Geopolitics

Geopolitics= Geographical factors+ Politics

Geographical factors refer to state’s location, climate, natural
resources, populations and physical terrain. All these factors can help
or hinder a country’s social, political or economic development.
Politics means struggle to promote one’s interest
Geopolitics is the study of the influence of geographical factors on
state behavior. It studies how location, climate, natural resources,
population and physical terrain determine a state’s foreign policy
options and its position in the hierarchy of the states.
Geopolitics VS Political
Geography
 Geopolitics studies how geography shapes  Political geography examines how politics
politics shape geography
 geopolitics, analysis of the geographic  PG is also used to describe the relationship
influences on power relationships in between physical environment and politics and
international relations.. has both domestic policy and international
implications
Geopolitics is the study how geography affects
international power dynamics.  Political geography is the study of how the
political system affects geography.
Geopolitics looks at the use of space to
achieve power and influence.  PG examines the ways in which political system
distribute resources across different places.
 Geopolitics studies how nations and states
use geography to gain advantages in  PG studies how different political system use
international politics. and manage physical space.
Evolution of the concept of
Geopolitics
The term geopolitics is generally regarded as being first used by Swedish political scientist
Rudolf Kjellen (1864–1922) in an 1899 article in the Swedish geographical journal Ymer, and
Kjellen used the German term Geopolitik in a 1905 article in the German journal Geographische
Zeitschrift.
Friedrich Ratzel (1844–1904)
 Ratzel was a major German geographer and is regarded as a founder of modern human and
political geography. He became a professor of geography at the University of Munich in 1876.
“Laws of the Spatial Growth of States,” published in 1896, described the state’s expansion
through war as a natural and progressive tendency.
 Political Geography (1897), lebensraum to German political discourse and present what he
considered seven laws on state growth:
1. State space increases with cultural growth.
2. Territorial growth follows other developmental aspects.
3. A state grows by absorbing other, smaller units.
4. Frontiers are peripheral state organs reflecting a state’s strength and growth and are not
permanent.
5. States seek to absorb politically valuable territory as they grow.
6. A primitive states’s incentive to grow comes from a more highly developed state.
7. Tendencies toward territorial growth increase as they pass from state to state.
Rudolf Kjellén (1864–1922)
 His geopolitical thought was influenced by German idealist philosophy, social Darwinism, and
prevailing imperialist views.
 He defined geopolitics as the study of the state as a geographical organism or spatial
phenomenon with particular emphasis on a state’s location in relation to other states, its
territorial form, and its size.
 Staaten som Lifsform (1916 & 1924)
 Following steps in analysis of state- geopolitik, demopolitik, oekopolitik, sociopolitik,
kratopolitik
Karl Haushofer (1869–1946)
He increasingly began seeing sea power as an important element in his geopolitical
Weltanschauung, and his thought and writings would divide the earth into three north-south
regions with a core and periphery and Arctic, temperate, and tropical environments. These
regions, which had the potential for economic self-sufficiency, were-
• Pan-America, with the United States as the core
• Eurafrica, with Germany as the core
• East Asia, with Japan as the core and Australia as the periphery
 Haushofer’s geopolitical ideology had clear imperialist proclivities by the 1920s as he sought to
increase German territory.
Heartland Theory

Sir Halford John Mackinder (1861-1947) was an English

geographer, academic and politician who is regarded as
one of the founding fathers of both geopolitics and
geography.
 In 1904, Mackinder gave a paper on The Geopolitical
Pivot of History at the Royal Geographical Society, in
which he formulated the Heartland Theory.
 His next major work, Democratic Ideals and Reality: A
Study in the Politics of Reconstruction, appeared in
1919.
Main Preposition

The books most famous quote was:

“Who rules East Europe commands the
Heartland;
Who rules the Heartland commands the
World Island;
Who rules the World Island commands the
World.’’
Mackinder’s last major work was the 1943
article, “The Round World and the Winning of
the Peace,” in which he envisioned a post-war
world.
World Island: World Island is comprised of
Eurasia and Africa which are 2/3rd of the
world area.
The Heartland or Pivot Area: Heartland
landmass is comprised of the central part of
Eurasia and surrounding by mountainous
fortresses by three sides and the Arctic Ocean
by North. It is not accessible by sea power as
mountain works like a fortress. Russia
(Western china, Mongolia, Afghanistan,
Baluchistan, Iraq)
Inner or marginal crescent: The heartland is
surrounded by inner or marginal crescent. It
includes Western Europe, West Asia, Indian
subcontinents, Southeast Asia, Eastern China.
Offshore Islands: UK and Japan
Outer Crescent: North America, South
America, Australia
Modified in 1919 included Black & Baltic Sea Basins
Concept of Midland basin, 1943
Midland Basin included the countries that surrounded the Midland Ocean i.e. Western Europe
(France, Belgium, Britain, etc) and North America
According to this theory, any power which controlled the World-Island would control well over
50% of the world’s resources. The Heartland’s size and central position made it the key to
controlling the World-Island.

Mackinder held that effective political domination of the Heartland by a single power had
been unattainable in the past because:
. The Heartland was protected from sea power by ice to the north and mountains and deserts
to the south.
. Previous land invasions from east to west and vice versa were unsuccessful because lack of
efficient transportation made it impossible to assure a continual stream of men and supplies.
He outlined the following ways in which the heartland might become a springboard for global
domination in the twentieth century

1. Successful invasion of Russia by a west European nation (most probably Germany).

Mackinder believed that the introduction of the railroad had removed the Heartland’s
invulnerability to land invasion.
2. A Russo-German alliance.
3. Conquest of Russia by a Sino-Japanese empire

One of Mackinder’s personal objectives was to warn Britain that its traditional reliance on sea
power would become a weakness as improved land transport opened up the Heartland for
invasion and/or industrialization.
 Rim land Theory

NICHOLAS JOHN SPYKMAN (13 October 1893 – 26 June 1943) was an

American political scientist who was one of the founders of the classical
realist school in American foreign policy, transmitting Eastern European
political thought to the United States.
According to Spykman,
Geography is the most fundamental factor in foreign policy because it is
the most permanent.
Even more important than the size of a state, is location, both in the world
and in a particular region.
“States, cannot escape their geography. However skilled that Foreign Office,
and however resourceful the General Staff.
A state’s foreign policy must reckon with geographic facts. It can deal with
them skillfully or ineptly;
It can modify them; but it cannot ignore them. For geography does not
argue. It simply is.”
Rim land Theory

Spykman published two books on foreign policy.

1. America’s Strategy in World Politics was
published in 1942, soon after the entry of the
United States into World War ll.
Concerned with the balance of power, he argued
that isolationism, which relied on the oceans to
protect the United States (“hemispheric” or
“quarter defense”), was bound to fail.
2. The Geography of the Peace (1944) 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 1944,Spykman as the point of critic or antithetic to
the Heartland Theory presented his work titled “The
Rimland Theory” in his book- “The Geography of
Peace”

He gave a different interpretation of the relative

importance of Heartland (Land Power) vis-a-vis the
surrounding Inner and Outer Crescent .

His theory has been based on the 2 basic postulates

of Mackinder:
1. Geographical Causation of History
2. The conflict between Land Power and Sea
power
2 Tier System
A. Inner Core B. Rim land
It is similar to the Heartland Similar to the Inner Crescent and has all the majestic
sea powers, which scripted the history of modern
He said that Heartland is a region of Physiographic civilization
difficulties with barriers and climatic such as Siberia
All the area of Rim land is connected to water i.e.
The resources are dormant The seas or oceans e.g. China, India, ASEAN
Human Population is absent Countries, Gulf Countries, etc

It is neither a nature fortress nor the protected Land To Spykman – “Heartland appeared less important
than the Rim land” and his famous dictum was
It is allowing access to others such as the central
Asian deserts, Steppes, Low mountains, River Valleys
are several gateways
“Who controls the Rim land
Moreover, this region is inhabited by Tribals and rules Eurasia, Who rules
primitive civilization and by no means it can affect Eurasia controls the destinies of
the geopolitics of the world. It is a Land of Miseries
with no prosperity. the World”
WHY RIMLAND IS IMPORTANT THAN HEARTLAND?
. At least 40 % of the world resources are in the Rim land area such a Oil, Continental Shelf resources, etc
. Rim land countries have huge population e.g. India, China, etc
. Rim land countries are undergoing war against terror, the war against weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs)
. Rim land consists mostly of developing Nations such as India, CLMV countries, Indonesia, etc.
After 1950, all major wars were Fought in Rim land-
. North-South Korea
. Sino India
. Arab Israel War
Heart Sea
land power
. Indo Pak war + Rim
land
+ Rim
land

. Gulf crisis
. Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq war
Rim land Theory on US
Foreign Policy

 Geostrategic importance of Rim land to US, needs to ally with UK

 Counter Socialism in Rim land
 Maintain supply of natural resources and Expand its market (Goods & Arms)
 Maintain socio-economic, military tie with Rim land countries through NATO, SEATO, ASEAN,
ANZUS
 Establishing military bases in rimland countries
CRITICISM

.Criticized on the ground of Advancement of war technology and Nuclear deterrence

. Spykman underestimated the role of the world community & UNO in promoting world peace
. World today is a global village and international law doesn’t permit territorial expansion i.e.
Ratezel’s Lebensraum was no longer applicable which considered State as a living organism
and motivated Hitler for a Greater German Reich(Realm)
. It is the time of Economic imperialism and not that of colonization e.g Indian Markets by
Chines Goods.
Understanding Critical
Geopolitics

 Geopolitics first coined in 1899.

 It is a problem solving theory for the conceptualization and practice of
statecraft.
 Geopolitics sees itself as an instrumental form of knowledge and rationality.
It takes the existing power structures for granted and works within these to
provide conceptualization and advice to foreign policy decision-makers.
It dominant modes of narrative are
declarative (‘this is how the world is’) and
imperative (‘this is what we must do’) .
 Is’ and ‘we’ mark its commitment to, on the one hand, to a
particular geographically bounded community and its
cultural/political version of the truth of that world.
Its enduring ‘plot’ is the global balance of power and the future of
strategic advantage in an anarchic world.
 Geopolitics is of the same ilk as political realism, distinguishing itself
by its proclivity to find ‘geography’ as a singularly important element in
foreign policy conceptualization and practice.
Critical Geopolitics

 Critical geopolitics is a problematizing theoretical enterprise that

places the existing structures of power and knowledge in question.
Robert Cox ‘theory is always for someone and some purposes.’
 It seeks to recover the complexities of global political life and expose
the power relationships that characterize knowledge about geopolitics
concealed by orthodox geopolitics.
 It also criticized the superficial and self interested ways in which
orthodox geopolitics ‘reads the world political map’ by projecting its
own cultural and political assumptions upon it while concealing these
every assumptions.
Critical theorists reject three basic postulates of positivism:

1. An objective external reality.

2. The subject/object distinction.
3. Value-free social science.
Theoretical debate is purely a political debate.
Critical geopolitics challenges the Eurocentric ism( Samir Amin- 1989)
During cold war the debate: Orthodox and the critical geopolitics
East and West division.
Challenges the notion US/Them, inside/outside, domestic/foreign, near/ far,
heartland/rimland, sea power/ land power.
 Critical Geopolitics has long taken the dynamics of globalization, informationalizaiton and
risk society very seriously.
Type of Geopolitics Object of Investigation Problematic Research Example

Formal Geopolitics Geopolitical thought and Intellectuals, institutions and Halford Mackinder, his geopolitical
the geopolitical tradition their political and cultural theories and imperialist context
context

Practical The everyday practice of Practical geopolitics reasoning ‘Balkanism’ and its influence over US
Geopolitics statecraft in foreign policy and foreign policy towards Bosnia
conceptualization

Popular Geopolitics Popular culture, mass National identity and the The role of the mass media in
media and geographical construction of images of other projecting images of Bosnia into
understandings peoples and places western living room

Structural The contemporary Global processes, tendencies How globalization, informationalization

Geopolitics geopolitical condition and contradictions and risk society condition/transform
geopolitical practices
 Formal Geopolitics
 Friedrich Ratzel (1844-1909):
State is an individual organism. (German)
Influenced by- Hegel, Charles Darwin (The origin of species-1859)
- Contribution: Lebensraum or living space, The law of the territorial Growth of states- 1869.
 Rudolf Kjellen (1864-1922):
Founder of modern geopolitics (German Swedish)
State is a conscious entity.
He supported the Ratzel’s ideas.
Book: ‘The great powers’
 Alfred T. Mahan (1840-1914):
Book: The influence of sea power upon History- (1660-1783)
(USA)
 Sir Halford J. Mackinder (1861-1947):
(Britain)
Famous speech- The Geographical Pivot of History (1904)
Heartland Theory- East Europe
Criticism-
Eurocentric
No specification of geopolitics
Applicapability
Practical Geopolitics

Practical geopolitics reasoning in foreign policy and

conceptualization.
Bosnia war (Ancient Origin)
◦ Formation of Yugoslavia- 1917 kingdom of Serbs, Croats , Slovenese
◦ 1946 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
◦ 6 Republics- Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia,
Serbia, Montenegro & 2 autonomy- Vojvodiva, Kosovo
◦ Ethnic Groups-Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Macedonians, Montenegrans and
Bosnian Muslim
◦ Socialist Economy
Break up of Yugoslavia 1990s
Bosnia War (1992-1995)
as Balkanism Vs Southeastern Europe
Popular Geopolitics
Popular geopolitics refers to how media portrays an events.
Halford Mackinder have not focused on the popular geopolitics.
Post-1945 mass television ownership to a contemporary era characterized by multi-media
environment, smart technologies and greater capacity of citizens, especially in west.
Media Mogul: CNN international, Time-Warner, News International and the BBC.
Government always have sought to regulate, monitor, disrupt and ban broadcasting.
Commonwealth Heads of state meeting in Sri Lanka in 2013 and the issues of the Channel 4
broadcasting of the story of ‘Tamil issues’. A series of programs name mainly Sri Lanka’s
Killing Fields. (Video
 UN ordered to make a probe body for investigation and criticized the UK for
attending the summit.
 Channel 4 reporters complained of Sri Lankan Government Harassment.
 In 2013 a British soldier was caught for murdering a Afghan combatant in the
war field.
 The geopolitical power of the media, therefore, lies not only in the nature of the
broadcasting itself but also the manner in which events, people, and places are
‘framed’.
 Civil war in Syria, the Arab Spring and the Israeli-Iran tension. These issues
have been seen in the west through the prism of the War on terror.
 There is hardly any serious events that missed to broadcast
Structural Geopolitics
 Critical Geopolitics has long taken the dynamics of globalization,
informationalization and risk society very seriously.
 National Security is global in nature.
 Western institutions are in Victory crisis. Clash of Civilization or
third wave of Democracy.
 The danger of counter-modernity. (Religious fundamentalism,
violence