Global Geostrategy
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Geostrategy and Canadian Defence: from C.P. Stacey to a Twenty-First Century Arctic Threat Assessment
Journal of Military and Strategic VOLUME 20, ISSUE 1 Studies Geostrategy and Canadian Defence: From C.P. Stacey to a Twenty-First Century Arctic Threat Assessment Ryan Dean and P. Whitney Lackenbauer1 “If some countries have too much history, we have too much geography.” -- Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, 1936 Geostrategy is the study of the importance of geography to strategy and military operations. Strategist Bernard Loo explains that “it is the influence of geography on tactical and operational elements of the strategic calculus that underpins, albeit subliminally, strategic calculations about the feasibility of the use of military force because the geographical conditions will influence policy-makers’ and strategic 1 An early version of some sections of this article appeared as “Geostrategical Approaches,” a research report for Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC) project on the Assessment of Threats Against Canada submitted in 2015. We are grateful to the coordinators of that project, as well as to reviewers who provided feedback that has strengthened this article. Final research and writing was completed pursuant to a Department of National Defence MINDS Collaborative Network grant supporting the North American and Arctic Defence and Security Network (NAADSN). ©Centre of Military and Strategic Studies, 2019 ISSN : 1488-559X JOURNAL OF MILITARY AND STRATEGIC STUDIES planners’ perceptions of strategic vulnerabilities or opportunities.”2 By extension, the geographical size and location of a country are key determinants -
Chapter I Geostrategic and Geopolitical Considerations
Geostrategic and geopolitical Chapter I considerations regarding energy Francisco José Berenguer Hernández Abstract This chapter analyses the peace and conflict aspects of the concept of “energy security” its importance in the strategic architecture of the major nations, as well as the main geopolitical factors of the current energy panorama. Key words Energy Security, National Strategies, Energy Interests, Geopolitics of Energy. 45 Francisco José Berenguer Hernández Some considerations about the “energy security” concept Concept The concept of energy security has been present in publications for a cer- tain number of years, including the press and non-trade media, but it is apparently a recent one, or at least one that has not enjoyed the popular- ity of others such as road, workplace, social or even air security. However, it has taken on such importance nowadays that it deserves a specific section in the highest-level strategic documents of practically all of the nations in our environment, as will be seen in a later section. This is somewhat different from the form of security of other sectors that include the following in more generic terms: “well-being and progress of society”, “ensuring the life and prosperity of citizens” and other simi- lar expressions, with the exception of economic security. The latter, as a consequence of the long and deep recession that numerous nations, in- cluding Spain, have been suffering, has strongly emerged in more recent strategic thinking. Consequently, it is worth wondering the reason for this relevance and leading role of energy security in the concerns of the high- est authorities and institutions of the nations. -
Tangled Complicities and Moral Struggles: the Haushofers, Father and Son, and the Spaces of Nazi Geopolitics
Journal of Historical Geography 47 (2015) 64e73 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Historical Geography journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jhg Feature: European Geographers and World War II Tangled complicities and moral struggles: the Haushofers, father and son, and the spaces of Nazi geopolitics Trevor J. Barnes a,* and Christian Abrahamsson b a Department of Geography, University of British Columbia, 1984 West Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z2, Canada b Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo, Postboks 1096 Blindern, Oslo 0317, Norway Abstract Drawing on a biographical approach, the paper explores the tangled complicities and morally fraught relationship between the German father and son political geographers, Karl and Albrecht Haushofer, and the Nazi leadership. From the 1920s both Haushofers were influential within Nazism, although at different periods and under different circumstances. Karl Haushofer’s complicity began in 1919 with his friendship with Rudolf Hess, an undergraduate student he taught political geography at the University of Munich. Hess introduced Haushofer to Adolf Hitler the following year. In 1924 Karl provided jail-house instruction in German geopolitical theory to both men while they served an eight-and-a-half month prison term for treason following the ‘beer-hall putsch’ of November 1923. Karl’s prison lectures were significant because during that same period Hitler wrote Mein Kampf. In that tract, Hitler justifies German expansionism using Lebensraum, one of Haushofer’s key ideas. It is here that there is a potential link between German geopolitics and the subsequent course of the Second World War. Albrecht Haushofer’s complicity began in the 1930s when he started working as a diplomat for Joachim von Ribbentrop in a think-tank within the Nazi Foreign Ministry. -
The Select Methods of Investigations in Geostrategy and Geopolitics
Political Geography Studies in Central and Eastern Europe Oradea - Gdansk, 2000, pag. 23 - 30 THE SELECT METHODS OF INVESTIGATIONS IN GEOSTRATEGY AND GEOPOLITICS Jan WENDT* ABSTRACT: After the years of silence and after avoidance of geopolitical researches and its subdisciplines, a renascence of his knowledge has come out. In the latest past years, we can notice a conspicuous increase of interest in nearly all kinds of researches, which are made by political geographers including people who deal with geostrategical and geopolitical problems. When we talk about Poland we must say that the increased interest is a result of breaking a kind of taboo - taboo, which refereed to the works of this sphere. Firstly, that the works were connected with the Third Reich polities and propaganda, and secondly, because of the easy way of censorship explanation, very common while making controversial studies in Poland during communistic times. The past ten years were abounding in accidents connected with boarder's changes and changes of geopolitical and geostrategical circumstances. Also, this is a period of time when the USSR fell into pieces, the European Community came into being, the process of globalisation has been progressing, and equally, a strong separatist and national movements have been developing not only in Europe. So, it's natural that interest in those problems has been native. Leaving back the classical fields of political geography, for instance: electoral geography or ecopolitic, we can surly state, we are just victims of a dynamic investigate development. The development refers to the rest geopolitical ranges - geostrategy and geopolitics, in particular. Because of that fount, it seems to be useful to tide up some notions connected with there disciplines and indicate the basic exploring methods of the occurrences shown in geostrategical and geopolitical works. -
0 Further Reading
0 Further reading General The best general introduction to the whole period is: Thomson, D., Europe since Napoleon (Penguin, 1966). There are also a number of good series available such as the Fontana History of Europe and Longman 's A General History of Europe. The relevant volumes in these series are as follows: Rude, G., Revolutionary Europe, 1783-1815 (Fontana, 1964). Droz, J., Europe between Revolutions, 1815-1848 (Fontana, 1967). Grenville, J.A.S., Europe Reshaped, 1848-1878 (Fontana, 1976). Stone, N., Europe Transformed, 1878-1919 (Fontana, 1983). Wiskemann, E., Europe of the Dictators, 1919-1945 (Fontana, 1966). Ford, F.L., Europe, 1780-1830 (Longman, 1967). Hearder, H., Europe in the Nineteenth Century, 1830-1880 (Longman, 1966). Roberts, J., Europe, 1880-1945 (Longman, 1967). For more specialist subjects there are various contributions by expert authorities included in: The New Cambridge Modern History, vols. IX-XII (Cambridge, 1957). Cipolla, C.M. (ed.), Fontana Economic History of Europe (Fontana, 1963). Other useful books of a general nature include: Hinsley, F.H., Power and the Pursuit of Peace (Cambridge University Press, 1963). Kennedy, P., Strategy and Diplomacy 1870-1945 (Allen & Unwin, 1983). Seaman, L.C.B., From Vienna to Versailles (Methuen, 1955). Seton-Watson, H., Nations and States (Methuen, 1977). Books of documentary extracts include: Brooks, S., Nineteenth Century Europe (Macmillan, 1983). Brown, R. and Daniels, C., Twentieth Century Europe (Macmillan, 1981). Welch, D., Modern European History, 1871-1975 (Heinemann, 1994). The Longman Seminar Studies in History series provides excellent introductions to debates and docu mentary extracts on a wide variety of subjects. -
Beyond the Legacy of Mackinder
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by MURAL - Maynooth University Research Archive Library Geopolitics, 18:917–932, 2013 Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC ISSN: 1465-0045 print / 1557-3028 online DOI: 10.1080/14650045.2013.789865 Beyond the Legacy of Mackinder GERRY KEARNS Department of Geography, National University of Ireland Maynooth, Kildare, Ireland For the Geopolitics Lecture at the Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting 2010, the paper examines the core features of Mackinder’s geopolitical imaginary, reviews contem- porary challenges to those elements and develops an alternative conception of space for a Progressive Geopolitics. INTRODUCTION Having spent about thirty years on the research that went into a book subti- tled, ‘The Legacy of Halford Mackinder,’ to be then asked within a month of its publication to give a lecture entitled, ‘Beyond the Legacy of Mackinder,’ seemed a little harsh.1 Nevertheless, it is an honour to have been asked to deliver a lecture for the journal Geopolitics, so today, I will accept the challenge and explore how we might indeed move beyond the legacy of Mackinder. I’m going to identify six elements of the geographical imagi- nary that is at the heart of Mackinder’s work and which in turn explains why Mackinder continues to be drawn upon by some of those engaged in foreign policy debates. Then I’m going to suggests ways that these six elements were challenged by some of his contemporaries and through this not only to show that the particular context in which Mackinder worked although very important for understanding his ideas did not determine what Downloaded by [Maynooth University Library] at 03:43 22 August 2017 those ideas were. -
1-101. Africa. Amer. Nat., 57
125 BIBLIOGRAPHY AFZELIUS, K., 1925. Einige neue Senecionen von Kenia und von Mt. Aberdare. Svensk bot. Tidskr. 19: 419-422. Uppsala. ALLEN, G. M., 1939. A Check List of African Mammals. Bull. Mus. Compo Zool. Harv., 83. ALLUAUD, Ch. & ]EANNEL, R, 1915. Le Mont Kenya en Afrique Orientale Anglaise. Rev. Gen. Sci., 25: 639-644. Paris. ARNELL, S., 1956. Hepaticae collected by O. Hedberg et al. on the East African Mountains. Ark. j. Bot. ,Serie 2. 3, nr. 16. AUTHUR, ]. W., 1921. Mount Kenya. Geogr. j., 58: 9-25. AUTHUR, ]. W., 1923. A Sixth Attempt on Mount Kenya. Geogr. j., 62: 205-209. AUTHUR, ]. W., 1936. Radiation and anthocyanin pigments. In DUGGAR, B.M. Biological Effects of Radiation, 2: 1109-1150. ASDELL, S. A., 1946. Patterns of Mammalian Reproduction. New York. ASTLEY MABERLEY, C. T., 1960. Animals in East Africa. Cape Town. BERGHEN, VAN DEN, C., 1953. Quelques hepatiques recoltees par O. Hedberg sur les Montagnes de l' Afrique Orientale. Svensk. bot. Tidskr. 47, 2. Uppsala. BERGSTROM, E., 1955. British Ruwenzori Expedition, 1952. Glaciological Observations, Preliminary Report. J. Glaciol., 2, No. 17: 469-476. BOUGHEY, A. S., 1955. The nomenclature of the vegetation zones on the Mountains of Tropical Africa. Webbia, XI. BRAESTRUP, F. W., 1941. A Study of the Arctic Fox in Greenland. Medd. Grenland, 131: 1-101. BROOKS, C. E. P., 1949. Climate through the Ages. London. BRUCE, E. A., 1934. The Giant Lobelias of East Africa. Kew Bull. 61-88, 274. CAGNOLO, FR. C., 1933. The Akikuyu, Nyeri, Kenya. CARCASSON, R. H., 1964. A preliminary survey of the zoogeography of African Butterflies. -
Current Geostrategy in the South Caucasus Report Drafted by Dr
Current Geostrategy in the South Caucasus Report drafted by dr. Marcel de Haas Published December 15, 2006, the Power and Interest News Report (PINR): http://www.pinr.com In recent months, relations between Georgia and Russia have deteriorated. The clash between these two states is only a symptom of the broader strategic positioning of the West and Russia in and around the South Caucasus. In this scenario, at regional and global levels, countries and organizations are involved in a struggle for power and energy security. Considering these two issues, what is the current situation in the South Caucasus and what can be expected in the future? Affecting the region are the political‐military and security policies of the actors involved. These actors include Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan, and their "frozen" conflicts of Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno‐Karabakh. Additionally, the leverage of regional powers, such as Turkey and Iran, and of global powers, such as the United States, Russia and China, is part of the power configuration in the region. In addition to countries, international organizations are also involved in this game. At the regional level, there is the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (B.S.E.C.), the Black Sea Force (BLACKSEAFOR) the Caspian Sea Force (CASFOR), the cooperation between Georgia, Ukraine, Azerbaijan and Moldova (G.U.A.M.) and the Collective Security Treaty Organization (C.S.T.O.) within the Commonwealth of Independent States (C.I.S.). At the global level, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (N.A.T.O.) and the European Union also exercise political weight in the South Caucasus. -
Sir Halford John Mackinder Was a British Geographer Who Wrote A
Sir Halford John Mackinder : Sir Halford John Mackinder was a British geographer who wrote a paper in 1904 called "The Geographical Pivot of History." Mackinder's paper suggested that the control of Eastern Europe was vital to control of the world. Mackinder postulated the following, which became known as the Heartland Theory: Who rules Eastern Europe commands the Heartland Who rules the Heartland commands the World Island Who rules the World Island commands the world The "heartland" he also referred to as the "pivot area" and as the core of Eurasia, and he considered all of Europe and Asia as the World Island. In the age of modern warfare, Mackinder's theory is widely considered outdated. At the time he proposed his theory, he took into consideration world history only in the context of conflict between land and sea powers. Nations with large navies were at an advantage over those that could not successfully navigate the oceans, Mackinder suggested. Of course, in the modern era, the use of aircraft has greatly changed the ability to control territory and provide defensive capabilities. The Heartland theory is a geopolitical concept which analyses the political and economic success of the world’s regions by geography. The theory was hypothesized by 20th-century British geopolitical scholar, Halford Mackinder in his paper to the Royal Geographical Association entitled, “The Geographical Pivot of History” in 1904. According to the theory, the core of global influence lies in what is known as the Heartland, a region of the world situated in Eurasia due to its sheer size, a wealth of resources, and a high population. -
Revisiting Mackinder's Heartland Theory
Przegląd Strategiczny 2019, Issue 12 Najimdeen BAKARE DOI : 10.14746/ps.2019.1.3 Centre for International Peace and Stability – NUST University Islamabad https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3257-9718 Minahil R. TOOR Centre for International Peace and Stability – NUST University Islamabad https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6294-6462 REVISITING MACKINDER’S HEARTLAND THEORY: IDENTIFYING THE EMERGENCE OF A COMPLEX POWER COMPETITION IN THE INDIAN OCEAN REGION INTRODUCTION International politics remain in a continuous cycle of revising the means and course of state interactions. During the World Wars, hegemonic endeavours were focused to secure larger territorial areas and thereby, larger spheres of influence. However, the strings of contemporary state politics are held by geo-economic interests, being gov- erned by realist aspirations in the backdrop. Such waves of international relations may be interpreted through theoretical underpinnings that have asserted their utility over the period of time. In 1904, Sir Halford Mackinder laid basis for countries to attain world dominance. In his heartland theory, he tagged Eastern Europe as the heartland, and argued that whoever has control over it, commands the world islands. It was a very popular motive for the Nazis during World War II. This concept received much accept- ance from Soviet Union during the Cold War as well. This paper probes whether Mackinder’s heartland theory is still relevant for same areas identified by him or the same theory may be useful in other areas. The paper believes the heartland theory can be borrowed and situated in non-Mackinder’s region of reference, in order to establish a wider utility for it in the present day power politics. -
Geopolitics, Education, and Empire: the Political Life of Sir Halford Mackinder, 1895-1925
Geopolitics, Education, and Empire: The Political Life of Sir Halford Mackinder, 1895-1925 Simone Pelizza Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy The University of Leeds, School of History Submitted March 2013 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material and that no quotation from the thesis may be published without proper acknowledgement. ©2013 The University of Leeds and Simone Pelizza i Acknowledgements During the last three years I have received the kind assistance of many people, who made the writing of this thesis much more enjoyable than previously believed. First of all, I would like to thank my former supervisors at the University of Leeds, Professor Andrew Thompson and Dr Chris Prior, for their invaluable help in understanding the complex field of British imperial history and for their insightful advice on the early structure of the document. Then my deepest gratitude goes to my current supervisor, Professor Richard Whiting, who inherited me from Chris and Andrew two years ago, driving often my work toward profitable and unexplored directions. Of course, the final product is all my own, including possible flaws and shortcomings, but several of its parts really owe something to Richard’s brilliant suggestions and observations. Last but not least, I am very grateful to Pascal Venier, Vincent Hiribarren, and Chris Phillips, with whom I had frequent interesting exchanges on Mackinder’s geopolitical thought and its subtle influences over twentieth century international affairs. -
Geostrategy in Practice 2021
CEO Imperative Series Critical answers and actions to reframe your future Geostrategy in Practice 2021 A survey of global executives reveals more proactive political risk management enables companies to pursue bolder strategies Table of contents2 | Geostrategy in Practice 2021 Executive summary 4 Political risk management is in flux 5 Political risks are rising but risk identification systems are not fit for purpose 7 The significant materiality of political risk necessitates better impact assessments 11 Political risk management is disconnected from enterprise risk management 15 Strategy and transactions are heavily influenced by political risk analysis 17 Political risk governance is crucial but often overlooked 20 Investing in a balanced political risk management approach 24 Putting geostrategy into practice 28 About the survey 30 contents Geostrategy in Practice 2021 | 3 Executive summary Executives may be discounting the likelihood of some political risks. About half of global executives expect political risk to be higher in the coming year, with geopolitics being the highest area of concern (see About the survey on page 30). This follows similar results in our 2020 survey. But most companies’ approach to risk identification is reactive and relies primarily on enterprise-level processes, which may expose them to regulatory or societal risk surprises. In fact, more than 90% of global executives say that their company has been affected by unexpected political risks in the past 12 months. Political risks will continue to have impact across the enterprise. Executives expect the largest political risk impact on companies’ growth and investment, operations and supply chain, and revenue in the coming year.