On February 20, 2022, Professor Geoff Sloan, Coordinator, Mackinder Forum-UK, delivered a talk on “Down to Earth: The Geopolitical Realities of the United Kingdom.” Abstract: The United Kingdom as the name implies is the sum of a number of separate historical entities. In terms of European state formation this is… Read more »
The first three Mackinder Forum Seminars of 2022 were held on January 9, January 23, and February 6. Elbridge Colby’s new book, The Strategy of Denial, was discussed by participants of the Mackinder Forum. Here is how we structured the readings and the conversation: Sunday, January 9, 1:30-3:00 p.m, Eastern… Read more »
Geopolitics and the Union It was the American writer Samuel Huntington who observed that the job of the political scientist is not to improve the world, but to say what he thinks is going on in it. Huntington demonstrated this ability in his 1996 classic, The Clash of Civilisations and the… Read more »
Geopolitics, Geography and Strategy, an edited book by Colin Gray and Geoff Sloan, has now been translated into Japanese. Professor Gray cofounded the Mackinder Forum and Professor Sloan is the Coordinator of the Forum in the United Kingdom.
Professor Albert Chapman, an affiliate of the Mackinder Forum, was interviewed by the London Daily Telegraph for an article (“Why Undersea Cables are The Real Threat to National Security”) published January 22, 2022. Chapman’s article, “Undersea Cables: The Ultimate Geopolitical Chokepoint” may be found here.
On December 19, 2021, Professor Paul Rahe addressed the Mackinder Forum Seminar on “Carthage Can Now Defeat Rome.” Abstract: In 1890, when Alfred Thayer Mahan published The Influence of Seapower on History, he made no mention of Thucydides and barely touched on the great struggle between Athens and Sparta that the… Read more »
On December 5, 2021, 1:30 p.m.-3:00 p.m. Eastern US Time, Professor Sean McMeekin addressed the Mackinder Forum Seminar on “Reassessing the Second World War in Terms of Geopolitics.” Abstract: World War II endures in the popular imagination as a heroic struggle between good and evil, with Adolf Hitler driving the… Read more »
On November 20, 2021, 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Eastern US Time an anonymous scholar and soldier presented his personal reflections, “First Principles after Kabul: A Soldier’s Reflection.” THE ABSTRACT and BIOGRAPHICAL statement are withheld at the request of the presenter. READINGS included: FM 3-24, Army and Marine Corps Counter-Insurgency Field… Read more »
On Sunday, November 7, 1:30-3:00 pm Eastern US Time, Professor Joe Grieco addressed the Mackinder Forum Seminar on “Prediction, Policy, and International Relations Theories.” ABSTRACT: How can the field of International Relations (IR) make a useful contribution to decision-making and public discourse on foreign policy? We in IR often wish… Read more »
On October 30, 2021, Professor Jeannie Johnson addressed the Mackinder Forum Seminar on “Is There Genuine Strategic Utility in ‘Knowing Thyself’”? Abstract: Strategic culture theorists often cite Sun Tzu’s dictum to Know Thyself and Know Thy Enemy as something close to sacred verse. Those same theorists, however, do not always… Read more »
