GUEST COURSE TAUGHT BY DAVID CRIEKEMANS
In this Learning Unit, we will analyze History of International Relations through a Geopolitical Lens.
The field of Geopolitics is older than IR, it was established in the 1890s compared to 1919. Many of
the assumptions in Realism actually came from Classical Geopolitics. In this Learning Unit, we will
investigate how geopolitical thinkers through time impacted on the international relations of their
era, sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly. Also, we will learn how the unfolding drama of
international relations influenced geopolitical thinking. By doing so, an enhanced and original
perspective is offered which will shed new insights into the History of International Relations since
1870.
First, we will analyze the era of Imperial Geopolitics between 1870 and 1914. Geopolitical thinkers
such as Friedrich Ratzel, Rudolf Kjellén, Alfred Thayer Mahan and Halford John Mackinder will be
analysed. For instance, Mahan wrote the first sea power theories, which directedly influenced the US
in becoming a major international power. But Mahan also influenced the sea power strategy of the
German emperor Wilhelm II. Halford John Mackinder on the other hand championed the land power
theory, and warned that the British empire may soon be confronted by a Russia that would unify the
Eurasian heartland thanks to railways. How did the geopolitical thinkers affect international relations,
and vice versa? Could the great calamity which was the Great War already be predicted in advance?
Second, we devote attention to the Interwar Geopolitics between 1914 and 1945. On the one hand
Geopolitics became popular in Germany thanks to the writings of Karl Haushofer, who hoped
Geopolitics could become a scientific tool to advise future German leaders not to make the same
mistakes as Wilhelm II. On the other hand, the French geopolitical school of Possibilism under Paul
Vidal de la Blache produced a rather different, non-confrontational vision on how territoriality affects
international relations. The clash between both schools of thought is also mirrored by the
international developments of this era. At the same time an American Geopolitics started to develop,
with Nicholas John Spykman being one of the more know figures, but also people like Harold and
Margaret Sprout.
Third, we will investigate Cold War Geopolitics between 1945 and 1991. Special attention is devoted
to such authors as Robert Strausz-Hupé, Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski and Colin S. Gray. The
nuclear era had dawned and all international relations became trapped in a bipolar mode. We will
investigate some of the key events and try to pinpoint the geopolitical dimensions of this particular
era in international relations history.
Finally, we will investigate the Post-Cold War Geopolitics since 1991 until today. Via analyzing some
more recent geopolitical authors, we try to grasp some of the more fundamental geopolitical
changes that the world currently is undergoing. We will analyze such authors as Samuel Huntington,
Robert D. Kaplan, Dominique Moïsi, John Agnew and others. To what extent can (the history of)
Geopolitics help us to try to analyse tomorrow’s international relations?
Last update: Doboš Bohumil, Mgr., Ph.D. (20.09.2024)
