Introduction to Geopolitics

420 Pages·2016·6.49 MB·English

by  Colin Flint

Introduction to
Geopolitics
Third Edition

This new updated edition of Introduction to Geopolitics presents the overarching
themes of geopolitical structures and agents in an engaging and accessible
manner, which requires no previous knowledge of theory or current affairs.
Using new pertinent case studies and guided exercises, the title explains the
contemporary global power of the United States and the challenges it is facing,
the persistence of nationalist conflicts, migration, cyberwar, terrorism, and
environmental geopolitics. Case studies of the rise of the so-called Islamic State,
the South China Sea disputes, the Syrian civil war, the Korean conflict, and
Israel–Palestine emphasize the multi-faceted nature of conflict. The book raises
questions by incorporating international and long-term historical perspectives
and introduces readers to different theoretical viewpoints, including feminist
contributions. The new edition features expanded sections on network
geopolitics and non-state actors, a new section on geopolitics of transnational
business, cyberwar, an interpretation of ISIS within historical geopolitical trends,
as well as expanded discussion of the relevance of Boserup and neo-Malthusians
to environmental geopolitics.
Introduction to Geopolitics will provide its readers with a set of critical
analytical tools for understanding the actions of states as well as non-state actors
operating in competition over resources and power. Both students and general
readers will find this book an essential stepping stone to a deeper and critical
understanding of contemporary conflicts.
Colin Flint is a Professor in the Department of Political Science, Utah State
University, USA. He is author of Geopolitical Constructs, a co-author, with
Peter Taylor, of Political Geography: World-Economy, Nation-State and
Locality, and a co-editor of the journal Geopolitics.
Introduction to Geopolitics
Third Edition
Colin Flint
Third edition published 2017
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2017 Colin Flint
The right of Colin Flint to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any
electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used
only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 2006
Second edition published by Routledge 2012
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in
Publication Data
Names: Flint, Colin, 1965– author.
Title: Introduction to geopolitics / Colin Flint.
Description: Third edition. | Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor &
Francis Group, an Informa Business, [2017] | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016019448| ISBN 9781138192157 (hardback: alk. paper) | ISBN 9781138192164
(pbk.: alk. paper) | ISBN 9781315640044 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Geopolitics–Textbooks.
Classification: LCC JC319 .F55 2017 | DDC 320.1/2–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016019448
ISBN: 978-1-13819215-7 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-13819216-4 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-31564004-4 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman
by Graphicraft Limited, Hong Kong
CONTENTS

List of figures
List of tables
List of boxes
Acknowledgments
List of abbreviations

Prologue
Chapter 1 A framework for understanding geopolitics
Geography and politics
Places and politics
The politics of scale
Regions and politics
Territory as political space
Politics of networks
What is geopolitics? Expanding the definition
Geopolitical agents: making and doing geopolitics
Structure and agency: possibilities, constraints, and geopolitical
choices
Power, geopolitics, and geography
Further reading
References
Chapter 2 Geopolitical agency: the concept of geopolitical codes
Geopolitical codes
Scales of geopolitical codes
The global geopolitical codes of the US
The War on Terror as a geopolitical code
“At night we hear them screaming:” a feminist geopolitics of the US
geopolitical code
Geopolitical codes of global significance
Relational geopolitical codes
Geopolitical codes of non-state agents
From al-Qaeda to ISIS: non-state geopolitical codes to challenge
the US
Other non-state agents and geopolitical codes
Summary and segue
Further reading
References
Chapter 3 Justifying geopolitical agency: representing geopolitical codes 79
War! What is it good for… ?
Cultured war
Orientalism: the foundation of the geopolitical mindset
Representing geopolitical codes of non-state agents: beheading and
misogyny as geopolitical spectacle
The dynamism of geopolitical codes
Summary and segue
Further reading
References
Chapter 4 Embedding geopolitics within national identity
The nation: an essential part of geopolitical practice and
representation
(Misused) terminology
The geopolitics of nationalism I: constructing a national identity
The geopolitics of nationalism II: the process of “ethnic cleansing”
Case study: Syrian Civil War
Gender, nationalism, and geopolitical codes
A typology of nationalist myths and geopolitical codes
Breaking down the binaries
Case study: Myanmar/Burma: a militarized state trying to build a
unitary nation
Summary and segue
Further reading
References
Chapter 5 Territorial geopolitics: shaky foundations of the world political
map?
Definitions
Constructing territory
Geopolitical codes and boundary conflicts
Case study: Israel–Palestine
The geopolitics of making peaceful boundaries
Case study: global geopolitical codes and the establishment of the
North Korea–South Korea boundary
Boundaries, flows, and refugees
Territoriality of the ocean and territorial disputes
Summary and segue
Further reading
References
Chapter 6 Network geopolitics: social movements and terrorists
Geopolitical globalization: a new metageography
The geopolitics of transnational business
Transnational social movements
Definitions of terrorism
History of modern terrorism: waves of terrorism and their
geography
Metageographies of terrorism
Incongruous geographies?
Geopolitics of netwar and cyberwarfare
Summary and segue
Further reading
References
Chapter 7 Global geopolitical structure: framing agency
Defining a global geopolitical structure: using and interrogating
Modelski’s model of world leadership
The geopolitics of the rise and fall of world leaders: the context of
contemporary geopolitics?
Interpreting agency within Modelski’s world leadership structure:
contextualizing geopolitical codes
Legacy, change, and world leadership: feedback systems in
Modelski’s model
Pros and cons of Modelski’s model
Summary and segue
Further reading
References
Chapter 8 Environmental geopolitics: security and sustainability
Securitization and the environment
Humans and the environment
Geopolitical codes and the environment
Climate change and the necessity of interstate geopolitics
The geopolitics of the Arctic
Water wars? Interstate and everyday geopolitics
Territory, conflict and the environment
The return of Malthus
Summary and segue
Further reading
References
Chapter 9 Messy geopolitics: agency and multiple structures
Multiple geopolitical structures: rape as a weapon of war
One conflict, but multiple agents and structures: the example of
Jammu and Kashmir
Messiness, structure and peace
Geopolitics of peace
The politics of geopolitics
Conclusion and epilogue
Further reading
References
Index
FIGURES

P.1 Sir Halford Mackinder’s “Heartland” theory
1.1 Africa: independent countries and the decline of white-rule
1.2 Lenin Statue, Moscow
1.3 The Iron Curtain
1.4 Woman and child in Iraqi bomb site
2.1 US troops in Kosovo
2.2 British World War II propaganda poster
2.3 “Freedom Walk”
2.4 NATO expansion
3.1 World War II memorial, Stavropol, Russia
3.2 “Nests for spies”
3.3 ISIS fighters
3.4 The geography of the State of the Union addresses of President Ronald
Reagan
3.5 The geography of the State of the Union addresses of President George
H.W. Bush
3.6 The geography of the State of the Union addresses of President William J.
Clinton
3.7 The geography of the State of the Union addresses of President George W.
Bush
3.8 The changing emphasis upon allies and enemies in US State of the Union
addresses
4.1 The Arab Spring
4.2 World War I telegram to next of kin
4.3 Prelude to ethnic cleansing
4.4 Ethnic cleansing: expulsion
4.5 Ethnic cleansing: eradication
4.6 Ethnic cleansing: expansion
5.1 Closed border: Egypt–Israel
5.2 Open border: Russian Caucasus
5.3 Hypothetica
5.4 Israel–Palestine I: Oslo II Agreement