GEOG 220 - GEOPOLITICS

Philippe Le Billon

Lecture 2 – Introducing Geopolitics

What is ‘geopolitics’?

• Etymology

• Lineage and circulation

• Why does it have currency?

• How does it work?

Etymology

Geo [Greek ‘ge’ = earth]+Politics [Greek ‘politikos’ = affairs of the city/state,

from ‘polis’ = city]

Lineage and circulation• Rudolf Kjellen (1864-1922), Swedish political scientist, often

presented as having coined the term ‘geopolitics’ in 1899:Þ Study of the state as a ‘geographical organism’ or spatial

phenomena– Topopolitik: position of a state– Physiopolitik: territory of a state (Raum)– Morphopolitik: shape of a state

• First known appearance in German mathematician and philosopher Leibniz’s Encyclopaedia (1679): relation between universal history and human geography.

• Longer lineage of thinkers and strategists (e.g. Aristotle, Confucius, Machiavelli)

Genealogy of German ‘Geopolitik’ Charles Darwin

Evolution of species=> ‘Social Darwinism’

Alexander von Humboldt‘Biogeography’

Karl Ritter‘Organic state’ (state-land-people)

Friedrich Ratzel‘Political Geography’

‘Lebensraum’ (living space)

Rudolph Kjellen‘Geopoliticks’

Karl HaushoferGerman ‘Geopolitik’ under Nazi

Rudolph HessSenior Nazi official

Alfred MahanLand power/Sea power

Halford MackinderGeographical ‘Pivot of History’

• Environmental determinism

• Evolution of organisms

• End of the ‘age of discoveries’ and imperial conquests

• Industrialization and railways

Alfred Mahan (1840-1914)• Thucydides (460-395bc): Peloponnesian War: Athens (sea-

power) vs Sparta (land-power)

• French failure to become a dominant ‘sea power’ due to geographical position dictating continental and maritime policies (‘two-fronts’)

• Implications:– importance of ‘securing’ the American landmass to allow

for a focus on ‘sea power’– ‘sea power’ secures ‘national greatness’– Extension of US’s Manifest Destiny through to the world

through naval protection of US commerce• Mahan’s geopolitical coinage includes the ‘Middle

East’ (at the time mostly Persian Gulf – later also renamed Arab(ian) Gulf)

Published 1890

Friedrich Ratzel (1844-1904)

Influenced by Darwin’s theory of evolution=> states as ‘organisms’ obeying to the laws of evolution: ‘survival

of the fittest’

• Organic analogy:– Lebensraum: ‘living space’ to thrive => states must expand or die

• Strong, united Germany extending to ‘Mitteleuropa’ to include all German-speaking people => preserve integrity of German culture and preclude attacks by hostile neighbors => logic of territorial expansion but also autarky (no external dependence on ‘unstable’ foreign markets)

• Perception of German vulnerability, yet high potential

Completed 1899

Halford Mackinder (1861-1947)

• John Evelyn (1620-1706) argued in 1674 that,Whoever commands the ocean commands the trade of the world, andWhoever commands the trade of the world commands the riches of the world, andWhoever is master of that commands the world itself.

• Mackinder saw a shift of balance of power from sea-based to land-based powers; a shift that created a ‘geographical pivot of history’

– Mackinder’s paper submitted in 1902, published in 1904– St Petersburg-Vladivostok railway completed in 1903– Russian perspective: protect ‘Russian territories’ in the east from Britain, China and Japan.

Most prominent British geographer of the early 20th century, renown for his ‘heartland’ geopolitical argument

Map of the ‘natural seats of power’, Halford J. Mackinder (1904) ‘The Geographical Pivot of History’, Geographical Journal

Haushofer’s pan-region model

Main assumptions

The idea that states compete is based on the assumptions that states need territory and resources to exist and so that they always try to grab more territory and resources

=> Belief that states do not always fight because their power is balanced: no state attack another because they are afraid of the power of that other state or its allies

=> The assumption is that ‘world politics’ is a zero-sum struggle for territory and resources

Why does geopolitics have currency?• Suggests a topic is important

• Deals with ‘big issues’ or relative power, threats, survival

• Purports to explain a great deal in simple terms, relates the mess of local events to a clearer ‘big picture’

• Justify a situation by arguing it is naturalÞ one “only needs to look at the map”Þ simplistic and biased views of ‘other’ places/people

• Brings a supposed clarity that can drive action (actionable recommendations: military deployment, alliances, infrastructures such as walls or ports)

• Promises to serve as a quasi oracle to predict future direction of world affairs (not through access to ‘thoughts of the divine’ but scientific facts) => yet often value-based rather than factual

Different forms of geopolitics

• Formal geopolitics• Practical geopolitics• Popular geopolitics

Formal Geopolitics“… describes how demographic trends in the developed world will constrain the ability of the United States and its traditional allies to maintain national and global security in the decades ahead. It also explains how dramatic demographic change in the developing world--from resurgent youth bulges in the Islamic world to premature aging in China and population implosion in Russia--will give rise to serious new security threats. While some argue that global aging is pushing the world toward greater peace and prosperity, The Graying of the Great Powers warns that a period of great geopolitical danger looms just over the horizon. Neither the triumph of multilateralism nor democratic capitalism is assured. The demographic trends of the twenty-first century will challenge the geopolitical assumptions of both the left and the right.”

Practical Geopolitics

Popular Geopolitics

US movie perspectiveson

Somalia

Next week

• Geopolitical perspectives on war and peace

=> Read Sara Koopman “Alter-geopolitics”