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66-762: The Greater Middle East is a geopolitical term introduced in March 2004 in a paper published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as part of the United States ' preparatory work for the Group of Eight summit of June 2004. The paper presented a proposal for sweeping change in the way the West deals with the Middle East and North Africa . It also denotes a vaguely defined region encompassing

132-508: A "political awakening" is taking place in this region which may be an indicator of the multipolar world that is now developing. He alluded to the Greater Middle East as the "Global Balkans ", and as a control lever on an area he refers to as Eurasia . According to Andrew Bacevich 's book America's War for the Greater Middle East (2016), this region is the theater for a series of conflicts dating back to 1980, which heralded

198-730: A Pacific power, and therefore it should take possession of Hawaii to protect the West Coast . Nevertheless, his support for American imperialism was more ambivalent than is often stated, and he remained lukewarm about American annexation of the Philippines . Mahan was a major influence on the Roosevelt family . In addition to Theodore, he corresponded with Assistant Secretary of the Navy Franklin D. Roosevelt until his death in 1914. During World War II, Roosevelt would ignore

264-618: A conversion experience about 1871, when he realized that he could experience God's favor, not through his own merits, but only through "trust in the completed work of Christ on the cross." Geissler called one of his religious addresses almost "evangelical, albeit of the dignified stiff-upper-lip variety." And Mahan never mentioned a conversion experience in his autobiography. In later life, Mahan often spoke to Episcopal parishes. In 1899, at Holy Trinity Church in Brooklyn , Mahan emphasized his own religious experience and declared that one needed

330-589: A household word in the Imperial German Navy after Kaiser Wilhelm II ordered his officers to read Mahan, and Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz (1849–1930) used Mahan's reputation to finance a powerful High Seas Fleet . Tirpitz, an intense navalist who believed ardently in Mahan's dictum that whatever power rules the sea also ruled the world, had The Influence of Sea Power Upon History translated into German in 1898 and had 8,000 copies distributed for free as

396-473: A national hero in Britain and used his biography as a platform for expressing his views on naval strategy and tactics. Mahan was criticized for so strongly condemning Nelson's love affair with Lady Emma Hamilton , but it remained the standard biography until the appearance of Carola Oman 's Nelson , 50 years later. Mahan struck up a friendship with pioneering British naval historian Sir John Knox Laughton ,

462-673: A net advantage for world peace. In 1902, Mahan was elected president of the American Historical Association , and his address, "Subordination in Historical Treatment", is his most explicit explanation of his philosophy of history. In 1906, Mahan became rear admiral by an Act of Congress that promoted all retired captains who had served in the American Civil War . At the outbreak of World War I , he published statements favorable to

528-1274: A personal relationship with God given through the work of the Holy Spirit . In 1909, Mahan published The Harvest Within: Thoughts on the Life of the Christian , which was "part personal testimony, part biblical analysis, part expository sermon." Mahan died in Washington, D.C. , of heart failure on December 1, 1914, a few months after the outbreak of World War I. Alfred Thayer Mahan married Ellen Lyle Evans (born November 27th, 1851) in June 1872. Together, they had two daughters and one son; Helen Evans Mahan, born August 6th, 1873; Ellen Kuhn Mahan, born July 10th, 1877; and Lyle Evans Mahan, born 12 February 1881. Lyle Mahan alleged that his mother and father inherited several modest fortunes, though he admits that between maintaining multiple households (the Mahans owned at least two homes for most of their lives) and funding his sisters' and his own educations, they were not immensely wealthy. Lyle would go on to be

594-698: A secret contingency plan for war between the British Empire and the United States. Mahan believed that if the Royal Navy blockaded the East Coast of the United States , the US Navy should be concentrated in one of its ports, preferably New York Harbor with its two widely separated exits, and employ torpedo boats to defend the other harbors. This concentration of the U.S. fleet would force

660-485: A stock of examples to exemplify his theories, arguing that the education of naval officers should be based on a rigorous study of history. Mahan's framework derived from Jomini, and emphasized strategic locations (such as choke points , canals, and coaling stations), as well as quantifiable levels of fighting power in a fleet. Mahan also believed that in peacetime, states should increase production and shipping capacities and acquire overseas possessions, though he stressed that

726-414: A successful attorney and financier, and named his only son Alfred Thayer Mahan II (born 1905, died 1985). In 1901 , an alternate history by Robert Conroy , the main character is a young United States Army officer named Patrick Mahan, a fictitious nephew of Admiral Mahan, who himself appears briefly in the story as well. In Harry Turtledove 's Southern Victory , another alternate history, Mahan

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792-445: A synthesis of old and new ideas arose from the lessons of the war, especially by Admiral Raoul Castex (1878–1968), who synthesized in his five-volume Théories Stratégiques the classical and materialist schools of naval theory. He reversed Mahan's theory that command of the sea precedes maritime communications and foresaw the enlarged roles of aircraft and submarines in naval warfare. The Influence of Seapower Upon History, 1660–1783

858-463: A transnational consortium acting in defense of a multinational system of free trade . His theories, expounded before the submarine became a serious factor in warfare, delayed the introduction of convoys as a defense against the Imperial German Navy 's U-boat campaign during World War I. By the 1930s, the U.S. Navy had built long-range submarines to raid Japanese shipping; but in World War II,

924-525: A visit to Europe, where he was feted. He returned to lecture at the War College and then, in 1896, he retired from active service, returning briefly to duty in 1898 to consult on naval strategy during the Spanish–American War . Mahan continued to write, and he received honorary degrees from Oxford , Cambridge , Harvard , Yale , Columbia , Dartmouth , and McGill . In 1902, Mahan popularized

990-545: A way of pressuring the Reichstag to vote for the First Navy Bill . Tirpitz used Mahan not only as a way of winning over German public opinion but also as a guide to strategic thinking. Before 1914, Tirpitz completely rejected commerce raiding as a strategy and instead embraced Mahan's ideal of a decisive battle of annihilation between two fleets as the way to win command of the seas. Tirpitz always planned for

1056-460: Is also related to the changes in the world as a result of the end of the Cold War . With the emergence of a new world order (which as yet, is only poorly defined) and the development of new research agendas, such as the more recent focus on social movements and political struggles, going beyond the study of nationalism with its explicit territorial basis. There has also been increasing interest in

1122-706: Is frequently mentioned but never appears. He is spoken of as having been President of the United States from 1889 to 1897, and the Mahan Bedroom is a famous room in the Powel House in Philadelphia , analogous to the actual Lincoln Bedroom in the White House . As President, Mahan prevented the construction of a Confederate shipping canal in Nicaragua and opined that the main problem with republics

1188-520: The American Civil War . Commissioned as a lieutenant in 1861, Mahan served as an officer on USS  Worcester and James Adger and as an instructor at the Naval Academy. In 1865, he was promoted to lieutenant commander , and then to commander (1872), and captain (1885). As commander of the USS ; Wachusett he was stationed at Callao , Peru , protecting U.S. interests during

1254-734: The Arab world , along with Afghanistan , Iran , Turkey , and sometimes the Caucasus and Central Asia . Adam Garfinkle of the Foreign Policy Research Institute defined the Greater Middle East as the MENA region together with the Caucasus and Central Asia. The future of the Greater Middle East has sometimes been referred to as the "new Middle East", first so by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice , who presented

1320-601: The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars . British naval superiority eventually defeated France, consistently preventing invasion and an effective blockade. Mahan emphasized that naval operations were chiefly to be won by decisive battles and blockades . In the 19th century, the United States sought greater control over its seaborne commerce in order to protect its economic interests which relied heavily on exports bound mainly for Europe. According to Peter Paret 's Makers of Modern Strategy from Machiavelli to

1386-686: The Imperial Japanese Armed Forces , still tied to Mahan, designed its submarines as ancillaries to the fleet and failed to attack American supply lines in the Pacific. Mahan's analysis of the Spanish-American War suggested to him that the great distances in the Pacific required the American battle fleet to be designed with long-range striking power. Mahan believed first, that good political and naval leadership

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1452-660: The Naval War College . Before entering on his duties, College President Rear Admiral Stephen B. Luce pointed Mahan in the direction of writing his future studies on the influence of sea power. During his first year on the faculty, he remained at his home in New York City researching and writing his lectures. Though he was prepared to become a professor in 1886, Luce was given command of the North Atlantic Squadron , and Mahan became President of

1518-546: The New Imperialism in Africa and Asia. Given the rapid technological changes underway in propulsion (from coal to oil and from reciprocating engines to turbines), ordnance (with better fire directors, and new high explosives), and armor and the emergence of new craft such as destroyers and submarines , Mahan's emphasis on the capital ship and the command of the sea came at an opportune moment. Mahan's name became

1584-414: The military and political consequences of the relationships between physical geography, state territories, and state power. In particular there was a close association with both regional geography , with its focus on the unique characteristics of regions, and environmental determinism , with its emphasis on the influence of the physical environment on human activities. This association found expression in

1650-459: The American coast. This contingency plan was a clear example of Mahan's application of his principles of naval war, with a clear reliance on Jomini's principle of controlling strategic points. Timeliness contributed no small part to the widespread acceptance of Mahan's theories. Although his history was relatively thin, based as it was on secondary sources , his vigorous style, and clear theory won widespread acceptance of navalists and supporters of

1716-678: The British to tie down such a large proportion of their navy to watch the New York exits that other American ports would be relatively safe. Detached American cruisers should wage "constant offensive action" against the enemy's exposed positions; and if the British were to weaken their blockade force off New York to attack another American port, the concentrated U.S. fleet could capture British coaling ports in Nova Scotia , thereby seriously weakening British ability to engage in naval operations off

1782-639: The French Revolution and Empire, 1793–1812 (2 vols., 1892); Sea Power in Relation to the War of 1812 (2 vols., 1905), and The Life of Nelson: The Embodiment of the Sea Power of Great Britain (2 vols., 1897). Mahan stressed the importance of the individual in shaping history and extolled the traditional values of loyalty, courage, and service to the state. Mahan sought to resurrect Horatio Nelson as

1848-670: The German High Seas Fleet to win the Entscheidungsschlacht (decisive battle) against the British Grand Fleet somewhere in "the waters between Helgoland and the Thames ", a strategy he based on his reading of The Influence of Sea Power Upon History . However, the naval warfare of World War I proved completely different than German planners, influenced by Mahan, had anticipated because

1914-838: The German army neared defeat in the Hundred Days Offensive , the German Navy's high command, without informing the government, tried to mobilize the fleet for a decisive engagement with the Royal Navy. The sailors rebelled in the Kiel mutiny , instigating the German Revolution of 1918–1919 which toppled the Hohenzollern monarchy . Mahan and British First Sea Lord John Fisher (1841–1920) both addressed

1980-665: The Heartland would have control of the world. He used these ideas to politically influence events such as the Treaty of Versailles , where buffer states were created between the USSR and Germany , to prevent either of them controlling the Heartland. At the same time, Ratzel was creating a theory of states based around the concepts of Lebensraum and Social Darwinism . He argued that states were analogous to 'organisms' that needed sufficient room in which to live. Both of these writers created

2046-496: The Naval War College by default (June 22, 1886 – January 12, 1889, July 22, 1892 – May 10, 1893). There, in 1888, he met and befriended future president Theodore Roosevelt , then a visiting lecturer. Mahan's lectures, based on secondary sources and the military theories of Antoine-Henri Jomini , became his sea-power studies: The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660–1783 (1890); The Influence of Sea Power upon

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2112-591: The Naval War College. A principal developer of wargaming in the United States Navy, Mahan credited Little for assisting him with preparing maps and charts for his lectures and first book. Mahan's views were shaped by 17th-century conflicts between the Dutch Republic , the Kingdom of England , the Kingdom of France , and Habsburg Spain , and by the naval conflicts between France and Spain during

2178-577: The Nuclear Age , Mahan's emphasis on sea power as the most important cause of Britain's rise to world power neglected diplomacy and land arms. Furthermore, theories of sea power do not explain the rise of land empires, such as Otto von Bismarck 's German Empire or the Russian Empire . Mahan believed that national greatness was inextricably associated with the sea, with its commercial use in peace and its control in war; and he used history as

2244-589: The Royal Navy avoided open battle and focused on blockading Germany . As a result, after the Battles of Heligoland Bight and Dogger Bank , Admiral Hugo von Pohl kept most of Germany's surface fleet at its North Sea bases. In 1916, his successor, Reinhard Scheer , tried to lure the Grand Fleet into a Mahanian decisive battle at the Battle of Jutland , but the engagement ended in a strategic defeat. Finally as

2310-433: The adoption of quantitative spatial science, Robert Sack's (1986) work on territoriality was based on the behavioural approach, Henry Bakis (1987) showed the impact of information and telecommunications networks on political geography, and Peter Taylor's (e.g. 2007) work on World Systems Theory owed much to developments within structural Marxism . However, the recent growth in vitality and importance of this sub-discipline

2376-537: The cause of the Allies , but in an attempt to enforce American neutrality, President Woodrow Wilson ordered that all active and retired officers refrain from publicly commenting on the war. Mahan was reared as an Episcopalian and became a devout churchman with High Church sympathies. For instance, late in life he strongly opposed revision of the Book of Common Prayer . Nevertheless, Mahan also appears to have undergone

2442-607: The course of World War I changed ideas about the place of the navy. The refusal of the German fleet to engage in a decisive battle, the Dardanelles expedition of 1915 , the development of submarine warfare , and the organization of convoys all showed the French Navy 's new role in combined operations with the French Army . The Navy's part in securing victory was not fully understood by French public opinion in 1918, but

2508-526: The development of large capital ships — eventually leading to dreadnought battleships — as he was an advocate of the 'decisive battle' and of naval blockades . Critics, however, charged him with failing to adequately explain the rise of largely land-based empires, such as the German or Ottoman Empires , though Mahan did accurately predict both empires' defeats in World War I . Mahan directly influenced

2574-514: The development of the submarine and the aircraft carrier , combined with advances in technology, largely rendered obsolete the doctrine of the decisive battle between fleets. Nevertheless, the IJN did not adhere strictly to Mahanian doctrine because its forces were often tactically divided, particularly during the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Midway . Mahan believed that if the United States were to build an Isthmian canal , it would become

2640-568: The dominant interwar period and World War II -era Japanese naval doctrine of the "decisive battle doctrine" ( 艦隊決戦 , Kantai Kessen ) , and he became a " household name " in Germany. He also promoted American control over Hawaii though he was "lukewarm" in regards to American imperialism in general. Four U.S. Navy ships have borne his name , as well as various buildings and roads; and his works are still read, discussed, and debated in military, historical, and scholarly circles. Mahan

2706-476: The enemy fleet. Such a strategy called for the concentration of naval forces composed of capital ships, not too large but numerous, well-manned with crews thoroughly trained, and operating under the principle that the best defense is an aggressive offense. Mahan contended that with a command of the sea , even if local and temporary, naval operations in support of land forces could be of decisive importance. He also believed that naval supremacy could be exercised by

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2772-549: The exercise of power is not restricted to states and bureaucracies, but is part of everyday life. This has resulted in the concerns of political geography increasingly overlapping with those of other human geography sub-disciplines such as economic geography, and, particularly, with those of social and cultural geography in relation to the study of the politics of place (see, for example, the books by David Harvey (1996) and Joe Painter (1995)). Although contemporary political geography maintains many of its traditional concerns (see below)

2838-481: The final stages of the War of the Pacific . While in actual command of a ship, his skills were not exemplary; and a number of vessels under his command were involved in collisions with both moving and stationary objects. He preferred old square-rigged vessels rather than smoky, noisy steamships of his own day; and he tried to avoid active sea duty. In 1885, he was appointed as a lecturer in naval history and tactics at

2904-403: The geography of green politics (see, for example, David Pepper's (1996) work), including the geopolitics of environmental protest, and in the capacity of our existing state apparatus and wider political institutions, to address any contemporary and future environmental problems competently. Political geography has extended the scope of traditional political science approaches by acknowledging that

2970-421: The idea of a political and geographical science, with an objective view of the world. Prior to World War II political geography was concerned largely with these issues of global power struggles and influencing state policy, and the above theories were taken on board by German geopoliticians (see Geopolitik ) such as Karl Haushofer who - perhaps inadvertently - greatly influenced Nazi political theory, which

3036-414: The ideas of Alfred Thayer Mahan about the significance of sea power in world conflict. The heartland theory hypothesized the possibility of a huge empire being created which didn't need to use coastal or transoceanic transport to supply its military–industrial complex , and that this empire could not be defeated by the rest of the world allied against it. This perspective proved influential throughout

3102-600: The late Mahan's prior advice to him that the Commonwealth of the Philippines could not be defended against an Imperial Japanese invasion, leading to a futile defense of the islands against the Japanese Philippines campaign . Between 1889 and 1892, Mahan was engaged in special service for the Bureau of Navigation , and in 1893 he was appointed to command the powerful new protected cruiser Chicago on

3168-404: The move towards 'Critical geographies', the arguments have drawn largely from postmodern , post structural and postcolonial theories. Examples include: Alfred Thayer Mahan Alfred Thayer Mahan ( / m ə ˈ h æ n / ; September 27, 1840 – December 1, 1914) was a United States naval officer and historian , whom John Keegan called "the most important American strategist of

3234-460: The multi-disciplinary expansion into related areas is part of a general process within human geography which involves the blurring of boundaries between formerly discrete areas of study, and through which the discipline as a whole is enriched. In particular, contemporary political geography often considers: Critical political geography is mainly concerned with the criticism of traditional political geographies vis-a-vis modern trends. As with much of

3300-399: The nineteenth century." His 1890 book The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660–1783 won immediate recognition, especially in Europe, and with the publication of its 1892 successor, The Influence of Sea Power Upon the French Revolution and Empire, 1793–1812 , he affirmed his status as a globally-known and regarded military strategist, historian, and theorist. Mahan's works encouraged

3366-479: The number of coal fueling stations and strategic bases should be limited to avoid draining too many resources from the mother country. The primary mission of a navy was to secure the command of the sea, which would permit the maintenance of sea communications for one's own ships while denying their use to the enemy and, if necessary, closely supervise neutral trade. Control of the sea could be achieved not by destruction of commerce but only by destroying or neutralizing

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3432-407: The pair maintaining the relationship through correspondence and visits when Mahan was in London. Mahan was later described as a "disciple" of Laughton, but the two were at pains to distinguish between each other's line of work. Laughton saw Mahan as a theorist while Mahan called Laughton "the historian". Mahan worked closely with William McCarty Little , another critical figure in the early history of

3498-418: The period of the Cold War , underpinning military thinking about the creation of buffer states between East and West in central Europe. The heartland theory depicted a world divided into a Heartland (Eastern Europe/Western Russia); World Island (Eurasia and Africa); Peripheral Islands (British Isles, Japan, Indonesia and Australia) and New World (The Americas). Mackinder argued that whoever controlled

3564-432: The problem of how to dominate home waters and distant seas with naval forces unable to do both. Mahan argued for a universal principle of concentration of powerful ships in home waters with minimized strength in distant seas. Fisher instead decided to use submarines to defend home waters and mobile battlecruisers to protect British interests. Though in 1914, French naval doctrine was dominated by Mahan's theory of sea power,

3630-400: The regional approach. As a result, most of the political geography texts produced during this period were descriptive, and it was not until 1976 that Richard Muir could argue that political geography was no longer a dead duck, but could in fact be a phoenix. From the late-1970s onwards, political geography has undergone a renaissance, and could fairly be described as one of the most dynamic of

3696-571: The second-term Bush administration's vision for the region's future in June 2006 in Dubai. Rice said would be achieved through "constructive chaos", a phrase she repeated a few weeks later during a joint press conference with Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert when the 2006 Lebanon War had broken out; the meaning of this phrase and the Bush administration's vision have been much debated since. The efforts to achieve this new Middle East are sometimes called "The Great Middle East Project". Former US National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski stated that

3762-427: The start of the Iran–Iraq War . The rise of Islam in the regions peripheral to Europe, notably peaking with the 1453 fall of Constantinople , led to Europeans considering themselves a Christendom isolated from the broader world by the 15th century. Political geography The origins of political geography lie in the origins of human geography itself, and the early practitioners were concerned mainly with

3828-429: The sub-disciplines today. The revival was underpinned by the launch of the journal Political Geography Quarterly (and its expansion to bi-monthly production as Political Geography ). In part this growth has been associated with the adoption by political geographers of the approaches taken up earlier in other areas of human geography, for example, Ron J. Johnston 's (1979) work on electoral geography relied heavily on

3894-424: The term " Middle East ," which he used in the article "The Persian Gulf and International Relations," published in September in the National Review . As a delegate to the 1899 Hague Convention , Mahan argued against prohibiting the use of asphyxiating gases in warfare on the ground that such weapons would inflict such terrible casualties that belligerents would be forced to end wars more quickly, thus providing

3960-415: The work of the German geographer Friedrich Ratzel , who in 1897 in his book Politische Geographie , developed the concept of Lebensraum (living space) which explicitly linked the cultural growth of a nation with territorial expansion, and which was later used to provide academic legitimisation for the imperialist expansion of the German Third Reich in the 1930s. The British geographer Halford Mackinder

4026-633: Was a form of politics seen to be legitimated by such 'scientific' theories. The close association with environmental determinism and the freezing of political boundaries during the Cold War led to a significant decline in the perceived importance of political geography, which was described by Brian Berry in 1968 as a 'moribund backwater'. Although at this time in most other areas of human geography new approaches, including quantitative spatial science, behavioural studies, and structural Marxism, were invigorating academic research these were largely ignored by political geographers whose main point of reference remained

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4092-444: Was a member of the Philolexian Society debating club. Against the wishes of his father, Mahan then entered the U.S. Naval Academy , where he graduated second in his class in 1859. After graduation he was assigned to the frigate Congress from 9 June 1859 until 1861. He then joined the steam-corvette Pocahontas of the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron and participated in the Battle of Port Royal in South Carolina early in

4158-423: Was also heavily influenced by environmental determinism and in developing his concept of the 'geographical pivot of history' or the Heartland Theory (in 1904) he argued that the era of sea power was coming to an end and that land based powers were in the ascendant, and, in particular, that whoever controlled the heartland of 'Euro-Asia' would control the world. This theory involved concepts diametrically opposed to

4224-521: Was born on September 27, 1840, at West Point, New York , to Dennis Hart Mahan , a professor at the United States Military Academy and the foremost American expert on fortifications, and Mary Helena Okill Mahan (1815–1893), daughter of John Okill and Mary Jay, daughter of Sir James Jay . Mahan's middle name honors "the father of West Point", Sylvanus Thayer . Mahan attended Saint James School , an Episcopal college preparatory academy in western Maryland. He then studied at Columbia for two years, where he

4290-470: Was no less important than geography when it came to the development of sea power. Second, Mahan's unit of political analysis insofar as sea power was concerned was a transnational consortium, rather than a single nation state. Third, his economic ideal was free trade rather than autarky . Fourth, his recognition of the influence of geography on strategy was tempered by a strong appreciation of the power of contingency to affect outcomes. In 1890, Mahan prepared

4356-402: Was translated into Japanese and was used as a textbook in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). That usage strongly affected the IJN's plan to end Russian naval expansion in the Far East, which culminated in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05. It has been argued that the IJN's pursuit of the "decisive battle" ( Kantai Kessen ) contributed to Imperial Japan 's defeat in World War II , because

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