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Introduction to Geopolitics 1111 2 3 41 Introduction to 5 Geopolitics 6 7 8 91 10 1 2 31111 This lucid and concise introductory textbook guides students through their first engage- 4 ment with geopolitics. It offers a clear framework for understanding contemporary 5 conflicts by showing how geography provides opportunities and limits upon the actions 6 of countries, national groups, and terrorist organizations. The overarching theme of 7 geopolitical structures (contexts) and geopolitical agents (countries, national groups, 8 individuals, etc.) is accessible and requires no previous knowledge of theory or current 9 affairs. 20 Throughout the book, case studies including the rise of al-Qaeda, the Korean conflict, 1 Israel–Palestine, Chechnya, and Kashmir emphasize the multi-faceted nature of conflict. 2 These, along with activities, aid Introduction to Geopolitics in explaining contemporary 3 global power struggles, the global military actions of the United States, the persistence 4 of nationalist conflicts, the changing role of borders, and the new geopolitics of terrorism. 5 Throughout, the readers are introduced to different theoretical perspectives, including 6 feminist contributions, as both the practice and representation of geopolitics are 7 discussed. 8 Introduction to Geopolitics is extensively illustrated with diagrams, maps, and photo- 9 graphs. Reading this book will provide a deeper and critical understanding of current 30 affairs and facilitate access to higher level course work and essays on geopolitics. Both 1 students of geography and international relations and general readers alike will find this 2 book an essential stepping-stone to a fuller understanding of contemporary conflicts. 3 4 Colin Flint is an Associate Professor of Geography at the University of Illinois. His 51 research interests include geopolitics and hate groups. He is editor of The Geography 6 of War and Peace (2005) and Spaces of Hate (2004) and co-author, with Peter Taylor, 7 of Political Geography: World-Economy, Nation-State, and Locality (2000). 8 9 40 1 2 3 4 5111 1111 2 3 41 5 6 7 8 91 10 1 2 31111 4 Introduction to 5 6 Geopolitics 7 8 9 20 Colin Flint 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30 1 2 3 4 51 6 7 8 9 40 1 2 3 4 5111 First published 2006 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016 This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2006. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2006 Colin Flint All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Flint, Colin (Colin Robert) Introduction to geopolitics / Colin Flint. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Geopolitics—Textbooks. I. Title. JC319.F55 2006 320.1′2—dc22 2005033530 ISBN10: 0–415–34494–8 (hbk) ISBN10: 0–415–34493–X (pbk) ISBN13: 978–0–415–34494–4 (hbk) ISBN13: 978–0–415–34493–7 (pbk) 1111 2 3 41 5 CONTENTS 6 7 8 91 10 1 2 31111 List of figures viii 4 List of tables x 5 List of boxes xi 6 Acknowledgments xii 7 List of abbreviations xiii 8 9 Prologue xv 20 Chapter 1 A framework for understanding geopolitics 1 1 Geopolitics: a component of human geography 1 2 Places and politics 3 3 The politics of scale 11 4 What is geopolitics? 13 5 A brief history of geopolitics 17 6 Geopolitical agents: making and doing geopolitics 24 7 Structure and agency: possibilities, constraints, and geopolitical 8 choices 26 9 Geopolitics, power, and geography 27 30 Organization of the book 29 1 Further reading 31 2 3 Chapter 2 Setting the global geopolitical context 33 4 Defining a global geopolitical structure: using and 51 interrogating Modelski’s model of world leadership 34 6 The geopolitics of the rise and fall of world leaders: 7 the context of contemporary geopolitics? 42 8 Legacy, change, and world leadership: feedback systems 9 in Modelski’s model 49 40 Pros and cons of Modelski’s model 50 1 Summary and segue 53 2 Further reading 54 3 4 Chapter 3 Geopolitical codes: agents define their geopolitical options 55 5111 Geopolitical codes 55 vi CONTENTS Geopolitical codes and the dynamics of world leadership 65 A geopolitical code to challenge the world leader 70 The War on Terrorism as a geopolitical code 72 Summary and segue 76 Further reading 77 Chapter 4 Representations of geopolitical codes 79 War! What is it good for . .? 79 Cultured war 82 Orientalism: the foundation of the geopolitical mindset 91 Summary and segue 101 Further reading 102 Chapter 5 Embedding geopolitics within national identity 105 (Misused) terminology 105 The geopolitics of nationalism 1: constructing a national identity 106 The geopolitics of nationalism 2: the process of “ethnic cleansing” 108 Gender, nationalism, and geopolitical codes 119 A typology of nationalist myths and geopolitical codes 125 Summary and segue 128 Further reading 129 Chapter 6 Boundary geopolitics: shaky foundations of the world political map? 131 Definitions 132 Geopolitical codes and boundary conflicts 134 The geopolitics of making peaceful boundaries 146 Boundaries and geopolitical codes 153 Summary and segue 155 Further reading 156 Chapter 7 Geopolitical metageographies: terrorist networks and the United States’ War on Terrorism 157 Geopolitical globalization: a new metageography 158 Definitions of terrorism 162 History of modern terrorism: waves of terrorism and their geography 167 Metageographies of terrorism 173 Incongruous geographies? 181 World leadership and the War on Terrorism 184 Summary and segue 186 Further reading 187 CONTENTS vii 1111 Chapter 8 Messy geopolitics: agency and multiple structures 189 2 Who am I, who am I fighting, and why? 190 3 Messiness and structure 208 41 Conclusion and prologue 211 5 Further reading 213 6 7 References 215 8 Index 223 91 10 1 2 31111 4 5 6 7 8 9 20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30 1 2 3 4 51 6 7 8 9 40 1 2 3 4 5111 FIGURES 1.1 Africa: independent countries and the decline of white-rule 4 1.2 Lenin Statue, Moscow 9 1.3 The Iron Curtain 15 1.4 Sir Halford Mackinder’s “Heartland” theory 19 1.5 Woman and child in Iraqi bombsite 29 2.1 Modelski’s world leadership cycle 38 2.2 Preference and availability of world leadership 43 2.3 Imperial overstretch 44 2.4 Camp Delta 46 2.5 Unmanned military drone 53 3.1 US troops in Kosovo 56 3.2 British World War II propaganda poster 59 3.3 The Caspian Sea 62 3.4 “Freedom Walk” 75 4.1 World War II memorial, Stavropol, Russia 84 4.2 Hollywood biblical epic 87 4.3 “Nests for spies” 90 4.4 The Arab world 95 4.5 Saddam Hussein: benefactor of the Arab world 97 5.1 World War I telegram to next of kin 107 5.2 Prelude to ethnic cleansing 109 5.3 Ethnic cleansing: expulsion 110 5.4 Ethnic cleansing: eradication 111 5.5 Ethnic cleansing: expansion 112 5.6 Chechnya 117 6.1 Closed border: Egypt–Israel 133 6.2 Open border: Russian Caucasus 134 6.3 Hypothetica 135 6.4 Israel–Palestine I: Oslo II Agreement 143 6.5 Israel–Palestine II: Palestinian villages and Israeli settlements 145 6.6 Korean peninsula 152 7.1 Metageography 159 7.2 Dresden after Allied bombing 163 FIGURES ix 1111 7.3 War on Terror 175 2 7.4 Geography of US bases 183 3 8.1 Child soldiers 191 41 8.2 Returning from war 196 5 8.3 Historical roots of conflict in Kashmir 203 6 7 8 91 10 1 2 31111 4 5 6 7 8 9 20 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 30 1 2 3 4 51 6 7 8 9 40 1 2 3 4 5111 TABLES 1.1 The geography of infant mortality rates 5 1.2 Features of classic geopolitics 17 2.1 Cycles of world leadership 37 2.2 US global troop deployments 47 3.1 Constructing a geopolitical code for world leadership 68 4.1 Reader’s Digest articles identifying threats to the American way of life 88 7.1 The problem of defining terrorism 164 7.2 Waves of terrorism and Modelski’s model 170 1111 2 3 41 5 BOXES 6 7 8 91 10 1 2 31111 1.1 Place and Palestinian identity 7 4 1.2 Winston Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech 14 5 1.3 Environmental determinism and geopolitics 22 6 2.1 Competition between China and the US 34 7 2.2 Wallerstein’s world-system theory 35 8 2.3 World Wars I and II in historical context 39 9 2.4 Abu Ghraib and the consequences for world leadership 45 20 2.5 Stress on the military power of the world leader—food for thought in 1 the US military 48 2 2.6 Technology and the global reach of the US military 52 3 3.1 Power and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst 57 4 3.2 “Mapping the Global Future”: the definition of threat 60 5 3.3 The geopolitics of the “Washington Consensus” 73 6 4.1 Dulce et Decorum Est 82 7 4.2 Geopolitical word association 85 8 4.3 Baghdad blog 94 9 5.1 Foreign policy as a masculine practice 123 30 7.1 Geopolitics of resistance: the anti-globalization movement 160 1 7.2 Special Forces: the network power of the world leader 161 2 7.3 War crimes: power and The Fog of War 162 3 7.4 The School of the Americas 167 4 7.5 Sovereignty and counter-terrorism 182 51 8.1 Rape as a weapon of war 192 6 8.2 Geopolitics of nature 210 7 8 9 40 1 2 3 4 5111 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Figures 1.4, 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.3, 5.2, 5.3, 5.4, 5.5, 5.6, 6.3, and 7.1 were created by the talent of Muehlenhaus Studios at www.muehlenhaus.com.
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