Karl Haushofer was a German army general who, through his Zeitschrift fur Geopolitik (Journal of Geopolitics), was believed by some in the West to be directing Nazi strategy and tactics during World War II. While it was later discovered that such a belief was very greatly exaggerated, the supposed links between Haushofer's geopolitics, political geography, and the Nazis have been given as a partial explanation for geopolitics’ (and by extension, political geography's) decline as an academic field of study in the mid 20th century.

Born in Munich, Haushofer served in the German military from 1889 to 1919. Two time periods during his military career were especially important in focusing Haushofer's future direction: his work in Japan from 1908 to 1910, which helped shape his thinking on ...