is considered to be the first theoretician of geopolitics in France, and gave

1045-858: A great expanse of land, its arable land remained in a small portion of its territory, mostly in the West. Indeed, the Soviet's raw materials were largely located to the West of the Ural Mountains as well. Since the political and material center of gravity was in the Western part of the USSR, Spykman sees little possibility of the Soviets exerting much power in Central Asia . Still, the Soviet Union

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1140-409: A grouping would have the capacity to outstrip America economically and, in the end, militarily. That danger would have to be resisted even if the dominant power was apparently benevolent, for if its intentions ever changed, America would find itself with a grossly diminished capacity for effective resistance and a growing inability to shape events." The main interest of the American leaders is maintaining

1235-732: A large influence within the Russian military, police, and foreign policy elites and it has been used as a textbook in the Academy of the General Staff of the Russian military. Its publication in 1997 was well received in Russia and powerful Russian political figures subsequently took an interest in Dugin. According to Li Lingqun, a major feature of the People's Republic of China 's geopolitics

1330-540: A million American homes. Every government official responsible for policy should read it once a year for the next twenty years—even if he may not agree with some of the remedies proposed." The Geography of the Peace was published the year after Spykman's death. He explained his geostrategy and argued that the balance of power in Eurasia directly affected US security. In his writings on geography and foreign policy, Spykman

1425-610: A notable series of lectures at the European Center of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Paris and published Géopolitique in 1936. Like Reclus, Ancel rejects German determinist views on geopolitics (including Haushofer's doctrines). Braudel 's broad view used insights from other social sciences, employed the concept of the longue durée , and downplayed the importance of specific events. This method

1520-767: A perspective grounded in three assumptions: Connected with this stream, and former member of Hérodote editorial board, the French geographer Michel Foucher developed a long term analysis of international borders. He coined various neologism among them: Horogenesis : Neologism that describes the concept of studying the birth of borders , Dyade : border shared by two neighbouring states (for instance US territory has two terrestrial dyades : one with Canada and one with Mexico). The main book of this searcher "Fronts et frontières" (Fronts and borders) first published in 1991, without equivalent remains untranslated in English. Michel Foucher

1615-417: A role in a country's foreign policy. In a democracy , public opinion and the methods of political representation both affect a country's foreign policy. Democratic countries are also believed to be less likely to resort to military conflict with one another. Autocratic states are less likely to use legalism in their foreign policies. Under a dictatorship , a state's foreign policy may depend heavily on

1710-520: A single, comprehensive foreign policy for each state. Unlike domestic policy, foreign policy issues often arise suddenly in response to developments and major events in foreign countries. Foreign policy is often directed for the purpose of ensuring national security . Governments forming military alliances with foreign states in order to deter and show stronger resistance to attack. Foreign policy also focuses on combating adversarial states through soft power , international isolation , or war . In

1805-460: A threat from German (Teuton), Russian (Slav), and Japanese expansionism: The "fatal" relationship of Russia, Japan, and Germany "has now assumed through the urgency of natural forces a coalition directed against the survival of Saxon supremacy." It is "a dreadful Dreibund". Lea believed that while Japan moved against Far East and Russia against India, the Germans would strike at England, the center of

1900-533: Is addressed by Bert Chapman in Geopolitics: A Guide To the Issues , in which Chapman makes note that academic and professional International Relations journals are more amenable to the study and analysis of Geopolitics, and in particular Classical geopolitics, than contemporary academic journals in the field of political geography. In disciplines outside geography, geopolitics is not negatively viewed (as it often

1995-409: Is among academic geographers such as Carolyn Gallaher or Klaus Dodds ) as a tool of imperialism or associated with Nazism, but rather viewed as a valid and consistent manner of assessing major international geopolitical circumstances and events, not necessarily related to armed conflict or military operations. French geopolitical doctrines broadly opposed to German Geopolitik and reject the idea of

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2090-541: Is an expert of the African Union for borders affairs. More or less connected with this school, Stéphane Rosière can be quoted as the editor in Chief of the online journal L'Espace politique , this journal created in 2007 became the most prominent French journal of political geography and Geopolitics with Hérodote. French philosopher Michel Foucault's dispositif introduced for the purpose of biopolitical research

2185-713: Is attempting to change the laws of the sea to advance claims in the South China Sea . Another geopolitical issue is PRC's claims over the territories of Taiwan against the government of the Republic of China . Various analysts state that China created the Belt and Road Initiative as a geostrategic effort to take a larger role in global affairs, and undermine what the Communist Party perceives as American hegemony . It has also been argued that China co-founded

2280-524: Is based on loose justifications. This has been observed in particular by critics of contemporary academic geography, and proponents of a "neo"-classical geopolitics in particular. These include Haverluk et al., who argue that the stigmatization of geopolitics in academia is unhelpful as geopolitics as a field of positivist inquiry maintains potential in researching and resolving topical, often politicized issues such as conflict resolution and prevention, and mitigating climate change . Negative associations with

2375-552: Is considered to be the first having coined the term in English as early as 1902 and later published in England in 1904 in his book Foundations of Modern Europe . Sir Halford Mackinder 's Heartland Theory initially received little attention outside the world of geography, but some thinkers have claimed that it subsequently influenced the foreign policies of world powers. Those scholars who look to MacKinder through critical lenses accept him as an organic strategist who tried to build

2470-868: Is more like Britain's than Russia's in the New Great Game, where Russia plays the role that the Russian Empire originally did. Chen stated, "Regardless of the prospect, China through the BRI is deep in playing a 'New Great Game' in Central Asia that differs considerably from its historical precedent about 150 years ago when Britain and Russia jostled with each other on the Eurasian steppes." In the Carnegie Endowment , Paul Stronski and Nicole Ng wrote in 2018 that China has not fundamentally challenged any Russian interests in Central Asia. Foreign policy Foreign policy , also known as external policy ,

2565-425: Is the set of strategies and actions a state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, including defense and security, economic benefits, and humanitarian assistance. The formulation of foreign policy is influenced by various factors such as domestic considerations, the behavior of other states, and geopolitical strategies. Historically,

2660-539: Is war) in 1976. This book symbolizes the birth of this new school of geopolitics (if not so far the first French school of geopolitics as Ancel was very isolated in the 1930s–40s). Initially linked with communist party evolved to a less liberal approach. At the end of the 1980s he founded the Institut Français de Géopolitique (French Institute for Geopolitics) that publishes the Hérodote revue. While rejecting

2755-726: The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and New Development Bank to compete with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in development finance . According to Bobo Lo , the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has been advertised as a "political organization of a new type" claimed to transcend geopolitics. Political scientist Pak Nung Wong says that a major form of geopolitics between

2850-800: The Chinese lands. The Rimland's defining characteristic is that it is an intermediate region, lying between the Heartland and the marginal sea powers. As the amphibious buffer zone between the land powers and sea powers, it must defend itself from both sides, the cause of its fundamental security problems. Spykman's conception of the Rimland bears greater resemblance to Alfred Thayer Mahan 's "debated and debatable zone" than to Mackinder's Inner or Marginal Crescent. The Rimland has great importance because of its demographic weight, natural resources, and industrial development. Spykman sees that its importance to be

2945-575: The Russian Academy of Sciences , Vadim Tsymbursky (1957–2009), coined the term "island-Russia" and developed the "Great Limitrophe " concept. Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov (retired), a Russian geopolitics specialist of the early 21st century, headed the Academy of Geopolitical Problems ( Russian : Академия геополитических проблем ), which analyzes the international and domestic situations and develops geopolitical doctrine. Earlier, he headed

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3040-857: The World Island or Core, comprising Eurasia and Africa ; and the Peripheral "islands", including the Americas , Australia , Japan , the British Isles , and Oceania . Not only was the Periphery noticeably smaller than the World Island, it necessarily required much sea transport to function at the technological level of the World Island—which contained sufficient natural resources for a developed economy. Mackinder posited that

3135-539: The Yale Institute of International Studies and was its first director. He held that position until 1940, when he became ill and relinquished it. Spykman published two books on foreign policy. America's Strategy in World Politics was published in 1942, soon after the entry of the United States into World War II . Concerned with the balance of power , he argued that isolationism , which relied on

3230-533: The propaganda of Nazi Germany . The key concepts of Haushofer's Geopolitik were Lebensraum, autarky , pan-regions , and organic borders. States have, Haushofer argued, an undeniable right to seek natural borders which would guarantee autarky . Haushofer's influence within the Nazi Party has been challenged, given that Haushofer failed to incorporate the Nazis' racial ideology into his work. Popular views of

3325-635: The "Asiatic Mediterranean." Neither has ever been the seat of significant power; chaos prevents Africa from harnessing the resources of its regions, and Australia has too little arable territory. Other than the two continents, the offshore islands of significance are Britain, Japan and the New World , buffered by the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean . Again, Spykman differs from Mackinder, who sees Eurasian wars as historically pitting

3420-429: The 21st century, defensive foreign policy has expanded to address the threat of global terrorism . Foreign policy is central for a country's role within the world economy and international trade . Economic foreign policy issues may include the establishment of trade agreements , the distribution of foreign aid, and the management of imports and exports . Many states have developed humanitarian programs under

3515-666: The British Empire. He thought the Anglo-Saxons faced certain disaster from their militant opponents. Two national security advisors from the Cold War period, Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski , argued to continue the United States' geopolitical focus on Eurasia and, particularly Russia, despite the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War . Both continued their influence on geopolitics after

3610-570: The Cold War, Kissinger argues, both sides of the Atlantic recognized that, "unless America is organically involved in Europe, it would later be obliged to involve itself under circumstances which would be far less favorable to both sides of the Atlantic. That is even more true today. Germany has become so strong that existing European institutions cannot strike a balance between Germany and its European partners all by themselves. Nor can Europe, even with

3705-438: The Heartland against the sea powers for control of the rimland, establishing a land power-sea power opposition. Spykman states that historically, battles have pitted either Britain and Rimland allies against Russia and its Rimland allies or Britain and Russia together against a dominating Rimland power. In other words, the Eurasian struggle was not the sea powers containing the Heartland but the prevention of any power from ruling

3800-533: The Institute for International Studies at Yale University, one of his prime concerns was making his students geographically literate, as geopolitics was impossible without geographic understanding. Spykman was born on 13 October 1893 in Amsterdam . He attended Delft University and the University of Cairo . He worked as a journalist in various parts of the world during much of the 1910s and also served as

3895-750: The Main Directorate for International Military Cooperation of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation . Vladimir Karyakin, leading researcher at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies , has proposed the term "geopolitics of the third wave". Aleksandr Dugin , a Russian political analyst who has developed a close relationship with Russia's Academy of the General Staff wrote " The Foundations of Geopolitics: The Geopolitical Future of Russia " in 1997, which has had

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3990-460: The Rimland must be prevented. Spykman modified Mackinder's formula on the relationship between the Heartland and the Rimland (or the inner crescent), claiming that "Who controls the rimland rules Eurasia. Who rules Eurasia controls the destinies of the world." This theory can be traced in the origins of containment , a U.S. policy on preventing the spread of Soviet influence after World War II (see also Truman Doctrine ). Another follower of Mackinder

4085-464: The Rimland. Spykman disagrees with Mackinder's famous dictum: He refashions it thus: Therefore, British, Russian, and US power would play the key roles in controlling the European litoral and there the essential power relations of the world. Spykman thought that it was in the American interests to leave Germany strong after World War II to be able to counter Russia's power. Strategically, there

4180-536: The US and China includes cybersecurity competition, policy regulations regarding technology standards and social media platforms, and traditional and non-traditional forms of espionage. One view of the New Great Game is a shift to geoeconomic compared to geopolitical competition. The interest in oil and gas includes pipelines that transmit energy to China's east coast. Xiangming Chen believes that China's role

4275-415: The US would thus take responsibility for Japan's defense. Spykman was opposed to European integration and argued that US interests favored balanced power in Europe, rather than integrated power. The US was fighting a war against Germany to prevent Europe's conquest, and it would not make sense to federalize or to unify Europe after a war that had been fought to preserve balance. John Foster Dulles and

4370-427: The assistance of Germany, manage […] Russia" all by itself. Thus Kissinger believed that no country's interests would ever be served if Germany and Russia were to ever form a partnership in which each country would consider itself the principal partner. They would raise fears of condominium. Without America, Britain and France cannot cope with Germany and Russia; and "without Europe, America could turn … into an island off

4465-546: The balance of power in Eurasia. Having converted from an ideologist into a geopolitician, Kissinger retrospectively interpreted the Cold War in geopolitical terms—an approach which was not characteristic of his works during the Cold War. Now, however, he focused on the beginning of the Cold War: "The objective of moral opposition to Communism had merged with the geopolitical task of containing Soviet expansion." Nixon, he added,

4560-508: The centenary of The Geographical Pivot of History, Historian Paul Kennedy wrote: "Right now with hundreds of thousands of US troops in the Eurasian rimlands and with administration constantly explaining why it has to stay the course, it looks as if Washington is taking seriously Mackinder's injunction to ensure control of the geographical pivot of history." Friedrich Ratzel (1844–1904), influenced by thinkers such as Darwin and zoologist Ernst Heinrich Haeckel , contributed to 'Geopolitik' by

4655-521: The children's novelist E. C. Spykman . He could be considered as a disciple and critic of both geostrategists Alfred Mahan , of the United States Navy , and Halford Mackinder , the British geographer. Spykman's work is based on assumptions similar to Mackinder, the unity of world politics and the unity of the world sea, but extends it to include the unity of the air. The exploration of

4750-438: The concept of the responsibility to protect . Proponents of liberal internationalism believe that it is the duty of stronger and more well-off countries to assist and support less powerful countries. This idea is often associated with the idealist school of thought. Liberal internationalist support can take the form of defensive or economic support. Superpowers are able to project power and exercise their influence across

4845-401: The development of foreign policy proposals, alternatives to existing policy, or to provide analytical assessments of evolving relationships. Several objectives may motivate a government's foreign policy. Foreign policy may be directed for defense and security, for economic benefit, or to provide assistance to states that need it. All foreign policy objectives are interconnected and contribute to

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4940-477: The development of professional diplomatic corps that managed diplomacy . In the 18th century, due to extreme turbulence in European diplomacy and ongoing conflicts, the practice of diplomacy was often fragmented by the necessity to deal with isolated issues, termed "affairs". Therefore, while domestic management of such issues was termed civil affairs (peasant riots, treasury shortfalls, and court intrigues),

5035-482: The end of the Cold War, writing books on the subject in the 1990s— Diplomacy and The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives . The Anglo-American classical geopolitical theories were revived. Kissinger argued against the belief that with the dissolution of the USSR, hostile intentions had come to an end and traditional foreign policy considerations no longer applied. "They would argue … that Russia, regardless of who governs it, sits astride

5130-399: The entire world means that the foreign policy of any nation will affect more than its immediate neighbors; it will affect the alignment of nations throughout the world's regions. Maritime mobility opened up the possibility of a new geopolitical structure: the overseas empire . Spykman adopts Mackinder's divisions of the world but renames some: At the same time, even if he gives credit to

5225-466: The expansion on the biological conception of geography, without a static conception of borders. Positing that states are organic and growing, with borders representing only a temporary stop in their movement, he held that the expanse of a state's borders is a reflection of the health of the nation—meaning that static countries are in decline. Ratzel published several papers, among which was the essay "Lebensraum" (1901) concerning biogeography . Ratzel created

5320-619: The first time ever, a "non-Eurasian" power had emerged as a key arbiter of "Eurasian" power relations. The book states its purpose: "The formulation of a comprehensive and integrated Eurasian geostrategy is therefore the purpose of this book." Although the power configuration underwent a revolutionary change, Brzezinski confirmed three years later, Eurasia was still a mega-continent. Like Spykman, Brzezinski acknowledges that: "Cumulatively, Eurasia's power vastly overshadows America's." In classical Spykman terms, Brzezinski formulated his geostrategic "chessboard" doctrine of Eurasia, which aims to prevent

5415-609: The form of a hypothesized 'racial character,' to the factor of greatest significance in the constitution of human society. These differences led after 1933 to friction and ultimately to open denunciation of geopolitics by Nazi ideologues. Nevertheless, German Geopolitik was discredited by its (mis)use in Nazi expansionist policy of World War II and has never achieved standing comparable to the pre-war period. The resultant negative association, particularly in U.S. academic circles, between classical geopolitics and Nazi or imperialist ideology,

5510-462: The generalizations and broad abstractions employed by the German and Anglo-American traditions (and the new geographers ), this school does focus on spatial dimension of geopolitics affairs on different levels of analysis. This approach emphasizes the importance of multi-level (or multi-scales) analysis and maps at the opposite of critical geopolitics which avoid such tools. Lacoste proposed that every conflict (both local or global) can be considered from

5605-710: The government bargaining model that posits the foreign policy apparatus as several competing interests, and the organizational process model that posits the foreign policy apparatus as interlinked bureaucracies that each play their own role. Think tanks exist that study foreign policy specifically, including the Council on Foreign Relations in the United States and the Chatham House in the United Kingdom. Nicholas J. Spykman Nicholas John Spykman (pronounced "Speak-man", 13 October 1893 – 26 June 1943)

5700-407: The grain reserves of Ukraine, and many other natural resources. Mackinder's notion of geopolitics was summed up when he said: Who rules Central and Eastern Europe commands the Heartland. Who rules the Heartland commands the World-Island. Who rules the World-Island commands the World. Nicholas J. Spykman was both a follower and critic of geostrategists Alfred Mahan, and Halford Mackinder . His work

5795-399: The importance of social organization in the development of power. After World War I , the thoughts of Rudolf Kjellén and Ratzel were picked up and extended by a number of German authors such as Karl Haushofer (1869–1946), Erich Obst , Hermann Lautensach, and Otto Maull . In 1923, Karl Haushofer founded the Zeitschrift für Geopolitik (Journal for Geopolitics), which was later used in

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5890-529: The industrial centers of the Periphery were necessarily located in widely separated locations. The World Island could send its navy to destroy each one of them in turn, and could locate its own industries in a region further inland than the Periphery (so they would have a longer struggle reaching them, and would face a well-stocked industrial bastion). Mackinder called this region the Heartland . It essentially comprised Central and Eastern Europe : Ukraine , Western Russia , and Mitteleuropa . The Heartland contained

5985-425: The interests of international political actors focused within an area, a space, or a geographical element, relations which create a geopolitical system. Critical geopolitics deconstructs classical geopolitical theories, by showing their political or ideological functions for great powers . There are some works that discuss the geopolitics of renewable energy . According to Christopher Gogwilt and other researchers,

6080-457: The oceans to protect the United States (" hemispheric " or "quarter defense"), was bound to fail. His object was to prevent another US retreat, as what occurred after World War I. The book was praised as an important contribution. The book got a laudatory front-page review in the New York Times Book Review. Isaiah Bowman commented in 1942, "On grounds of merit and public value America’s Strategy in World Politics should be read in not less than

6175-421: The planet – the Royal Geographic Society in London" Haushofer adopted both Mackinder's Heartland thesis and his view of the Russian-German alliance – powers that Mackinder saw as the major contenders for control of Eurasia in the twentieth century. Following Mackinder he suggested an alliance with the Soviet Union and, advancing a step beyond Mackinder, added Japan to his design of the Eurasian Bloc. In 2004, at

6270-469: The policy of states are many; they are permanent and temporary, obvious and hidden; they include, apart from the geographic factor, population density, the economic structure of the country, the ethnic composition of the people, the form of government, and the complexes and pet prejudices of foreign ministers; and it is their simultaneous action and interaction that create the complex phenomenon known as "foreign policy." According to Spykman, topography affected

6365-521: The practice of foreign policy has evolved from managing short-term crises to addressing long-term international relations, with diplomatic corps playing a crucial role in its development. The objectives of foreign policy are diverse and interconnected, contributing to a comprehensive approach for each state. Defense and security are often primary goals, with states forming military alliances and employing soft power to combat threats. Economic interests, including trade agreements and foreign aid, are central to

6460-426: The preferences of the dictator. Dictators that interfere significantly with their foreign policy apparatus may be less predictable and more likely to make foreign policy blunders. The study of foreign policy considers why and how states interact with one another and maintain relations. Several schools of thought exist in the study of foreign policy, including the rational actor model based on rational choice theory ,

6555-467: The principle of spaces polymorphic faces depending from many factors among them mankind, culture, and ideas) as opposed to determinism. Due to the influence of German Geopolitik on French geopolitics, the latter were for a long time banished from academic works. In the mid-1970s, Yves Lacoste —a French geographer who was directly inspired by Ancel, Braudel and Vidal de la Blache—wrote La géographie, ça sert d'abord à faire la guerre (Geography first use

6650-416: The reason that the Rimland will be crucial to containing the Heartland, but Mackinder had believed that the Outer or Insular Crescent would be the most important factor in containing the Heartland. There are two offshore continents flanking Eurasia : Africa and Australia . Spykman sees both continents' geopolitical status as determined respectively by the state of control over the Mediterranean Sea and

6745-420: The role of geopolitics in the Nazi Third Reich suggest a fundamental significance on the part of the geo-politicians in the ideological orientation of the Nazi state. Bassin (1987) reveals that these popular views are in important ways misleading and incorrect. Despite the numerous similarities and affinities between the two doctrines, geopolitics was always held suspect by the National Socialist ideologists. This

6840-435: The shores of Eurasia." Nicholas J. Spykman 's vision of Eurasia was strongly confirmed: "Geopolitically, America is an island off the shores of the large landmass of Eurasia, whose resources and population far exceed those of the United States. The domination by a single power of either of Eurasia's two principal spheres—Europe and Asia—remains a good definition of strategic danger for America. Cold War or no Cold War. For such

6935-462: The strategic importance of maritime space like Mackinder, he does not see it as a region that will be unified by powerful transportation or communication infrastructure in the near future. As such, it will not be in a position to compete with US sea power . Spykman agrees that the Heartland offers a uniquely-defensive position, but that is all Spykman grants its occupier. While the USSR encompassed

7030-445: The strategic management of geopolitical interests…. But in the meantime it is imperative that no Eurasian challenger emerges, capable of dominating Eurasia and thus also of challenging America… For America the chief geopolitical prize is Eurasia…and America's global primacy is directly dependent on how long and how effectively its preponderance on the Eurasian continent is sustained." The Austro-Hungarian historian Emil Reich (1854–1910)

7125-684: The term "geopolitics" and its practical application stemming from its association with World War II and pre-World War II German scholars and students of geopolitics are largely specific to the field of academic geography, and especially sub-disciplines of human geography such as political geography. However, this negative association is not as strong in disciplines such as history or political science, which make use of geopolitical concepts. Classical geopolitics forms an important element of analysis for military history as well as for sub-disciplines of political science such as international relations and security studies . This difference in disciplinary perspectives

7220-657: The term foreign affairs was applied to the management of temporary issues outside the sovereign realm. This term remained in widespread use in the English-speaking states into the 20th century, and remains the name of departments in several states that manage foreign relations. Although originally intended to describe short term management of a specific concern, these departments now manage all day-to-day and long-term international relations among states. Think tanks are occasionally employed by government foreign relations organizations to provide research and advocacy in

7315-445: The term is currently being used to describe a broad spectrum of concepts, in a general sense used as "a synonym for international political relations", but more specifically "to imply the global structure of such relations"; this usage builds on an "early-twentieth-century term for a pseudoscience of political geography " and other pseudoscientific theories of historical and geographic determinism . Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840–1914)

7410-428: The territory which Halford Mackinder called the geopolitical heartland, and it is the heir to one of the most potent imperial traditions." Therefore, the United States must "maintain the global balance of power vis-à-vis the country with a long history of expansionism." After Russia, the second geopolitical threat which remained was Germany and, as Mackinder had feared ninety years ago, its partnership with Russia. During

7505-591: The two monsters – Britain and Russia – it was the latter that Mahan considered more threatening to the fate of Central Asia . Mahan was impressed by Russia's transcontinental size and strategically favorable position for southward expansion. Therefore, he found it necessary for the Anglo-Saxon "sea power" to resist Russia. Homer Lea , in The Day of the Saxon (1912), asserted that the entire Anglo-Saxon race faced

7600-427: The unification of this mega-continent. "Europe and Asia are politically and economically powerful…. It follows that… American foreign policy must…employ its influence in Eurasia in a manner that creates a stable continental equilibrium, with the United States as the political arbiter.… Eurasia is thus the chessboard on which the struggle for global primacy continues to be played, and that struggle involves geo- strategy –

7695-405: The unity and internal coherence of states, and climate affected the economic structure of the state. Spykman argued that the "comparative size of states" was a rough indication of the comparative strength of states (provided that there was political and economic integration of the state). He also argued that "Size is of primary importance as an element of defense, particularly if the vital centers of

7790-437: The view that man and societies are influenced by climate. He believed that hotter climates create hot-tempered people and colder climates aloof people, whereas the mild climate of France is ideal for political systems. Considered one of the founders of French geopolitics, Élisée Reclus , is the author of a book considered a reference in modern geography (Nouvelle Géographie universelle). Alike Ratzel, he considers geography through

7885-716: The world, while great powers and middle powers have moderate influence in global affairs. Small powers have less ability to exercise influence unilaterally, as they have fewer economic and military resources to leverage. As a result, they are more likely to support international and multilateral organizations. The diplomatic bureaucracies of smaller states are also smaller, which limits their capacity to engage in complex diplomacy. Smaller states may seek to ally themselves with larger countries for economic and defensive benefits, or they may avoid involvement in international disputes so as to remain on friendly terms with all countries. The political institutions and forms of government play

7980-407: Was Karl Haushofer who called Mackinder's Geographical Pivot of History a "genius' scientific tractate." He commented on it: "Never have I seen anything greater than those few pages of geopolitical masterwork." Mackinder located his Pivot, in the words of Haushofer, on "one of the first solid, geopolitically and geographically irreproachable maps, presented to one of the earliest scientific forums of

8075-441: Was a frequent commentator on world naval strategic and diplomatic affairs. Mahan believed that national greatness was inextricably associated with the sea—and particularly with its commercial use in peace and its control in war. Mahan's theoretical framework came from Antoine-Henri Jomini , and emphasized that strategic locations (such as choke points , canals, and coaling stations), as well as quantifiable levels of fighting power in

8170-421: Was a geopolitical rather than an ideological cold warrior. Three years after Kissinger's Diplomacy , Zbigniew Brzezinski followed suit, launching The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives and, after three more years, The Geostrategic Triad: Living with China, Europe, and Russia. The Grand Chessboard described the American triumph in the Cold War in terms of control over Eurasia: for

8265-553: Was also adopted in the field of geopolitical thought where it now plays a role. The geopolitical stance adopted by Russia has traditionally been informed by a Eurasian perspective, and Russia's location provides a degree of continuity between the Tsarist and Soviet geostrategic stance and the position of Russia in the international order. In the 1990s, a senior researcher at the Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences of

8360-478: Was an American political scientist who was Professor of International Relations at Yale University from 1928 until his death in 1943. He was one of the founders of the classical realist school in American foreign policy, transmitting Eastern European political thought to the United States. His work on geopolitics and geostrategy led him to be to known as the " godfather of containment ." A Sterling Professor of International Relations, teaching as part of

8455-405: Was an instructor in political science and sociology there from 1923 to 1925. He became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1928. In 1925, he came to Yale University , where he was an assistant professor of international relations. He became a full professor in 1928 and the chair of the university's department of international relations in 1935. Also in 1935, he was a co-founder of

8550-478: Was based on assumptions similar to Mackinder's, including the unity of world politics and the world sea. He extends this to include the unity of the air. Spykman adopts Mackinder's divisions of the world, renaming some: Under Spykman's theory, a Rimland separates the Heartland from ports that are usable throughout the year (that is, not frozen up during winter). Spykman suggested this required that attempts by Heartland nations (particularly Russia ) to conquer ports in

8645-468: Was inspired by the French geographer Paul Vidal de la Blache (who in turn was influenced by German thought, particularly that of Friedrich Ratzel whom he had met in Germany). Braudel's method was to analyse the interdependence between individuals and their environment. Vidalian geopolitics is based on varied forms of cartography and on possibilism (founded on a societal approach of geography—i.e. on

8740-561: Was no difference between Germany dominating all the way to the Ural or Russia controlling all the way to Germany, and as both scenarios were equally threatening to the US. Spykman predicted that Japan would lose the Pacific War and that China and Russia would remain to struggle against each other over boundaries. He also forecast the rise of China, becoming the dominant power in Asia and that

8835-485: Was somewhat of a geographical determinist . Since geography was "the most fundamentally conditioning factor because of its relative permanence," it is of primary relevance in analyzing a state's potential foreign policy. However, Spykman rejected that geography had a "deterministic, causal role in foreign policy, arguing, neither does the entire foreign policy of a country lie in geography, nor does any part of that policy lie entirely in geography. The factors that condition

8930-511: Was to remain the greatest land power in Asia and could be a peacekeeper or a problem. The Rimland (Mackinder's "Inner or Marginal Crescent") sections: While Spykman accepts the first two as defined, he rejects the simple grouping the Asian countries into one "monsoon land." India , the Indian Ocean littoral , and the culture of India had a geography and civilization separate from

9025-499: Was understandable, for the underlying philosophical orientation of geopolitics did not comply with that of National Socialism. Geopolitics shared Ratzel's scientific materialism and geographic determinism, and held that human society was determined by external influences—in the face of which qualities held innately by individuals or groups were of reduced or no significance. National Socialism rejected in principle both materialism and determinism and also elevated innate human qualities, in

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