Difference between revisions of "Geopolitics" - New World Encyclopedia

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Geopolitics attempts to explain international politics in terms of geography – that is, the location, size and resources of places. Some geopolitical theories have fallen into disrepute because they have been used to justify imperialism and wars of aggression and seem to emphasize only one material factor at the exclusion of cultural and ideological factors.

Swedish political scientist Rudolf Kjellén coined the term at the beginning of the 20th century. Kjellén was inspired by the German geographer Friedrich Ratzel, who published his book Politische Geographie (political geography) in 1897. The term was popularized in English by American diplomat Robert Strausz-Hupé, a faculty member of the University of Pennsylvania

Halford Mackinder

Geopolitics gained prominence largely through the theories of Sir Halford Mackinder of England with his doctrine of the Heartland Theory in 1904. The Heartland theory hypothesized the possibility for a huge empire to be brought into existence in the Heartland, which would not need to use coastal or transoceanic transport to supply its military industrial complex, and that this empire could not be defeated by all the rest of the world coalitioned against it. Comparing countries to cogs in a machine, he theorized that the Heartland was the largest cog, and countries surrounding it, called the “World Island,” were the smaller cogs that moved as it moved.

The region Mackinder termed the Heartland consisted of Ukraine, Western Russia, and Mitteleuropa. It contained the grain reserves of Ukraine, and many other natural resources. The 'World Island' comprised Eurasia and Africa, and the 'Periphery', which included the Americas, British Isles, and Oceania. Mackinder's notion of geopolitics can be summed up in his saying "Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland. Who rules the Heartland commands the World-Island. Who rules the World-Island commands the world." His doctrine was influential during the World Wars and the Cold War, for Germany and later Russia each made territorial strides toward the Heartland.

The basic notions of Mackinder's doctrine involved considering the geography of the Earth as being divided into two sections. 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. Also, 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. It could locate its own industries in a region further inland than the Periphery could, so they would have a longer struggle reaching them, and would be facing a well-stocked industrial bastion.

Probably influenced by Mackinder's theory, Adolf Hitler invaded invade Russia in 1941, which he saw as being necessary for world domination. Hitler did not reckon, however, with the resilience of the Soviet people and the severity of the Russian winter, which combined to deliver a crushing blow to the Wehrmacht and was the beginning of the end for the Third Reich. Mackinder’s theory was further discredited when the Soviet empire, which occupied the Heartland, dissolved into separate republics amid economic chaos and rebellion.

Mackinder’s theory was opposed by Alfred Thayer Mahan who stressed the significance of navies (he coined the term sea power) in world conflict. American scholar Nicholas Spykman argued that it waw also important to control what he called the Rimland, which consisted of Western Europe, the Middle East and southern and eastern Asia. All these theories saw naval power as the key to control key straits and peninsulas that intersect ocean trade routes, such as the straits of Gibralter, the Bosporous, the straits of Molucca, the Suez Canal and the Panama Canal.

A variation of geopolitical theory that emerged during the Vietnam War was the "domino theory," the idea that communism would seek to take over adjacent countries one by one, like a row of falling dominoes, which was used as an argument for U.S. intervention in Vietnam. The theory argued that the line had to be held in Vietnam to prevent Thailand, Indonesia and eventually Australia from being at risk. This theory is not mentioned today because of the collapse of the Soviet Empire, conflicts between communist countries — such as border disputes between Mainland China and Vietnam — and the adoption of capitalism by Red China and Vietnam.

Other Theories

After World War I, Kjellen's thoughts and the term were picked up and extended by a number of scientists: in Germany by Karl Haushofer, Erich Obst, Hermann Lautensach and Otto Maull; in England, Mackinder and Fairgrieve; in France Vidal de la Blache and Vallaux. In 1923 Karl Haushofer founded the "Zeitschrift für Geopolitik" (magazine for geopolitics), which developed as a propaganda organ for Nazi-Germany.

Haushofer combined Mackiner's theory with some of his own and developed geopolitics into a pseudoscience. He argued that oceanic countries would have to grant lebensraum (living space) to the newer, more dynamic continental countries. Lebensraum was a key propaganda slogan justifying Hitler's invasion of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia that set World War II in motion.

Anton Zischka published Afrika, Europas Gemischftaufgabe Tummer (Africa, Complement of Europe) in 1952, where he proposed a kind of North-South Empire, from Stockholm to Johannesburg.

Since then, the word geopolitics has been applied to other theories, most notably the notion of the Clash of Civilizations by Samuel Huntington. In a peaceable world, neither sea lanes nor surface transport are threatened; hence all countries are effectively close enough from one another physically. It is in the realm of the political ideas, workings, and cultures that there are differences, and the term has shifted more towards this arena, especially in its popular usage. Traditionally, it strictly applies to geography's effect on politics.

Definitions

In the abstract, geopolitics traditionally indicates the links and causal relationships between political power and geographic space; in concrete terms it is often seen as a body of thought assaying specific strategic prescriptions based on the relative importance of land power and sea power in world history... The geopolitical tradition had some consistent concerns, like the geopolitical correlates of power in world politics, the identification of international core areas, and the relationships between naval and terrestrial capabilities.—Oyvind Osterud, The Uses and Abuses of Geopolitics, Journal of Peace Research, no. 2, 1988, p. 191

by geopolitical, I mean an approach that pays attention to the requirements of equilibrium. Henry Kissinger in Colin S Gray, G R Sloan. Geopolitics, Geography, and Strategy. Portland: Frank Cass Publishers, 1999.

Geopolitics is studying geopolitical systems. The geopolitical system is, in my opinion, the ensemble of interests of international political actors, interests focused to an area, space, geographical element or ways. - Vladimir Toncea, Geopolitical evolution of borders in Danube Basin, PhD 2006.

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 After [[World War I]], Kjellen's thoughts and the term were picked up and extended by a number of scientists: in Germany by [[Karl Haushofer]], [[Erich Obst]], [[Hermann Lautensach]] and [[Otto Maull]]; in England, Mackinder and [[Fairgrieve]]; in France [[Vidal de la Blache]] and [[Vallaux]]. In [[1923]] Karl Haushofer founded the "Zeitschrift für Geopolitik" (magazine for geopolitics), which developed as a propaganda organ for Nazi-Germany.
-Haushofer combined Mackiner's theory with some of his own and developed geopolitics into a pseudoscience. He argued that oceanic countries would have to grant lebensraum (living space) to the newer, more dynamic continental countries. Lebensraum was a key propaganda slogan  justifying Hitler's invasion of the Rhineland in Czechoslovakia that set World War II in motion.
+Haushofer combined Mackiner's theory with some of his own and developed geopolitics into a pseudoscience. He argued that oceanic countries would have to grant lebensraum (living space) to the newer, more dynamic continental countries. Lebensraum was a key propaganda slogan  justifying Hitler's invasion of the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia that set World War II in motion.
 [[Anton Zischka]] published ''Afrika, Europas Gemischftaufgabe Tummer'' (Africa, Complement of Europe) in [[1952]], where he proposed a kind of North-South Empire, from [[Stockholm]] to [[Johannesburg]].