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Theroies of Geo Politics

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Theroies of Geo Politics

What is geo politcs?


Geopolitics is the study of the effects of Earth's geography on politics and international
relations.While geopolitics usually refers to countries and relations between them, it may also focus on
two other kinds of states: independent states with limited international recognition and; relations
between sub-national geopolitical entities, such as the federated states that make up
a federation, confederation or a quasi-federal system.

At the level of international relations, geopolitics is a method of studying foreign policy to


understand, explain and predict international political behavior through geographical variables.
These include area studies, climate, topography, demography, natural resources, and applied
science of the region being evaluate.

Theories of geo politics.


1.Heart Land.
The Heartland theory is a geopolitical concept which
analyzes 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. Mackinder stated that the nation in control of the Heartland had
the potential to “command the world” but also highlighted the great natural
barriers which surrounded the Heartland. The theory had great political
ramifications, and some historians believe that the theory was the inspiration
behind Germany’s invasion of Russia during the Second World War.
Halford Mackinder
Halford Mackinder was a 20th-century geopolitical scholar who is attributed for
writing the Heartland Theory. Halford Mackinder was born on February 15th,
1861 in Gainsborough, England and received his education at the Epsom
College and later at Christ Church in Oxford, where he received his biology
degree in 1883. Mackinder had a liking for Geography and was a proponent of
having physical geography and human geography taught as one subject.
Mackinder was a founding member of the Geographical Association and served
as the association’s chairperson between 1913 and 1946. In 1904, Halford
Mackinder presented a paper to the Royal Geographical Society which was
titled “The Geographical Pivot of History” and in it he introduced the Heartland
Theory and explained it in depth. Mackinder died on March 6th, 1947, aged 86
years. The scholar left a lasting legacy as he introduced geopolitics to the world
and is commonly labeled as the “father of geopolitics.”
2.Rimland Theory
The Rimland is a concept championed by Nicholas John Spykman,
professor of international the densely populated western, southern, and
eastern edges of the Eurasian continent relations at Yale University. To him
geopolitics is the planning of the security policy of a country in terms of its
geographical factors. He described the maritime fringe of a country or
continent; in particular.
He criticized Mackinder for overrating the Heartland as being of immense
strategic importance due to its vast size, central geographical location and
supremacy of land power rather than sea power. He assumed that the
Heartland will not be a potential hub of Europe, becauseory:

1. Western Russia was then an agrarian society


2. Bases of industrialization were found to the west of the Ural
mountains.
3. This area is ringed to the north, east, south, and south-west by some
of the greater obstacles to transportation (ice and freezing
temperature, lowering mountains etc.).
4. There has never really been a simple land power–sea power
opposition.
Spykman thought that the Rimland, the strip of coastal land that
encircles Eurasia, is more important than the central Asian zone (the so-
called Heartland for the control of the Eurasian continent. Spykman's
vision is at the base of the "containment politics" put into effect by the
United States in its relation/position to the Soviet Union during the post-
World War II period
Thus, 'Heartland' appeared to him to be less important in comparison to
'Rimland.'

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