Session 1 Intro to geopolitics Flashcards
obj of learning geopol
understand the world & the surroundings = our obligation as humans
roots of geopolitics
«big think» 1880-1910 = technological discoveries, 1st IR, competition among states
founding father of geopolitics
harold mackinder
harold mackinder 1904
«the geographical pivot of history»
Europe Asia Africa
«world islands»
obj of Mackinder
defend Britain’s power against Germany, preserve their land, maintain their wealth & aristocratic social structure
Superior cultures deserve to have more territory
Friedrich Ratzel = they will use it in a better way, supported expansion of Germany to the East
the 3rd world = a foreign space, wholly lacking in allure & best left on its own, tragic fate
George Kennan 1989
robert strausz-hupé
- classical figure
- «geopolitics: the struggle for space & power» 1942
- famous diplomate & founder of the geopol studies in usa
- idea of us intervention in the ww2, create an american-led world order, support the European integration
approach to studying contempler internat. affairs that is anchored in the study of history, geo & culture
Granieri 2015
study of the realities & mentalities of the localities
James Kurth
«multiple practices & représentations of a wide variety of territories»
Gilmartin & Kofman (2004)
«science of the conditioning of political processes by the earth. Based on the broad foundation of geography especially political geography, as the science of pol space organisms & their structure»
Haushofer 1928
how to understand geopol?
1) connection geopol & statesmanship + competition over territory & the resources within it
2) a way of seeing the world
3) involves diverse actors, situations, resources
4) anti-geopolitics : practices by individuals / indigenous people / others to resist the control & classification imposed by states & other powerful institutions
def geography
«systematic study of what makes places unique & the connection & interaction btwn places» + «study of the spatial organization of human activity» Knox & Marston 1998
places : 3 inter-related aspects
location, locale, sense of place
location
role a place plays in the world, its function (capital, economic center)
locale
institution that organize activity, politics & ID in a place (families, schools, workplaces, labor unions, political parties…)
sense of place
people’s ID closely related to their attachment to a place (conflits gaza strip)
south china sea’s disputes
2016 : the permanent court of arbitration ruled in favor of philippines but china did not accept
—> now joint offshore gas & oil exploitation by China & Philippines
cosmopolitarism
people who think they belong to everywhere
global citizens
belong to everywhere & nowhere
robert kaplan
thinks geo is still imp for politics : -civilization without natural geographical barriers = insecure (china, russia, iran) and tend to invade other nations & develop a despotic regime
- technological progress makes geo + imp
- for him, european countries = the best
- the bigger the country is, the stronger state he needs to have to control it
weakness of kaplan
- neglects the efficiency of international norms & organizations in solving conflicts
ex of state-building
-earliest states appeared in china & middle east (nile, mesopotamia)
—> existence of vast deserts alongside the agricultural regions & the presence of nomadic people (arab&muslims) made it necessary to have a centralized state authority
why state-building in Africa was late ?
vast highlands without natural borders = easy to flee when we don’t like the ruler
new tech & internet
notion of space & time turned down
scale
geographic scope/ reach in which the action of individuals & groups of individuals range
ex of scale
families, municipalities, province, country,… ex = voting
particularity of scales
the larger the scale of human activity is, the less aware we are of the implication of our actions
geopolitical agent
—> people / groups of people / organization who conduct geopol.
(individuals, families, NGOs, pol parties, pressures groups, terrorists, states, internat. org)
—> interconnected & try to realize their obj
ex of geopolitical agent
north korea trying to have its own nuclear weaponry —> other agents can influence (UN)
structure
set of rules and norms that practically determine what can and cannot / should and should not be done. —> expression of power
—> can also be an agent (feminist mvt)
agency
act of trying to achieve a particular goal
methodology agents - structure
1) agents cannot act freely but able to make choices
2) agents act within a structure
3) structures limit/ constraint the possible action of agents
4) structures can facilitate agents (provide opportunities to attain goals)
5) an agent can be a structure and vice-versa
