Geopolitics

History of Geopolitics

Rudolf Kjellen, a Swedish political scientist, initially put forth the ideas that would undergird geopolitics in a book published as Introduction to Swedish Geography in 1900. His major contribution to geopolitical thinking was the 1916 publication, The State as a Living Form. Kjellen outlined the defining characteristics of the term geopolitics most fully, describing links among the physical environment, boundaries, governance, economics, and political goals. Geopolitical thought is also found in the writings of Englishman Sir Halford Mackinder, who in 1904 introduced heartland–rimland theory, which argued that control of the Eurasian landmass was key to global power. Mackinder's view of power was predicated on shifts in transportation technology and the physical geography of landmasses, with control of Eurasia being the pivot of power, leaving a naval power such as Great Britain at a disadvantage. Criticisms of Mackinder focused on the European-centered nature of his proscriptions for policy and their emphasis on serving the British Empire (although Mackinder's contemporaries were also instrumental in crafting the geopolitical visions of their own countries).

The German school of geopolitik produced a form of racialized naturalized geopolitics based on the melding of organic views of the state and the penchant for grand geographic theories as demonstrated by Mackinder's works. At the end of the 19th century, biological metaphors were imported by Frederick Ratzel, who argued for an organic view of the state, where states were likened to organisms needing resources and space for growth (or lebensraum). Such thinking also invoked the ideas of competition between state organisms, thereby naturalizing conflict and war. This view was reformulated by Kjellen, whose work greatly influenced German geographer Karl Haushofer, who argued that environmental conditions determined human activities, including political[Page 185] activity. Haushofer's ideas influenced Nazi Germany, a regime that practiced a form of geopolitics based on racial superiority and invoked an organic view of the state and nation, thereby needing lebensraum in which to grow and thrive.

The term geopolitics became associated with Germany's actions in justifying World War II and the Holocaust. Thus, the term took on a decidedly negative connotation in Anglo-American geography and thus geopolitical work declined within geography despite charges from Germany during World War II that the United States also was practicing geopolitics. This affected political geography as well.

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