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Book Synopsis The Geographical Pivot of History by : Halford John Mackinder
Download or read book The Geographical Pivot of History written by Halford John Mackinder and published by . This book was released on 1904 with total page 32 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
In this paper, Mackinder advanced his so-called Heartland Theory, whereby the interior Asia and eastern Europe ("the Heartland") had become the strategic center of the world as a result of the relative decline of sea power against land power and of the economic and industrial development of southern Siberia.
Book Synopsis The Geographical Pivot of History by : Sir Halford John Mackinder
Download or read book The Geographical Pivot of History written by Sir Halford John Mackinder and published by . This book was released on 2020-02-17 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this paper, Mackinder advanced his so-called Heartland Theory, whereby the interior Asia and eastern Europe ("the Heartland") had become the strategic center of the world as a result of the relative decline of sea power against land power and of the economic and industrial development of southern Siberia.
"A stimulating paper." -The Nation "The most important general paper that has been communicated to us." -Geographical Journal "A notable paper ... makes a bold generalisation as to the geographical control of world politics." -Indian Ed. Halford John Mackinder''s 1904 paper "The Geographical Pivot of History" is an attempt to exhibit human history as part of the life of the world organism by showing how the successive invasions of the Asiatic nomads from the steppe-land (the pivot) moulded the settled peoples of Europe. In some measure the strategic advantages of these nomads has been neutralized by the development of mobility upon the ocean. But the steppe-land is about to be covered with a network of railways giving a mobility of military and economic power greater than that of the sea, so that it will continue to be the pivot region of the world''s politics. The strength of Asiatic hordes lay in their mobility, and ceased when they entered the forests and mountains. The grim determination of European peoples to check these successive hordes and not be crushed into a widespread despotism was the principal reason of European advance and unity during all these ages. Thus the spirit which stimulated the peoples of Europe and made them progress was the healthy and powerful reaction against pressure from the steppe lands of Asia. The discovery of the New World changed the relations of Europe and Asia. Europe no longer watched in dread for what might come from Asia. She turned her back on Asia and founded new Europes beyond the oceans. But now the whole world is occupied and well filled with people, save only the vast steppes of Euro-Asia. Europe is fenced in again as she was 400 years ago, and can expand no farther. The land power, the steppes of the Russian Empire and Mongolia, dormant while the oceans were being overrun, will now reassert itself. Railways are to give the steppes mobility and replace the horse and camel. Here there is room for hundreds of millions, who shall derive countless riches from the wealth of fertile plains, boundless forests, and neighboring mountains. "The Geographical Pivot of History" thus formulated the Heartland Theory. This is often considered as a, if not the, founding moment of geopolitics as a field of study, although Mackinder did not use the term. Whilst the Heartland Theory initially received little attention outside geography, this theory would later exercise some influence on the foreign policies of world powers. According to Mackinder, the Earth''s land surface was divisible into: The World-Island, comprising the interlinked continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa. This was the largest, most populous, and richest of all possible land combinations. The offshore islands, including the British Isles and the islands of Japan. The outlying islands, including the continents of North America, South America, and Australia. The Heartland lay at the centre of the world island, stretching from the Volga to the Yangtze and from the Himalayas to the Arctic. Mackinder''s Heartland was the area then ruled by the Russian Empire and after that by the Soviet Union. Later, in 1919, Mackinder summarised his theory as: "Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland; who rules the Heartland commands the World-Island; who rules the World-Island commands the world." Any power which controlled the World-Island would control well over 50% of the world''s resources. The Heartland''s size and central position made it the key to controlling the World-Island. About the author: Sir Halford John Mackinder PC (1861 -1947) was an English geographer, academic, politician, the first Principal of University Extension College, Reading and Director of the London School of Economics, who is regarded as one of the founding fathers of both geopolitics and geostrategy.
Book Synopsis The Geographical Pivot of History by : Halford Mackinder
Download or read book The Geographical Pivot of History written by Halford Mackinder and published by . This book was released on 2018-11-14 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A stimulating paper." -The Nation "The most important general paper that has been communicated to us." -Geographical Journal "A notable paper ... makes a bold generalisation as to the geographical control of world politics." -Indian Ed. Halford John Mackinder''s 1904 paper "The Geographical Pivot of History" is an attempt to exhibit human history as part of the life of the world organism by showing how the successive invasions of the Asiatic nomads from the steppe-land (the pivot) moulded the settled peoples of Europe. In some measure the strategic advantages of these nomads has been neutralized by the development of mobility upon the ocean. But the steppe-land is about to be covered with a network of railways giving a mobility of military and economic power greater than that of the sea, so that it will continue to be the pivot region of the world''s politics. The strength of Asiatic hordes lay in their mobility, and ceased when they entered the forests and mountains. The grim determination of European peoples to check these successive hordes and not be crushed into a widespread despotism was the principal reason of European advance and unity during all these ages. Thus the spirit which stimulated the peoples of Europe and made them progress was the healthy and powerful reaction against pressure from the steppe lands of Asia. The discovery of the New World changed the relations of Europe and Asia. Europe no longer watched in dread for what might come from Asia. She turned her back on Asia and founded new Europes beyond the oceans. But now the whole world is occupied and well filled with people, save only the vast steppes of Euro-Asia. Europe is fenced in again as she was 400 years ago, and can expand no farther. The land power, the steppes of the Russian Empire and Mongolia, dormant while the oceans were being overrun, will now reassert itself. Railways are to give the steppes mobility and replace the horse and camel. Here there is room for hundreds of millions, who shall derive countless riches from the wealth of fertile plains, boundless forests, and neighboring mountains. "The Geographical Pivot of History" thus formulated the Heartland Theory. This is often considered as a, if not the, founding moment of geopolitics as a field of study, although Mackinder did not use the term. Whilst the Heartland Theory initially received little attention outside geography, this theory would later exercise some influence on the foreign policies of world powers. According to Mackinder, the Earth''s land surface was divisible into: The World-Island, comprising the interlinked continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa. This was the largest, most populous, and richest of all possible land combinations. The offshore islands, including the British Isles and the islands of Japan. The outlying islands, including the continents of North America, South America, and Australia. The Heartland lay at the centre of the world island, stretching from the Volga to the Yangtze and from the Himalayas to the Arctic. Mackinder''s Heartland was the area then ruled by the Russian Empire and after that by the Soviet Union. Later, in 1919, Mackinder summarised his theory as: "Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland; who rules the Heartland commands the World-Island; who rules the World-Island commands the world." Any power which controlled the World-Island would control well over 50% of the world''s resources. The Heartland''s size and central position made it the key to controlling the World-Island. About the author: Sir Halford John Mackinder PC (1861 -1947) was an English geographer, academic, politician, the first Principal of University Extension College, Reading and Director of the London School of Economics, who is regarded as one of the founding fathers of both geopolitics and geostrategy.
"Is geography one, or is it several subjects? More precisely, are physical and political geography two stages of one investigation, or are they separate subjects to be studied by different methods, the one an appendix of geology, the other of history? " --Halford Mackinder in The Scope and Methods of Geography, 1887 The Scope and Methods of Geography was published by Halford Mackinder in 1887 in the "New Monthly Series of the Royal Geographical Society." It was a manifesto for the New Geography, in which he viewed physical geography and human geography as a single discipline. This publication represented the beginning of an illustrious career as an English geographer and academic.
Book Synopsis Scope and Methods of Geography by : Halford John Mackinder
Download or read book Scope and Methods of Geography written by Halford John Mackinder and published by . This book was released on 2020-02 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Is geography one, or is it several subjects? More precisely, are physical and political geography two stages of one investigation, or are they separate subjects to be studied by different methods, the one an appendix of geology, the other of history? " --Halford Mackinder in The Scope and Methods of Geography, 1887 The Scope and Methods of Geography was published by Halford Mackinder in 1887 in the "New Monthly Series of the Royal Geographical Society." It was a manifesto for the New Geography, in which he viewed physical geography and human geography as a single discipline. This publication represented the beginning of an illustrious career as an English geographer and academic.
This is a new examination of Halford Mackinder’s seminal global geostrategic work, from the perspective of geography, diplomatic history, political science, international relations, imperial history, and the space age. Mackinder was a man ahead of his time. He foresaw many of the key strategic issues that came to dominate the twentieth century. Until the disintegration of the Soviet Union, western defence strategists feared that one power, or alliance, might come to dominate Eurasia. Admiral Mahan discussed this issue in The Problem of Asia (1900) but Mackinder made the most authoritative statement in "The Geographical Pivot of History" (1904). He argued that in the "closed Heart-Land of Euroasia" was a strategically placed region, with great resources, that if controlled by one force could be the basis of a World Empire. James Kurth, in Foreign Affairs, has commented that it has taken two World Wars and the Cold War to prevent Mackinder’s prophecy becoming reality. In World War I and World War II Germany achieved huge territorial gains at the expense of the Russian empire and the Soviet Union. In the former conflict the Russian empire was defeated by Germany but the western powers insisted that the territorial gains made by Germany, at the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, be given up. In World War II Britain and the US gave material support to Stalin’s totalitarian regime to prevent Nazi Germany gaining control of the territory and resources that might have been a basis for world domination. The west, highly conscious of Mackinder’s dictum (1919) that "Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland," quickly adopted policies to contain the Soviet Union. History has therefore proved Mackinder’s work to be of vital importance to generations of strategic thinking and he remains a key influence in the new millennium. This book will be of great interest to all students and scholars of strategic studies and military history and of geopolitics in particular.
Book Synopsis Global Geostrategy by : Brian Blouet
Download or read book Global Geostrategy written by Brian Blouet and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2020-09-23 with total page 203 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a new examination of Halford Mackinder’s seminal global geostrategic work, from the perspective of geography, diplomatic history, political science, international relations, imperial history, and the space age. Mackinder was a man ahead of his time. He foresaw many of the key strategic issues that came to dominate the twentieth century. Until the disintegration of the Soviet Union, western defence strategists feared that one power, or alliance, might come to dominate Eurasia. Admiral Mahan discussed this issue in The Problem of Asia (1900) but Mackinder made the most authoritative statement in "The Geographical Pivot of History" (1904). He argued that in the "closed Heart-Land of Euroasia" was a strategically placed region, with great resources, that if controlled by one force could be the basis of a World Empire. James Kurth, in Foreign Affairs, has commented that it has taken two World Wars and the Cold War to prevent Mackinder’s prophecy becoming reality. In World War I and World War II Germany achieved huge territorial gains at the expense of the Russian empire and the Soviet Union. In the former conflict the Russian empire was defeated by Germany but the western powers insisted that the territorial gains made by Germany, at the treaty of Brest-Litovsk, be given up. In World War II Britain and the US gave material support to Stalin’s totalitarian regime to prevent Nazi Germany gaining control of the territory and resources that might have been a basis for world domination. The west, highly conscious of Mackinder’s dictum (1919) that "Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland," quickly adopted policies to contain the Soviet Union. History has therefore proved Mackinder’s work to be of vital importance to generations of strategic thinking and he remains a key influence in the new millennium. This book will be of great interest to all students and scholars of strategic studies and military history and of geopolitics in particular.
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this “ambitious and challenging” (The New York Review of Books) work, the bestselling author of Monsoon and Balkan Ghosts offers a revelatory prism through which to view global upheavals and to understand what lies ahead for continents and countries around the world. In The Revenge of Geography, Robert D. Kaplan builds on the insights, discoveries, and theories of great geographers and geopolitical thinkers of the near and distant past to look back at critical pivots in history and then to look forward at the evolving global scene. Kaplan traces the history of the world’s hot spots by examining their climates, topographies, and proximities to other embattled lands. The Russian steppe’s pitiless climate and limited vegetation bred hard and cruel men bent on destruction, for example, while Nazi geopoliticians distorted geopolitics entirely, calculating that space on the globe used by the British Empire and the Soviet Union could be swallowed by a greater German homeland. Kaplan then applies the lessons learned to the present crises in Europe, Russia, China, the Indian subcontinent, Turkey, Iran, and the Arab Middle East. The result is a holistic interpretation of the next cycle of conflict throughout Eurasia. Remarkably, the future can be understood in the context of temperature, land allotment, and other physical certainties: China, able to feed only 23 percent of its people from land that is only 7 percent arable, has sought energy, minerals, and metals from such brutal regimes as Burma, Iran, and Zimbabwe, putting it in moral conflict with the United States. Afghanistan’s porous borders will keep it the principal invasion route into India, and a vital rear base for Pakistan, India’s main enemy. Iran will exploit the advantage of being the only country that straddles both energy-producing areas of the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea. Finally, Kaplan posits that the United States might rue engaging in far-flung conflicts with Iraq and Afghanistan rather than tending to its direct neighbor Mexico, which is on the verge of becoming a semifailed state due to drug cartel carnage. A brilliant rebuttal to thinkers who suggest that globalism will trump geography, this indispensable work shows how timeless truths and natural facts can help prevent this century’s looming cataclysms.
Book Synopsis The Revenge of Geography by : Robert D. Kaplan
Download or read book The Revenge of Geography written by Robert D. Kaplan and published by Random House Trade Paperbacks. This book was released on 2013-09-10 with total page 450 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • In this “ambitious and challenging” (The New York Review of Books) work, the bestselling author of Monsoon and Balkan Ghosts offers a revelatory prism through which to view global upheavals and to understand what lies ahead for continents and countries around the world. In The Revenge of Geography, Robert D. Kaplan builds on the insights, discoveries, and theories of great geographers and geopolitical thinkers of the near and distant past to look back at critical pivots in history and then to look forward at the evolving global scene. Kaplan traces the history of the world’s hot spots by examining their climates, topographies, and proximities to other embattled lands. The Russian steppe’s pitiless climate and limited vegetation bred hard and cruel men bent on destruction, for example, while Nazi geopoliticians distorted geopolitics entirely, calculating that space on the globe used by the British Empire and the Soviet Union could be swallowed by a greater German homeland. Kaplan then applies the lessons learned to the present crises in Europe, Russia, China, the Indian subcontinent, Turkey, Iran, and the Arab Middle East. The result is a holistic interpretation of the next cycle of conflict throughout Eurasia. Remarkably, the future can be understood in the context of temperature, land allotment, and other physical certainties: China, able to feed only 23 percent of its people from land that is only 7 percent arable, has sought energy, minerals, and metals from such brutal regimes as Burma, Iran, and Zimbabwe, putting it in moral conflict with the United States. Afghanistan’s porous borders will keep it the principal invasion route into India, and a vital rear base for Pakistan, India’s main enemy. Iran will exploit the advantage of being the only country that straddles both energy-producing areas of the Persian Gulf and the Caspian Sea. Finally, Kaplan posits that the United States might rue engaging in far-flung conflicts with Iraq and Afghanistan rather than tending to its direct neighbor Mexico, which is on the verge of becoming a semifailed state due to drug cartel carnage. A brilliant rebuttal to thinkers who suggest that globalism will trump geography, this indispensable work shows how timeless truths and natural facts can help prevent this century’s looming cataclysms.
Mark Blacksell gives a concise introduction to the key themes in political geography and moves beyond the study of the state to encompass the spatial consequences of power at all levels.
Book Synopsis Political Geography by : Mark Blacksell
Download or read book Political Geography written by Mark Blacksell and published by Psychology Press. This book was released on 2006 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Mark Blacksell gives a concise introduction to the key themes in political geography and moves beyond the study of the state to encompass the spatial consequences of power at all levels.
An extraordinary detailed manual on statecraft and the science of living by one of classical India's greatest minds; Kautilya; also known as Chanakya and Vishnugupta; wrote the Arthashastra not later than 150 AD though the date has not been conclusively established. Legend has it that he was either a Brahmin from Kerala or from north India; however; it is certain that Kautilya was the man who destroyed the Nanda dynasty and installed Chandragupta Maurya as the King of Magadha. A master strategist who was well-versed in the Vedas and adept at creating intrigues and devising political stratagems; Kautilya's genius is reflected in his Arthashastra which is the most comprehensive treatise of statecraft of classical times. The text contains fifteen books which cover numerous topics viz.; the King; a complete code of law; foreign policy; secret and occult practices and so on. The Arthashastra is written mainly in prose but also incorporates 380 shlokas. Artha; literally wealth; is one of four supreme aims prescribed by Hindu tradition. However; it has a much wider significance and the material well-being of individuals is just a part of it. In accordance with this; Kautilya's Arthashastra maintains that the state or government of a country has a vital role to play in maintaining the material status of both the nation and its people. Therefore; a significant part of the Arthashastra has to do with the science of economics. When it deals with the science of politics; the Arthashastra describes in detail the art of government in its widest sense—the maintenance of law and order as also of an efficient administrative machinery.
Book Synopsis The ARTHASHASTRA by : Kautilya
Download or read book The ARTHASHASTRA written by Kautilya and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2000-10-14 with total page 1001 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An extraordinary detailed manual on statecraft and the science of living by one of classical India's greatest minds; Kautilya; also known as Chanakya and Vishnugupta; wrote the Arthashastra not later than 150 AD though the date has not been conclusively established. Legend has it that he was either a Brahmin from Kerala or from north India; however; it is certain that Kautilya was the man who destroyed the Nanda dynasty and installed Chandragupta Maurya as the King of Magadha. A master strategist who was well-versed in the Vedas and adept at creating intrigues and devising political stratagems; Kautilya's genius is reflected in his Arthashastra which is the most comprehensive treatise of statecraft of classical times. The text contains fifteen books which cover numerous topics viz.; the King; a complete code of law; foreign policy; secret and occult practices and so on. The Arthashastra is written mainly in prose but also incorporates 380 shlokas. Artha; literally wealth; is one of four supreme aims prescribed by Hindu tradition. However; it has a much wider significance and the material well-being of individuals is just a part of it. In accordance with this; Kautilya's Arthashastra maintains that the state or government of a country has a vital role to play in maintaining the material status of both the nation and its people. Therefore; a significant part of the Arthashastra has to do with the science of economics. When it deals with the science of politics; the Arthashastra describes in detail the art of government in its widest sense—the maintenance of law and order as also of an efficient administrative machinery.
Heartlands of Eurasia explores how received metageographical knowledge informs the understanding of global processes and is subsequently transformed into geopolitical reasoning with foreign policy implications. It provides a detailed examination of writings, from both within the region and outside, that look into the significance of Halford Mackinder's heritage in the context of a vastly changed world situation. In particular, it attempts to examine how policy makers and strategic thinkers have used these geopolitical concepts as justification for their policy in the region. Finally, it attempts an analysis of the extent to which this policy thinking was translated into practice. While the study looks into how the vision of the 'pivotal' significance of a vast expanse of land finds its echoes in contemporary narratives, it also underlines the very creative ways in which Mackinder's ideas have been reinterpreted in keeping with the changing global dynamics. Making use of the way in which the region has been traditionally defined and the way in which the people defined themselves, the study brings into focus a debate on the usefulness of region or 'area'-based studies that are located in geographical imaginations. Anita Sengupta uses this connection to examine the following issues: geopolitical imaginations and their relevance in identifying 'areas' in the present context; the intersection between how areas are defined from an outsider perspective and how people define themselves; the extent to which these definitions have influenced policy; and the possibility or feasibility of the development of alternative geostrategic discourses. Mackinder himself did not specify the geographical area identified first as the 'pivot' and later the 'heartland,' but his ideas were focused on the 'closed heartland of Euro-Asia,' an area that was unassailable by sea power. This study therefore centers its debates around the Eurasian space in general, though the focus is on the Central Asian region and Uzbekistan in particular. The book is ideal for specialists working on the Eurasian region, graduate students interested in geopolitics as well as Eurasian and Central Asian studies, and undergraduates studying political science and international relations.
Book Synopsis Heartlands of Eurasia by : Anita Sengupta
Download or read book Heartlands of Eurasia written by Anita Sengupta and published by Lexington Books. This book was released on 2009-07-16 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Heartlands of Eurasia explores how received metageographical knowledge informs the understanding of global processes and is subsequently transformed into geopolitical reasoning with foreign policy implications. It provides a detailed examination of writings, from both within the region and outside, that look into the significance of Halford Mackinder's heritage in the context of a vastly changed world situation. In particular, it attempts to examine how policy makers and strategic thinkers have used these geopolitical concepts as justification for their policy in the region. Finally, it attempts an analysis of the extent to which this policy thinking was translated into practice. While the study looks into how the vision of the 'pivotal' significance of a vast expanse of land finds its echoes in contemporary narratives, it also underlines the very creative ways in which Mackinder's ideas have been reinterpreted in keeping with the changing global dynamics. Making use of the way in which the region has been traditionally defined and the way in which the people defined themselves, the study brings into focus a debate on the usefulness of region or 'area'-based studies that are located in geographical imaginations. Anita Sengupta uses this connection to examine the following issues: geopolitical imaginations and their relevance in identifying 'areas' in the present context; the intersection between how areas are defined from an outsider perspective and how people define themselves; the extent to which these definitions have influenced policy; and the possibility or feasibility of the development of alternative geostrategic discourses. Mackinder himself did not specify the geographical area identified first as the 'pivot' and later the 'heartland,' but his ideas were focused on the 'closed heartland of Euro-Asia,' an area that was unassailable by sea power. This study therefore centers its debates around the Eurasian space in general, though the focus is on the Central Asian region and Uzbekistan in particular. The book is ideal for specialists working on the Eurasian region, graduate students interested in geopolitics as well as Eurasian and Central Asian studies, and undergraduates studying political science and international relations.
Book Synopsis The Scope and Methods of Geography by : Halford John Mackinder
Download or read book The Scope and Methods of Geography written by Halford John Mackinder and published by . This book was released on 1969 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: