adminComments Off on Geography, Geostrategy and Military Operations
by General Sir Rupert Smith Unlike the majority of my school fellows, I enjoyed geography. Apart from the generally held opinion that the subject was for ‘thick’ boys, nobody took A levels in geography unless that was all they could do; I could not understand their aversion, not that I… Read more »
adminComments Off on “Down to Earth: Geopolitical Realities” by Geoff Sloan, PhD
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 »
adminComments Off on Heartland vs Rimland, Continental vs Maritime Power: The Geopolitics of the First World War*
Hew Strachan On 25 January 1904, Halford Mackinder, Reader in Geography at Oxford and Director of the London School of Economics, delivered a lecture entitled ‘The geographical pivot of history’ at the Royal Geographical Society of London. He described a world which had been fully explored and fully politicised – in… Read more »
adminComments Off on “The Practice of Strategy: Two Case Studies from British History” by Kenton White
A presentation to the Mackinder Forum Seminar #26, “Colin S. Gray: Master of Strategy and Geopolitics,” February 28, 2021 Introduction In his book Strategy and History Colin wrote, ‘Strategy is the bridge between military power and political purpose. Its state of repair is highly variable. Moreover … it is a bridge that… Read more »
adminComments Off on The Arctic’s Emerging Geopolitics: Recommendations for the U.S. and its NATO Allies
by Bert Chapman (Purdue University) ABSTRACT The Arctic region possesses significant oil and natural gas resources and is becoming an increasingly important arena of geopolitical contention. Canada, China, Denmark, Norway, Russia, and the United States are acutely interested in gaining and maintaining access to its waters and natural resources. Warming temperatures are… Read more »
adminComments Off on Halford Mackinder: The Pivot and the Heartland by Brian Blouet
Brian Blouet College of William and Mary Why does Mackinder evolve from the Pivot paper (1904) to the Heartland thesis (1919)? In 1904 Mackinder identified four possible contenders for control of the core of Eurasia. The contenders were: the German empire, the Russian empire, China, and Japan. Mackinder added, should… Read more »
adminComments Off on The “Decisive Storm” that Changed the Geopolitical Balance of the Red Sea by Shaul Shay
The “Decisive Storm” that Changed the Geopolitical Balance of the Red Sea Shaul Shay A year has passed since the Saudi-led Arab coalition launched a war in Yemen after the legitimate government was overthrown by the Iranian backed Houthi rebels. Saudi Arabia under a new king, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al… Read more »
adminComments Off on China’s Nine-Dashed Map: Maritime Source of Geopolitical Tension
By Bert Chapman Government Information, Political Science, & Economics Librarian/Professor of Library Science, Purdue University Libraries, West Lafayette, IN. Posted October 30, 2014. Abstract: The South China Sea (SCS) is becoming an increasingly contentious source of geopolitical tension due to its significance as an international trade route, possessor of… Read more »
adminComments Off on The Ukrainian Crisis, Part IV: In Extremis
James D. Hardy, Jr., PhD & Leonard J. Hochberg, PhD Diplomacy seeks to smooth the edges and round the angles of international relationships in the endless search for accommodation. But the power asymmetry among states and the unbridgeable differences among cultures and religions often make accommodation difficult. Beyond that diplomacy is complicated… Read more »
adminComments Off on The Ukrainian Crisis, Part III: The Deal
James D. Hardy, Jr., PhD and Leonard J. Hochberg, PhD In eastern Ukraine disorder bubbles on, violence expands, the subterranean power of militias and the Russian special forces grows, and the authority of the Ukrainian government evaporates. This has been going on since March 2014, and will continue into May and… Read more »
