When I say the word \u201cgeopolitics\u201d, I immediately become self conscious. I imagine that my listener has framed me, labeled me, and put me into a box marked \u201cpompous ass.\u201d Geopolitics sounds an awful lot like other quasi-words that set off bullshit detectors everywhere. Think of \u201cedutainment\u201d or \u201cguesstimate.\u201d There\u2019s an air of forced cleverness.

Every one of us forms a mental picture of the world. The picture below was created by someone critical of Ronald Reagan. Reagan\u2019s mental picture would have been quite different. You and I have different pictures. I don\u2019t mean to suggest there\u2019s a Denny\u2019s fun-facts Word Map on the table in your brain, but thereis a combination of pictures, sounds, and feelings that shaped it. The study of geopolitics asks that you suppress your natural tendencies. It\u2019s a very different method of learning about and describing the world. So what, exactly, is it?

This 100% accurate representation of the world as imagined by former president Ronald Reagan was recalled by one of his many critics. Had his brain been implanted into a Cyborg exoskeleton, he would have used a combination of telepathy and plasma-beam vision to refashion the world into a nightmarish dystopia while cackling in the antechamber of his hovering mega-fortress.

A. Fail. America\u2019s power would certainly fall, continually and painfully.
B. Success. American troops would immediately stream out of Iraq and Afghanistan.
C. Rapture! The Lord would come again, take all the righteous and leaving the sinners in its wake.

Our inherent partisan assumptions don\u2019t have much to do with geopolitics. Personalities certainlycan have an effect, but their actions exist against the backdrop of geography and civilization. This is more important than cable news would lead you to believe. It\u2019s as though we care about the pieces but not the game board.

In academic circles, the study of Geopolitics involves the analysis ofg eog r ap h y,h ist or y and social science with reference to spatial politics andpatter ns at various scales (ranging from the level of the state to international).-Wikipedia

Geopolitics is not simply a pretentious way of saying "international relations." It is a method for thinking about the world and forecasting what will happen down the road. Economists talk about an invisible hand, in which the self-interested, short-term activities of people lead to what Adam Smith called "the wealth of nations." Geopolitics applies the concept of the invisible hand to the behavior of nations and other

We must look at a bunch of factors in order to figure out why the world turns out the way it does. It\u2019s more an art than a science, but there\u2019s a scientifically-minded approach that\u2019s quite satisfying. I fear that improper use could take me down a blind alley or reinforce useless biases. But as imperfect tools go, it\u2019s an order of magnitude better than the partisan political take.

If geopolitics is the confluence of these different factors, thenr ealpolitik is the ugly result. Through the partisan lens, the decisions of leaders can appear inscrutable or evil, but examining things in this faction means that events make a bit more sense. Whether as hard-won compromises or decisions that violate our national sense of self, it\u2019s the most likely approach you can count on. There\u2019s also the war, oppression, and death that comes with it. By contrast, our tedious political temper tantrums seem like a puppet show.

Every government on the planet engages in realpolitik becausewe \u2013 you and I \u2013 do it too. Once you have enough people to call an \u201cus\u201d you find a \u201cthem\u201d out there to compete with.We may do it with stolen office supplies, parental negligence, and passive-aggressive bitching, but that\u2019s only due to the scope of our control over the world. Realpolitik is human nature writ large, temper tantrum and all.