Geopolitical Concepts, Traditions and Trends

All Pages in this Section

Geopolitics - books

• Leonhardt van Efferink: review of the "best" geopolitical books
• International Centre for Geopolitical Studies: recommended geopolitical books

Geopolitics - external links

• Geopolitics, Political Geography, Geostrategy and Geoeconomics

Geopolitical Concepts

• Simon Dalby 1: Security Definition, Otherness, Cold War, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke
• Simon Dalby 2: Discourses, threats, dichotomies, USSR communism, Al-Qaida terrorism
• Simon Dalby 3: Climate change, humanity, capitalism, modernity, geographers
• Gertjan Dijkink: Geopolitical Knowledge 1 - the Netherlands, Bosnia and the language of power
• Gertjan Dijkink: Geopolitical Knowledge 2 - Dutch, French and American newspapers on Afghanistan
• Jason Dittmer: Popular geopolitics, culture and representations
• Dale Walton: World order, Heartland, European sea powers, post-Columbian Epoch
• Dale Walton: Revolutions in strategic perspective (RSP) and military affairs (RMA)
• Dale Walton: Great Powers, US-China relationship, non-state actors, 21st century

Geopolitical Traditions

• Federico Bordonaro: Rediscovering Spykman
• David Criekemans: The work of Harold and Margaret Sprout and its continued relevance today
• Leonhardt van Efferink: The definition of geopolitics
• Ian Klinke: Five minutes for critical geopolitics: A slightly provocative introduction
• Virginie Mamadouh: Geopolitics in the 2000s
• Igor Okunev: Russian geopolitics

Geopolitical Trends

• Chitty / Dalby: 2011 Geopolitical Review - social media / Durban climate conference
• Cohen: 2011 Geopolitical Review - global events and US foreign policy
• Crampton / Elden: 2011 Geopolitical Review - WikiLeaks / 'Occupy' protests
• Mamadouh: 2011 Geopolitical Review - financialization and resistance
• Teti: 2011 Geopolitical Review - Egyptian uprising, regime change, Muslim Brotherhood
• Mamadouh / Rogers: 2010 Geopolitical Review - European Union
• Rakisits / Reynolds: 2010 Geopolitical Review - South Asia
• Various contributors: 2010 Geopolitical Review - trends, events and risks
• Bordonaro: 2009 Geopolitical Review - power politics in a globalized world
• Various contributors: 2009 Geopolitical Review - trends, events and risks

More information about pictured books

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Introduction and recent updates

Introduction

The Geopolitical Concepts, Tradtions and Trends section looks into geopolitical ideas, theories, schools of thought and timely developments.

The 28 contributions to this section answer questions such as:

• Why are the ideas of Nicholas Spykman still useful?
• What were the main geopolitical events in 2011?
• How has geopolitical thought evolved since 1899?
• Which books are popular among geopolitical scholars

Geopolitical Review of 2011

December 2011-February 2012

For the third consecutive year, EG contributors discuss the most significant geopolitical events of the year:

Chitty / Dalby: 2011 Geopolitical Review - social media / Durban climate conference

Crampton / Elden: 2011 Geopolitical Review - WikiLeaks / 'Occupy' protests

Cohen: 2011 Geopolitical Review - global events and US foreign policy

Mamadouh: 2011 Geopolitical Review - financialization and resistance

Teti: 2011 Geopolitical Review - Egyptian uprising, regime change, Muslim Brotherhood

Andrea Teti: "The new groups which have gained representation in parliament – particularly the Muslim Brotherhood – face a dilemma: at the moment, the easy way to achieve and hold on to power seems to be to cosy up to the military junta; but doing so would risk simply reproducing the old regime in a new guise, and therefore quite rightly alienate voters. On the other hand, successfully opposing the security establishment would require popular mobilisation and a common front with groups such as independent trade unions which were at the forefront of the January uprising, but which have very different political agendas."

Simon Dalby on Security

January 2012

Professor Simon Dalby works at Carleton University in Ottawa and is co-editor of the Geopolitics journal.

In this interview, he talks about the Cold War, global warming and so on:

Simon Dalby 1: Security Definition, Otherness, Cold War, Thomas Hobbes, John Locke

Simon Dalby 2: Discourses, threats, dichotomies, USSR communism, Al-Qaida terrorism

Simon Dalby 3: Climate change, humanity, capitalism, modernity, geographers

"Geographical language structures politics in terms of our space being that where virtue, safety, culture and prosperity lie; their space is foreign, different and hence potentially threatening. When difference becomes threatening tropes of security are invoked to justify preparation for conflict and reinforce group identities."

Geopolitical book recommendations

February 2011

To celebrate the 30th Geopolitical Passport, the editor has compiled a ranking of the most popular geopolitical works. Moreover, Exploring Geopolitics publishes a list of books that are recommended by ICGS:

Leonhardt van Efferink: review of the "best" geopolitical books

International Centre for Geopolitical Studies: recommended geopolitical books

Recommended contributions

Geopolitics in the 2000s

September 2009

Virginie Mamadouh (Associate Professor at University of Amsterdam) takes a fresh look at her 1998 article "Geopolitics in the nineties: one flag, many meanings." She further writes about the research agenda of contemporary geopolitics:

Virginie Mamadouh: Geopolitics in the 2000s

"Despite, or rather thanks to, its diversity, geopolitics has remained a powerful tool to study territorial conflicts and other spatial politics, more in particular international relations and global governance."

On the merits of Spykman's work

May 2009

Dr Federico Bordonaro of the Center of Excellence for Stability Police Units (Italy) discusses the theoretical and analytical work of Nicholas Spykman:

Federico Bordonaro: Rediscovering Spykman

"Spykman’s in-depth analysis of geography’s political-strategic significance constitutes an excellent introduction to the methodology of geopolitics."

Critical-Classical Geopolitics

January 2009

What role do space, identity, vision and state play in geopolitical concepts? Ian Klinke (University College London) explains the difference between critical and classical geopolitics:

Ian Klinke: Five minutes for critical geopolitics: A slightly provocative introduction

"Although not exactly hip and trendy, geopolitics is very much on the agenda these days. Often sloppily defined, geopolitics tends to be employed as a tag that lends authority to politicians, journalists and academics."

The many definitions of geopolitics

January 2009

Wondering what geopolitics is about? The editor interprets ten definitions of geopolitics from respected sources, looking for similarities and differences:

Leonhardt van Efferink: The definition of geopolitics

"Since the coining of the concept of geopolitics by the end of the nineteenth century, power (influence, politics) and space (territory, soil) have played a crucial role in the definitions of geopolitics."