The Geopolitics Page

People mean different things when they use the word Geopolitics. I use it to mean an interdisciplinary field of study, similar to ecology, but in the opposite sense; it comprehends the effect of geography upon society, particularly in the policy-making area..

A bad odor became associated with the word during the 20th century because the "German geographers" used it to lend an air of scientific determinism to their master race ideology.

Below find a bibliography and a list of links regarding the subject matter.

 

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Bibliography

• Alfred T. Mahan, The Influence of Seapower upon History, 1890
 
• H. B. George, The Relations of Geography and History, 1901
 
• Lord Curzon, Frontiers, 1907
 
• Ellen Semple, Influences of Geographic Enviroment, 1911

This is the English recapitulation of the "theories" of Friedrich Ratzell : most of it is sheer superstition, yet important for an understanding of the history of the development of the study of geopolitics.  
• Friedrich Naumann, Central Europe,1917
 
• Halford J. MacKinder, Democratic Ideals and Reality, 1919

Highly Recommended  
• Lucien Febvre, A Geographical Introduction to History, 1925
 
• Oswald Spengler, The Decline of the West, 1926
 
• P. Vidal de la Blache, Principles of Human Geography, 1926
 
• Alfred N. Whitehead, Adventures of Ideas,1933
 
• W. Gordon East, An Historical Geography of Europe, 1935
 
• V. Gordon Childe, Man Makes Himself, 1936
 
• José Ortega y Gasset, Toward a Philosophy of History, 1941
 
• Andreas Dorpalen, The World of General Haushofer: Geopolitics in Action, 1942
 
• Robert Strausz-Hupe, Geopolitics: The Struggle for Space and Power, 1942
 
• Herbert F. Muller, The Uses of the Past; Profiles of Former Societies, 1952
 
• H. W. Weigert, et al, Principles of Political Geography1957
 
• W. Gordon East, The Geography behind History,1965
 
• Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of Great Powers,1987

Highly Recommended  
• Francis Fukuyama, The End of History and the Last Man,1993

Highly Recommended  
• Samuel Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations,1996
 
• Christopher Lasch, The Revolt of the Elites,1996
 
• Mohamad/Ishihara, The Voice of Asia,1996
 
• Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel,1999

Very Highly Recommended  
• William R. Shepherd, Shepherd's Historical Atlas, 1964

The standard of the genre.  
• Colin McEvedy, The Penguin Atlas Series
  This series of books (on Ancient, Medieval, Modern, and Recent History, with a fifth dealing with North America) has text on the left page and the corresponding map on the right page. McEvedy's prose is the clearest and most concise I've yet read on any subject.
 

Some of these titles are, of course, only tangentally related to geopolitics per se, and some will only be available through the interlibrary loan service of your local state college or university. You are a tax-payer; avail yourself.

 

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Links  

Geography

• Virtual Tourist.

  Lots of info about the whole world.

 
• Terraserver.

  Satellite imagery.

 
• US Gazetteer.

  From the US Census Bureau.

 
• Internet Resources for Geographers.

  From the University of Texas at Austin.

 
• Odden's Bookmarks.

  So you want to look at maps?.

 

Military and Naval

• The Joint Electronic Library.

  From the Joint Chiefs of Staff

 
• Parameters.

  The US Army War College Quarterly.

 
• The Naval War College Review.

  From the Naval War College.

 
• Air Chronicles.

  From the US Air Force.

 
• Military Review.

  From the US Army Command and General Staff College.

 
• Institute for National Strategic Studies.

  A part of the National Defense University.

 
• Asia-Pacific Defense FORUM.

  A professional military journal published quarterly by the Commander in Chief of the United States Pacific Command.

 
• Jane's Website.

You know of Jane's, of course.

 
• War, Peace and Security WWW Server.

  Presented by the Information Resource Centre, Canadian Forces College, Toronto, Canada.

 
• The Center for Security Policy.

  A non-profit, non-partisan organization to stimulate and inform the national and international debate about all aspects of security policy.

 
• The Federation of American Scientists.

  The Federation of American Scientists is engaged in analysis and advocacy on science, technology and public policy for global security.

 

Politics and Economics

• CIA World Factbook.

  The Directorate of Intelligence also provides several other sources of information.

 
• The BBC World Service.

  Current Events.

 
• The CNN World Service.

  More Current Events.

 
• World Press Review.

  Just what it says.

 
• World Statesman.

  Written and read by the political leaders of the world.

 
• Foreign Affairs.

  You can read an excerpt of the current issue, or just view the Related Websites.

 
• The Multilateral Project.

  From Tufts University, this is an ongoing project designed to make available the texts of international multilateral conventions and other instruments.

 
• OneWorld News Service.

  This is the Geopolitics sub-directory of the service's site.

 
• Commentary.

  From the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, this site contains essays on everything from emerging pathogens to neo-authoritarianism.

 
• American Diplomacy.

  An Electronic Journal of Commentary, Analysis, and Research on American Foreign Policy and Its Practice.

 
• Institute for the Study of Diplomacy.

  From Georgetown University.

 
• The International Relations and Security Network.

  Select the Links Library page and thence to International Organizations to view the sites maintained by the United Nations, NATO, ASEAN, and so forth.

 
• NATO Review Magazine.

  A constructive discussion of Atlantic issues.

 
• Europe? Which Europe?

  This is an hypertext essay concerning nationalism and trans-nationalism in Europe.

 
• Inside China Today.

  Chinese Current Events.

 
• Central Europe On-Line.

  Current Events from Central Europe.

 
• Russia Today.

  Russian Current Events.

 
• The Eurasian Research Center.

  Current events from the Eurasian landmass.

 
• The Middle East Report and Information Project.

  News and analysis.

 
• Publications of the Council on Foreign Relations.

  This site contains dozens of papers.

 
• The Kent Papers.

  The Graduate School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent at Canterbury.

 
• RAND Publications.

  RAND has a long history of research on issues relating to the national security and public welfare of the United States, and it publishes the results of this research to serve the public interest.

 

Culture

• The POLE Papers.

The Free University of Brussels' Centre for Peace and Security Studies' quarterly publication .

 
• Journal of the Group of 77.

  The Group of 77 provides financial assistance to South-South cooperation projects sponsored by member States.

 
• Statistical Data Locator.

  For all of the countries of the world.

 
• Flashpoint!

  The Human Rights Magazine on the Internet.

 
• Culture of Peace.

  The UNESCO newsletter.

 
• The Fletcher Forum.

  The official journal of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

 
• The Journal of Public and International Affairs.

  Published jointly by: The Association of Professional Schools of International Affairs and The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.

 
• Enviromental Security Database.

  Mother Nature and the Queen of Battle.

 
• Merger.

The newsletter of the Migration and Ethnic Relations Group for European Research.

 
• The Voice of America.

  The bane of dictators the world over.

 
• American Demographics.

  This site is all about the Americans.

 
• Asian Demographics Ltd.

  A unique single source of information on the demographic and socioeconomic trends of 12 Asian countries from 1970 to 1996.

   
• Earth United.

  Is World Government realistic? Is it being forced on us anyway?

 

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