Geopolitical Theories by famous Geopoliticians

Political Geography theories by AT Mahan, Mackinder and Spykman

1. Geopolitical Theories
Namrata Handique

2. Sea Power Theory by AT Mahan in 1890
Mahan,bornin1840,graduatedfromtheU.S.NavalAcademyin1859,
servedintheUnionNavyduringtheCivilWar,andthereafterservedon
numerousshipsandatseveralnavalstationsuntilfindinghispermanent
homeattheNavalWarCollegeaslecturer.
In1883,heauthoredhisfirstbook,TheGulfandInlandWaters,astudy
ofnavalengagementsintheCivilWar.Itwashissecondbook,The
InfluenceofSeaPowerUponHistory1660-1783(1890),however,that
broughthimnationalandinternationalfame.Thebook,largelybased
onMahan’slecturesattheNavalWarCollege,becamethe“bible”for
manynaviesaroundtheworld.

3. InMahan’sday,Britainwasviewedastheleadingworldpower.
Britain’sleadershipoftheinternationalsystemrestedonits
strengthasatradingstate,financialpower,vastcolonial
holdings,andmanufactures.Britain’snavalmightprotectedthis
globalsystem.
Inthebook,Mahanreviewedtheroleofseapowerinthe
emergenceandgrowthoftheBritishEmpire.Hedescribedthe
seaasa“greathighway”and“widecommon”with“well-worn
traderoutes”overwhichmenpassinalldirections.He
identifiedseveralnarrowpassagesorstrategic“chokepoints,”
thecontrolofwhichcontributedtoGreatBritain’scommandof
theseas.

4. •Hearguedthatnationalprosperityand
powerdependedoncontrolofthe
world'ssea-lanes.Mahanwrote:
"Whoeverrulesthewavesrulesthe
world".
•Mahanbelievedthatbyimprovingthe
navalstrengthoftheUSA(whichisa
landpower),Americacanexpandits
marketoverseasbyprotectingtrade
routesandsea-bornecommunications
betweenpoints.
•Seapowerissuperiortolandpower
becauseofeasyandfastermovement,
portfacilities,bettertradeetc.He
arguedthatglobalmilitarypowerwas
dependentonSeapowerandnaval
power.
SeaPowerreferstocountrieshavingalargesea
boundaryandLandPowerreferstocountries
thatarelandlockedorhavealargeland
boundary.E.g.-Indiahasalongcoastlinewhile
Nepalisalandlockedcountry.

5. Heartland Theory by Sir Halford Mackinder
SirHalfordJohnMackinder(15February1861–6March1947)
wasanEnglishgeographer,academicandpolitician,whois
regardedasoneofthefoundingfathersof
bothgeopoliticsandgeostrategy.HewasthefirstPrincipalof
UniversityExtensionCollege,Reading(whichbecame
theUniversityofReading)from1892to1903,andDirectorof
theLondonSchoolofEconomicsfrom1903to1908.While
continuinghisacademiccareerpart-time,hewasalso
theMemberofParliamentforGlasgowCamlachiefrom1910to
1922.From1923,hewasProfessorofGeographyattheLondon
SchoolofEconomics.

6. DisagreeingwithMahan’sThesis,Mackinder
arguedthatglobalsupremacylieswithland
powerduetoitslocation,inaccessibilityfromall
sidesandresourcepass.
Inhiseassy“TheGeographicalPivotofHistory”,
whichwaspublishedin1904,Mackinder
interpretedthathistorywasessentiallyastruggle
b/wlandandseapower.
Mackinderdividedtheworldinto3tierspatially
organizedsystem.Thetheretierswere:
1.PIVOTAREA
2.INNERCRESCENT
3.OUTER/INSULARCRESCENT

8. PIVOTAREA–
•Itissurroundedbymountainsonthreesidesandby
theice-boundArcticonthenorth.
•ItconsistedofalmostwholeofEurope,wholeSiberia
&partsofCentralAsia(Kazakhstan,Uzbekistan,
Tajikistan,Kyrgyzstan,andTurkmenistan)
•ItwassurroundedbythevasticefieldsofArcticin
North,theUralsinWest,CentralAsianHighlandsin
South&EastSiberianHighlandsinEast.
•Itwasthustermedasa“NaturalFortressorthe
UppermostCitadeloftheworld”asitwasnot
accessibletoseapowers
•Thepivotareahasaconcentrationofall-natural
resources–mineral,water,soil,forest,etc.

9. INNERCRESCENT–
•ThePivotAreawaspicturedbyMackinderassurroundedbyan‘Inner’or
‘Marginal’Crescent,consistingofanarchofcoastland&characterizedby
drainageintonavigableseas
•ThisinnerormarginalcrescentconsideredofthewholeofEurasiaoutside
theheartlandwhichincludes–Europe,SouthWestAsia,NorthAfrica,
India,China(somepartsofChinaisinpivotareaalso)
OUTER/INSULARCRESCENT–
•ItisdesignatedasOuterCrescentbecauseoftheircompleteinsularity
fromthemainlandofEurasia.
•ItincludedtheNewWorld(NorthAmerica,SouthAmerica,OtherpartsofAfrica,PacificIslands,Oceania).

10. In1919,Mackindermodifiedhistheoryandpresentedinhisbook,
“DemocraticIdealsandReality”.Pivotareawasmodifiedandhe
calleditHEARTLAND.HeartlandwasamuchlargerregionthanPivot
areaandnearlydifficulttoaccessbytheseapower.
TheworldpowerseemedtobecentralizedaroundtheHeartland
whichhesaidhadalltheresourcesandnaturaldefensebythe
physiographicfactors.
His2ndtierortheInnerCrescentnowincludedtheBritishIsles&the
wholeofAfrica.
TheoutercrescentconsistedofNewWorld.

13. ThekeytocontroltheHeartland,Mackinderlaterargued,layinEasternEurope.
“WhorulesEastEuropecommandstheHeartland;whorulestheHeartlandcommandstheWorld-
Island;whorulestheWorld-Islandcontrolstheworld.”

14. CRITICISM:
•Hesimplifiedhistoryinadeterministicfashionasastrugglebetweenlandandseapowers,whichisfar
fromtruth.HistoryisinfluencedbyPhysical,Socio-EconomicandCulturalfactorswithconflictof
interestandnotjustGeographicalFactors.
•Hewronglyequatedpowerpotentialwiththesheergeographicalarea,afactorthatmadehimto
overinflatetheresources&powerpotentialoftheinnerAsianHeartlande.g.theSaharaDeserthasa
vastareabutbarren,withoutanyresources.
•HeoverlookedthefactthatHeartlandwasaregionofpermanentdifficultiesbecauseofitsinterior
locationandowingtotheextremesofclimate.Itistoocoldinwinterandpartsofitarehotanddryin
summer,thereforeowingtotheselocational&climaticfactors,theHeartlandisatarelatively
disadvantageascomparedtootherlarger&well-endowedarea.
•HeartlandisnotasresourcefulasitismadeouttobeandthegreaterpartofHeartlandisa
wasteland,incapableofsupportingalargepopulation.
•Heartlandisnolongerimpenetrableduetomoderntechnology.Hecouldnotforeseetheairageand
histheoriesareaproductofthezenithoftheRailageinEurope.Heartlandiseasilyaccessible,
crossingallthebarriers,withthehelpofairplanes.

15. RimlandTheory by Nicholas Spykman
NicholasJohnSpykman(1893–1943)wasan
AmericanpoliticalscientistwhowasProfessorof
InternationalRelationsatYaleUniversityfrom1928
untilhisdeathin1943.Hewasoneofthefoundersof
theclassicalrealistschoolinAmericanforeignpolicy,
transmittingEasternEuropeanpoliticalthoughtto
theUnitedStates.

16. Hepublishedtwobooksonforeignpolicies
1-America’sstrategyinworldpolitics–published
in1942,concernedwiththebalanceofpower,here
hearguedisolationism
2-thegeographyofpeace-publishedin1944,
publishedafterhisdeath,heexplainedhis
geostrategyandarguedthatthebalanceofpowerin
EurasiawillaffecttheUSsecurity.Rimlandtheory
waspublishedinthisbook.

17. RIMLAND THEORY
•InhisRimlandtheory,SpykmanbuiltonMackinder’stheoryanddefinedtherimland
tobeEurasia’sentireperipheryi.e.WesternEuropeandSouthandEastAsia.(notits
coreRussiaandCentralAisa)
•Spykman,basedonthesamepremises,builtanewgeopoliticalmodelwheretheSea
PowerwassupremeandLandPowerbeinginaccessibleisinferior.
•ToSpykman,theHeartlandappeared“lessimportantthantheRimland”asHeartland
couldnotsupportalargepopulationduetoextremesofclimateinCentralSiberia.

18. 1-INNER CORE
-Similar to the heartland
-He said that heartland is a region of physiographic
difficulties with barriers and extreme climatic
constraints such as Siberia
-The resources are dormant
-Human population is absent
-It is neither a natural fortress nor a protected land
-It is allowing access to others
-Moreover this region is inhabited by tribals and has
primitive civilization
2-RIMLAND
-Has all the majestic sea powers which scripted the
history of modern civilisation
-all the area of rimland is connected to seas and
oceans –China, India, Asean countries
-to spykman heartland was relatively less important
And his famous dictum was -“Who controls the
Rimland rules Eurasia, Who rules Eurasia controls the
destinies of the World”
2 tier system –inner core and rimland

20. Why Rimlandis important than Heartland?
RimlandhasmoreimportanceoverHeartlandbecauseofthefollowingreasons–
•Atleast40%oftheworldresourcesareintheRimlandareasuchasOil,
ContinentalShelfresources,etc
•Rimlandcountrieshavehugepopulatione.g.India,China,etc
•Rimlandcountriesareundergoingwaragainstterror,thewaragainstweaponsof
MassDestruction(WMDs)
•RimlandconsistsmostlyofdevelopingNationssuchasIndia,CLMVcountries,
Indonesia,etc.

21. •CriticisedonthegroundofAdvancementofwartechnologyandNucleardeterrence
•Spykmanunderestimatedtheroleoftheworldcommunity&UNOinpromotingworld
peace
•Worldtodayisaglobalvillageandinternationallawdoesn’tpermitterritorialexpansion
i.e.Ratzel’sLebensraumwasnolongerapplicablewhichconsideredStateasaliving
organismandmotivatedHitlerforaGreaterGermanReich
•ItisthetimeofEconomicimperialismandnotthatofPoliticalcolonizatione.g.Flooding
ofIndianMarketsbyChineseGoods
CRITICISM