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Geopolitical Thought - JPM620

Title:	Geopolitical Thought
Czech title:	Geopolitical Thought
Guaranteed by:	Department of Political Science (23-KP)
Faculty:	Faculty of Social Sciences
Actual:	from 2020
Semester:	winter
E-Credits:	6
Examination process:	winter s.:
Hours per week, examination:	winter s.:1/1, Ex [HT]
Capacity:	30 / 15 (30)
Min. number of students:	unlimited
4EU+:	no
Virtual mobility / capacity:	no
State of the course:	taught
Language:	English
Teaching methods:	full-time
Note:	course can be enrolled in outside the study plan enabled for web enrollment priority enrollment if the course is part of the study plan

Guarantor:	doc. Mgr. Bohumil Doboš, Ph.D.
Teacher(s):	doc. Mgr. Bohumil Doboš, Ph.D.
Class:	Courses for incoming students

WS schedule Noticeboard

Annotation -

The aim of the course is to present the students with main streams of thought inside the geopolitical thinking. The course will be structured as to give an overview of the main schools and different understandings of the political processes in space. This will help students to apply different theoretical approaches to the analysis of international politics.

Last update: Doboš Bohumil, doc. Mgr., Ph.D. (11.08.2020)

Aim of the course

Students will receive a wider understanding of approaches to geopolitics from geographic deterministic to analytical to critical. They will be capable of applying these frameworks to their study of concrete processes and events.

Last update: Doboš Bohumil, doc. Mgr., Ph.D. (11.08.2020)

Course completion requirements

Short paper - 50%

Students will prepare 4 short papers (1.300 - 2.000 words each) applying a concrete approach to geopolitics on a contemporary issue of international politics. The papers will follow the division of the course into 4 main blocs and students will choose one concrete approach from each bloc. The deadline for each paper is a week after the whole block was covered in lectures.

Oral exam - 50%

The oral exam will be based on lectures and readings.

Evaluation is performed in accordance with the Dean’s Provision.

Last update: Doboš Bohumil, doc. Mgr., Ph.D. (11.08.2020)

Literature

Required readings (available in Moodle):

Agnew, J. - Globalization and Sovereignty (Chapter 1)

Brzezinski, Z. - The Grand Chessboard (Introduction, Chapter 1, 2)

Cohen, S. B. - Geopolitics (Chapters 1,2,3)

De Seversky, A. - Victory Through Air Power (Chapters 1, 12)

Dolman, E. C. - Astropolitik (Chapters 1,2)

Dussuoy, G. - Systemic Geopolitics (article)

Kaplan, R. D. - The Revenge of Geography (Chapter 2)

Luttwak, E. N. - From Geopolitics to Geoeconomics (article)

Khanna, P. - Connectography (Chapter 1,2)

MacKinder, H. J. - The Geographical Pivot of History (article)

Mahan, A. T. - The Influence of Sea Power Upon History (Introductory, Chapter 1)

Ó Tuathail - Critical Geopolitics (Introduction, Chapter 1,2)

Rosiere, S., Jones, R. - Teichopolitics (article)

Routledge, P. - Anti-Geopolitics IN: Agnew et al. - A Companion to Political Geography.

Said, E. - Orientalism (Chapter 1)

Stogiannos, A. - The Genesis of Geopolitics and Friedrich Ratzel (Chapters 1,2,3)

Tilly, C. - The Formation of National States in Western Europe (Chapter 1)

Tilly, C. - Coercion, Capital and European States (Chapter 1)

Wallerstein, I. - World-System Analysis: An Introduction (Chapter 1,2,3,4)

Recommended literature (list of readings in Moodle)

Last update: Doboš Bohumil, doc. Mgr., Ph.D. (21.05.2026)

Teaching methods

The use of AI is permitted according to the Faculty rules. Any use of AI must be acknowledged. An author is responsible for the quality of the text.

Last update: Doboš Bohumil, doc. Mgr., Ph.D. (17.09.2025)

Syllabus

Introduction

Bloc I - Geopolitics as an extension of geography:

a) Geographic determinism - from German school to Dugin

b) Domination through domains - from Mahan to Dolman

c) Anglo-Saxon tradition - MacKidner and Spykman

Bloc II - Geopolitics as an extension of the environment:

a) Anglo-Saxon School - Brzezinski, Cohen, Kaplan, and others

b) Evolutionary school - Tilly and Wallerstein

Bloc III - Geopolitics as an extension of language:

a) Critical geopolitics and anti-geopolitics - turn to language and activism

b) Geopolitics and perceptions - actors´ perception of space

c) Systemic geopolitics - combination of critical and classical

Bloc IV - Geopolitics and networks:

a) Geo-economics and post-colonialism - economy, space and power

b) Connectography vs. Teichopolitics - networks and borders in the 21st century

Geopolitics and practice

Last update: Doboš Bohumil, doc. Mgr., Ph.D. (31.08.2020)