Geopolitics, Geography and Strategy (Journal of Strategic Studies

by Colin S. Gray (Editor), Geoffrey Sloan (Editor)

Geopolitical conditions influence all strategic behaviour - even when cooperation among different kinds of military power is expected as the norm, action has to be planned and executed in specific physical environments. The geographical world cannot be avoided, and it happens to be 'organized' into land, sea, air and space - and possibly the electromagnetic spectrum including 'cyberspace'. Although the meaning of geography for strategy is a perpetual historical theme, explicit theory on the subject is only one hundred years old. Ideas about the implication of geographical, especially spatial, relationships for political power - which is to say 'geopolitics'- flourished early in the twentieth century.
Divided into theory and practice sections, this volume covers the big names such as Mackinder, Mahan and Haushofer, as well as looking back at the vital influence of weather and geography on naval power in the long age of sail (sixteenth to nineteenth centuries). It also looks forward to the consequences of the revival of geopolitics in post-Soviet Russia and the new space-based field of "astropolitics".

Genres: Politics, International Relations, Geography

298 pages, Paperback

First published November 28, 1999

About the author

Colin S. Gray was a British-American strategic thinker and professor of International Relations and Strategic Studies at the University of Reading, where he was the director of the Centre for Strategic Studies. In addition, he was a Senior Associate to the National Institute for Public Policy.

Gray was educated at the University of Manchester and the University of Oxford. He worked at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and the Hudson Institute, before founding the National Institute for Public Policy in Washington, D.C. He also served as a defense adviser both to the British and U.S. governments. Gray served from 1982 until 1987 in the Reagan Administration's General Advisory Committee on Arms Control and Disarmament. Furthermore, he taught at the University of Hull, the University of Lancaster, York University, Toronto and University of British Columbia. Gray published 23 books on military history and strategic studies, as well as numerous articles.

Reviews

[Deden Alfathimy · Rating 5 out of 5]

For people who are interested with 'Geopolitics' studies like me as an International Relations scholar, this kind of book is a very important key reading. It involves how geography, politics, and strategy are related. It covers from the very first thinking in the modern Geopolitics, like Mahan's and Mackinder's, then through Space and Information Age. It also gives first step into 'critical studies' of Geopolitics. Don't be hesitate for spending your 48 hours to read it first before another texts of strategic studies.

[Saheb Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good insight into debates surrounding the role of geography in strategy - indeed the 'geo' in 'geopolitics' - at the turn of the 21st century. It serves as a handy introduction to the role of geography in land power, naval power, air power, space power, and the cyber domain. Technically being a special issue of the Journal of Strategic Studies, it's a fascinating resource to understand the pressing geopolitical issues facing the world in 1999, and the questions of the rise and fall of various powers, and it's all the more interesting when one considers the path each of the issues has headed down, 25 years post. Russia - Ukraine, US - China, etc. are all discussed. The obvious datedness of the views makes them all the more interesting. Apart from this, it contains historical studies of various strategists and their views.

[Ha]

its very usefuly for my studie. but i think its interesting too.