Description

Geopolitics has traditionally been the study of the relationship and links between political power and geographic space. The doctrine of Geopolitics gained attention largely through the work of Sir Halford Mackinder in England and his formulation of the Heartland Theory in 1904, which in reference to the British Empire at the time explored the significance of sea power in world conflict.


Whilst politics looks at the application of power, geopolitics looks at power in relation to geography and resources. The Western world has dominated the geopolitical scene for the past three centuries and has fought many wars over resources with each other. It was the British Empire's supremacy at sea that gave it superpower status. Its control of the seas through concentrating on navel development allowed it to conquer key sea trade routes and project its power across the oceans. It was its navel power that allowed it to conquer large parts of the world. Napoleon attempted to challenge British supremacy and was eventually defeated at the battle of waterloo in 1815.

Germany revolutionised the global geopolitical scene in the late 19th century by developing submarines and railways, allowing her to challenge the British Empire in the form of World War 1. Allied victory saw Britain and France distribute the spoils amongst themselves including the emergence of the key to global geopolitical supremacy - oil. Within 25 years Germany resurfaced bigger, bolder and bloodier with state of the art rockets that would propel missiles and lead to the development of airplanes and fighter jets and another attempt to shift the global balance of power - World War 2. However, it was the US that emerged as the world's superpower after World War 2 and this ushered in the era of economic competition and nuclear and energy development. The ability to harness resources through the development of technology has led the US to achieve full spectrum dominance, where an aura of invincibility surrounds her.