On March 26, 2022, Professor Jack Goldstone addressed the Mackinder Forum Seminar on “The China Challenge.” Abstract: The rise of China is confusing. Giant with feet of clay? Or 21st Century tech superpower? This talk will provide an assessment of China’s short and long-term goals, the threats they pose… Read more »
On September 12, 2021, 1:30-3:00 p.m. (Eastern US time), Professor Sumit Ganguly addressed the Mackinder Forum Seminar on “India, Pakistan and China after the Taliban takeover in Afghanistan.” Biography: Sumit Ganguly is a Distinguished Professor of Political Science and holds the Rabindranath Tagore Chair in Indian Cultures and Civilizations at… Read more »
Professor David Graff presented an astute and informative talk devoted to “Vertical Alliances and Horizontal Coalitions: Geography, Strategy, and the Lessons of China’s Warring States” on Sunday, March 14, 1:30-3:00 p.m. Eastern US Daylight Saving Time. Abstract: Lasting from about 475 BCE until the Qin imperial unification in 221 BCE,… Read more »
Posted with Professor David Graff’s permission.
James Fairgrieve (1870-1953) was a British geographer and teacher who in 1914 wrote Geography and World Power (published in 1915), a work that sought to show how geography “controls” history. Fairgieve studied at the London School of Economics from 1903 to 1910, obtained a London University certificate in geography in 1912, and… Read more »
Our next-to-last seminar for 2020 was scheduled on Sunday, December 6, 2020, 1:30-3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, US. Professor Andrew Latham of Macalester College presented a talk on “China: A Faltering Challenger.” ABSTRACT: Over the past year or so, China has made a series of bold moves across the Indo-Pacific region… Read more »
On November 22, 2020, 1:30-3:00 PM Eastern US Time, Gordon Chang presented “China’s Mackinderism” to the Mackinder Forum Seminar. ABSTRACT: Chinese policymakers are Mackinderites; and they are also believers in the Rimland Theory of Nicholas John Spykman, as evident from their all-out plan to build infrastructure in Central Asia. The… Read more »
On Sunday, November 8, 2020 at 1:30 – 3:00 PM (Eastern Time, US), Mr. David P. Goldman presented a talk on “Heartland Theory in the Fourth Industrial Revolution.” ABSTRACT: With regard to China’s global ambitions, Mackinder’s “Heartland” concept in some ways is more relevant than ever, but in other ways… Read more »
On Sunday, October 11, 2020, 1:30-3:00 PM via WEBEX, Michael Hochberg presented a coauthored paper (with Leonard Hochberg) devoted to “International Business Needs Grand Strategy.” The authors presented an interdisciplinary justification for why western-based international businesses should begin analyzing their ongoing activities through the lens of grand strategy in order… Read more »
On Sunday, September 6, 2020 (from 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM Eastern Time, US), an anonymous presenter delivered a talk on “A Giraffe in Nanjing: A Cartographic Reimagining of China’s One Belt One Road.” ABSTRACT: Many myths surround China’s Belt and Road Initiative. The results of a spatial analysis of… Read more »