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Brian W. Blouet, ed., Global Geostrategy: Mackinder and the Defence of the
West. Geopolitical Theory Series. London and New York: Frank
Cass/Routledge, 2005, 177+xii pp

Article in Comparative Strategy · August 2007

DOI: 10.1080/01495930701454512

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Brian W. Blouet, ed., Global Geostrategy:

Mackinder and the Defence of the West.
Geopolitical Theory Series. London and New York:
Frank Cass/Routledge, 2005, 177+xii pp.

C. Dale Walton

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and the Defence of the West. Geopolitical Theory Series. London and New York: Frank Cass/
Routledge, 2005, 177+xii pp., , 26:3, 249-250, DOI: 10.1080/01495930701454512

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 Book Review

Brian W. Blouet, ed., Global Geostrategy: Mackinder and the Defence

of the West. Geopolitical Theory Series. London and New York: Frank
Cass/Routledge, 2005, 177+xii pp.

C. DALE WALTON
University of Reading
Reading, United Kingdom

Sir Halford Mackinder quite likely was the most important thinker in the development of
academic geopolitics over the previous century. His “Heartland thesis”—itself a refined
version of the ideas put forward in his 1904 paper “The Geographical Pivot of History”—
was the key geopolitical concept of the twentieth century. Not all geopoliticians accepted
Mackinder’s arguments—most importantly, Nicholas Spykman provided an alluring coun-
terargument to the heartland thesis—but his work was a keystone for all geopolitical theory
that followed. Global Geostrategy: Mackinder and the Defence of the West is a welcome ad-
dition to the too-small body of literature addressing the work of a truly important academic.
Brian W. Blouet, the editor of Global Geostrategy, is one of the world’s foremost
experts on Mackinder’s life and work, and he has assembled an interesting assortment of
essays that address Mackinder from a variety of perspectives. The essays vary considerably
in length, but their overall quality is high. Moreover, by their very diversity they illustrate
the richness of Mackinder’s ideas and the depth of his intellectual influence.
Blouet’s own thoughtful essay focuses largely on Mackinder’s 1904 “Pivot paper” and
the reaction to it, as well as Mackinder’s larger influence. Colin S. Gray makes a vigorous
defense of Mackinder’s ideas, providing a needed context by considering his work with the
benefit of a hundred years of hindsight. Gray’s verdict—that Mackinder’s daring geopolitical
theory was “accurate enough” to be useful in the twentieth century and continues to be so
today—is convincing.
In their essays, Robin A. Butlin and Pascal Venier also provide useful context, re-
spectively addressing the influence of the pivot paper on imperial defense policy and the
diplomatic circumstances confronting Britain in 1904. Paul Coones offers a learned and in-
triguing assessment of Russian history and the concept of the Heartland, while Sara O’Hara,
Michael Heffernan, and Georgina Endfield provide a strong chapter on Mackinder’s work as
it applies to Central Asia. Peter J. Hugill offers a bold analysis of how the fortunes of “trading
states” have been influenced by technology, particularly airpower, while Geoffrey R. Sloan’s
excellent chapter concerns Mackinder’s analysis of Ireland’s significance in one of the lat-
ter’s less-remembered works, Britain and the British Seas. Klaus Dodd provides a short
critique of Mackinder from a “critical” perspective, while Everett C. Dolman’s thoughtful
chapter convincingly argues that “the essential concepts of Mackinderian geopolitics are
remarkably transferable to the physical and political landscape of outer space.”1 Finally,
David Hooson provides an interesting personal perspective on the history and, he contends,
demise of the Heartland idea.
In passing, Gray eloquently states one of the reasons why geopolitics is an important
field: “Whereas historians and political scientists have been educated to know more and more

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Comparative Strategy, 26:249–250, 2007
Copyright © 2007 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC
0149-5933/07 $12.00 + .00
DOI: 10.1080/01495930701454512
 250 C. D. Walton

about less and less, and are professionally programmed to dissect phenomena, geopoliticians
are committed to the all-too-rare activity of putting things together. It is the crowning glory
of geopolitical theory that it seeks to connect, rather than disconnect; it is, in a word,
holistic.”2 Given that the merits of Mackinder’s Heartland thesis will continue to be debated,
perhaps for centuries, the great geopolitical theorist certainly succeeded in prodding those
who followed him to consider international politics holistically—and that, in itself, was a
major accomplishment. Overall, Global Geostrategy is a serious contribution to the study
of geopolitics, and is highly recommended.

Notes
1. Everett Carl Dolman, “The Geographical Pivot of Outer Space,” in Brian W. Blouet, ed.,
Global Geostrategy: Mackinder and the Defence of the West, Geopolitical Theory Series (London
and New York: Frank Cass/Routledge, 2005), p. 162.
2. Colin S. Gray, “In Defence of the Heartland: Sir Halford Mackinder and his Critics a Hundred
Years On,” in Blouet, Global Geostrategy, p. 26.

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