geopolitics topics for essays

99 International Politics Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best international politics topic ideas & essay examples, 📝 good essay topics on international politics, 📌 most interesting international politics topics to write about, ❓ international politics essay questions.

• Neorealism: Kenneth Waltz ‘Theory of International Politics’ The theories look at the philosophies which shape the relationships between nations and the key interests of the nations which participate in international relations.
• Strange’s Study of Power in International Political Economy The following paper will discuss and cover Susan Strange’s contribution to the study of power in International Political Economy to evaluate and demonstrate the scholar’s viewpoints and statements as to the given theme. We will write a custom essay specifically for you by our professional experts 808 writers online Learn More
• International Political Economy Perspectives It is also important to add that the idea of the conflict is leading in the three perspectives as it is accepted that there are conflicting forces that try to control production and wealth distribution.
• International Political Economy – World Systems Analysis By world-system, the theory indicates the inter-regional and transnational divisions of labour that divide the world between the rich and the poor, and the powerful and the weak as Macedo and Gounari confirm4.
• International Risk Management: Political and Legal Aspects A manager must be conscious of the political climate of the country in which the company has set up its enterprise.
• International Politics of the Middle East This paper covers an evaluation on the international politics of the MENA region alongside discussions on the history behind its political platform.
• International Political Economy, Democratization, and Terrorism IPE describes the global power dynamics that control international trade and finance, fuel globalization, and wealth distribution across the globe. Sachs argues that globalization and the emergence of political economics have led to the increased […]
• International Political Economy: Free or Equal While government intervention may help provide equality and social stability, it puts restrictions on personal freedom and the market economy, which prompts many people to argue against it. While many factors were involved, it is […]
• The Role of Individuals in International Politics: Hitler and Stalin The focus of this dissertation will be on the personalities of the two leaders and their opinions on war and peace.
• International Political Scene: Globalization and Peace Relations Although the role of the State in contemporary international system has been moved to the peripheral, it is arguable that the state still has a major role to play in conflicts.
• How Useful Is the Concept of ‘Hegemony’ for Understanding International Politics? Whereas, the strength of country’s ‘structural’ power is being concerned with its possession of instruments of direct geopolitical influence, such as army and navy, the strength of country’s arelational’ power is being reflected in this […]
• International Relations and Political Issues In that sense, political issues in the context of international relations is more sensitive, as the image of the international relations is shaped by the political affairs, and military actions which often involves the participation […]
• Nongovernmental Organizations in International Politics The differences in ideology may create hardships in terms of approach, perception, and solutions to the problems of social development. Social movements have been part of the political and economic landscape for centuries.
• Multilateralism and Other Trends in International Political Economy The essay aims to answer the following questions: what perspectives on contemporary international relations in the context of economy and politics appear to be the most important, and could future trends be projected on the […]
• Globalization Era and Internationalism Politics The age of the Nation-State is over and it is easy to prove this statement is to consider the situation which exists in the modern world about the society, to check the political preferences and […]
• International Political Economy in Statecraft Simulation In order to evaluate the possible position of each country, we have to grade, classify and establish the most applicable factors, such as the available resources, the governmental system and political approach, the durability and […]
• World Modern History: Constructing International Politics One of the reasons for that is the fact that every state wants to be the most powerful within the institution, especially when it comes to security.
• International Organizations in Global Politics A number of scientists tend to prove the idea that the progress in the evolution of the international relations results from the growth of companies and organizations which become influential enough to act at the […]
• Neorealists and Marxists in International Politics The secularism implies the diminishment of the influence of the Catholic Church and its intervention in the internal affairs of the country.
• NATO: Theory of International Politics This organization was able to survive the end of the Cold War since it went on serving several helpful purposes for the members and also because the members totally came to an agreement that they […]
• Current Issues in North Korea International Politics In this paper, an analysis will be conducted involving the current issue of North Korea’s limitation of its citizen’s right to the freedom of speech by preventing them from connecting to the internet and how […]
• International Politics Discussed by Wendt and Waltz In his book chapter, The anarchic structure of the world politics, Waltz argues that the domestic power structure is defined by the principles that govern it as well as the specialisation of its various functions.
• How Will Social Media Change the Future of International Politics? Besides this, social media has also contributed greatly to the development of international politics by increasing the knowledge of politics in different parts of the world and encouraging more young people to participate in politics.
• International Politics and Economical Efficacy One of the most important aspects of any society is the connection between politics and economics, and the intricate social network which is established by the environment.
• Contribution of Marxism and Imperialism in Shaping the Modern International Political System Therefore, the postulated concepts of class struggles, materialism, and the surfacing of a capitalistic world market incredibly provide a point of alignment of the Marxism concepts and theories of international relations.
• Daniel W. Drezner: Theories of International Politics and Zombies He observes that the emergence of the Zombies would be the perfect solution to the problems facing powerful states. In chapter eight, Dresner observes that unstable cooperation among states is always the order of the […]
• The Idea of Political Realism in the International Relations Security as one of the basic issues and the relevance of morality are also recognized to be important elements of realism in international politics.
• How Has Change in Ship Technology Effected International Politics? Notably, technology has been the main influence in gun development, the sailing of the ship, growth in development of literature and this became more evident with the end of the feudalism and the subsequent emergence […]
• European Union as an Actor in International Political Economy In the drafting of the constitutional treaty, that charter was included and in addition to that, a declaration of the acquisition of the European Convention on Human Rights by the European Union.
• International Trade as a Significant Issue in International Political Economy In the current world, there are many aspects which have to be reformatted and improved considerably, and one of them is international trade.
• International Political Economy and Finance Finally, “From Freefall: America, Free Markets, and the Sinking of the World Economy” by Stiglitz is the evaluation of the economic crisis and the financial sector in different developed and developing countries and their direct […]
• The Religion Impact on the International Political Scene However, the relationships that exist between the two social institutions depend on the content and level of the political system and religion.
• International Politics: Humanitarian Intervention
• Changes in the Hierarchy of International Politics
• The Modern International Politics as a World in Disarray
• The History of Treaties and International Politics By Mario Toscano
• International Politics and Institutions in Time
• The Connections between International Politics and Gender Equality Issues
• International Politics and Morality
• Has Globalization Transformed International Politics
• International Politics: Offshore Athletic Shoe Production
• International Politics: The Case of Global Microfinance
• How Critical Theory Improves the Study of International Politics
• Describing the Modern International Politics as a World in Disarray
• International Politics and Import Diversification in the Second Wave of Globalization
• Spanier and Wendzel: Understanding International Politics
• International Politics: The Incompetence of the United Nations
• The European Union’s Roles in International Politics
• International Politics: North-South Gap
• The International Politics of Natural Disasters by John Hannigan
• International Politics in Multinational Corporations
• The International Politics In Sub-Saharan Africa
• National Relations and International Politics
• International Relations Theory and the Future of European Integration
• International Law With International Politics
• One of the Most Significant Developments in the Twenty-Century International Politics: The European Union
• The Evolution of Moral Conduct in International Politics
• Fundamental Principles of International Politics by Martin Rochester
• The Most Influential Actors in International Politics
• The IMF Lending Policies: Sovereignty and Hierarchy in the International Political Economy
• International Politics: Globalism, Pluralism, and Realism
• The State-Centric Construction of the International Politics
• International Politics: The Oil Industry in Venezuela
• The Main Ideological Currents in International Politics
• A Foreign Policy for the American People
• German-US Relations and International Politics: Common Experiences, Values, Interests and Issues
• How a Rising China Has Remade International Politics
• Nestle in International Politics: Risks in the Context of Decolonization and the Cold War
• “Bananas, Beaches and Bases” or Roles That Women Play in International Politics
• U.S. Dollar as the World’s Dominant and How It Influences International Politics
• International Politics of the OIC: The Collective Voice of the Muslim World
• What Is the History of Treaties and International Politics?
• What Are the Changes in the Hierarchy of International Politics?
• How Does Critical Theory Improve the Study of Research Papers in International Politics?
• How Are International Politics and Morality Related?
• What Connects Realism and International Politics?
• What Is the Description of Modern International Politics as a World in Disarray?
• What Is the Role of the European Union in International Politics?
• What Is the Relationship Between International Politics and Gender Equality Issues?
• Who Are the Most Influential Figures in International Politics?
• How Can One Understand the International Politics of Spanier and Wendzel?
• What Will International Politics Look Like in Transnational Corporations?
• How Are International Politics and Import Diversification Related in the Second Wave of Globalization?
• How Are Transnational Corporations and International Politics Connected?
• How Does Realism Manifest Itself in International Politics?
• How Can UN Incompetence Affect International Politics?
• What Does International Politics Focus On?
• What Are the Elements of International Politics?
• What Are the Issues in Global Politics?
• Why Is International Politics So Important?
• What Is the Core Concept of International Politics?
• What Is the Relationship Between Politics and International Relations?
• Which Are the Main Theories of International Politics?
• What Are the Approaches of International Politics?
• Which International Politics Theory Is the Best?
• What Are the Biggest Political Problems Facing the World Today?
• How Do Globalization Affects International Politics?
• What Is the Difference Between International Relations and Politics?
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TOP 65 Greatest Political Essay Topics

Table of Contents

Being a student requires writing a lot of research papers, projects, essays, and assignments, right? If you’ve been asked to write a political essay and you don’t know where to start, here is the right place to seek for top-notch creative ideas.

So, a political essay itself is an ordinary essay on any kind of topic concerning political context. It means that you can write not only about politics strictly , but also choose a topic related to it.

How about covering issues, like international relations, different kinds of political influence on various population groups, a wide range of social and political connections or your own unique topic concerning politics, its effects, or consequences?

The choice is huge!

However, you should keep in mind that writing about any political issue demands accuracy and a lot of research work. A successful political essay requires complete awareness of what you are writing about.

What is more, you may need to search for political essay examples to examine specific features of this paper.

Another crucial thing is the topic. Here you may find some helpful political essay topics to choose from or to help you come up with an exceptional idea.

Political essay topics

Here are some basic topics for your political essay. Loads of students go for writing a political ideology essay.

Broader topics, on the other hand, cover connections between politics and other institutions like the church, religion, history, philosophy, etc.

• When and how did the politics originate?
• The connection between politics and religion.
• Comparison of electoral systems in the world.
• The most influential political figure of the XX century.
• The political decision that has changed your country at most.
• What is better for the world, globalization or nationalism?
• Democracy: pros and cons.
• Correlation between morality and power.
• Terrorism as a political instrument.
• Totalitarianism: pros and cons.
• The environmental question in the politics of your country.
• The impact of international relations on your country in the last ten years.
• Change in politics at wartime.
• The philosophy of politics.
• Pros and cons of the political system in your country.

Political socialization essay

Usually, socialization topics cover various aspects of society and life. These topics can be connected with peoples or particular groups of people regarding the political context.

You may try writing a political cartoon essay, too. If you’re a fan.

• Psychology of politics.
• Are civil wars a failure of national politicians?
• Which ways of reducing corruption in your country do you know?
• What makes lots of people around the whole world think politics is immoral?
• Does gender discrimination affect politics in your country?
• How do you see the ideal political system?
• How do cultural norms influence politics in different countries?
• Should social movements have an impact on politics?
• Connections between politics and the media.
• Political scandals: pros and cons.
• Are strikes and protests an efficient method of influencing the work of government?
• How should government regulate privacy and internet safety?
• Your position towards the death penalty.
• Do people in your country have enough civil rights?
• Advantages and disadvantages of legalizing drugs.

Political science essay topics

As those topics below are scientific, they most surely would demand reading a decent amount of literature about political history and its development.

Here students usually go for political systems thematic essays, yet we’ll try to offer something more interesting.

It can be a daunting assignment, but if you enjoy studying history and being super accurate that’s exactly what you’re looking for!

• Description of democratization processes.
• Development of politics in your country.
• Analysis of civil wars phenomenon.
• Nature of political conflicts.
• The system of political parties in your country.
• History of international relations.
• Influence of non-state actors on the international arena.
• Analysis of modern international relations.
• The concept of power balance.
• Modern conflict science.
• Collisions in international law.
• Ancient / Asian / Islamic / Christian political thought.
• State and local government in your country.
• The founding of the political system in your country.
• The foreign policy of your country.

Political argumentative essay topics

Argumentative topics are fascinating, right? If you pick one, you’ll inevitably begin a fierce discussion about it.

Usually, there are two options available: for or against, yes or no, one side or the other.

If you have strong beliefs about any political topic, you should give it a try. That’s for sure. A political corruption essay would be a good start, but there is no reason to avoid searching for other options…

• Do you think a war is always a political decision?
• Should a politician be cruel or merciful?
• Is your country headed in the right direction?
• What do you regard as a more important thing: people’s privacy or national security?
• Presidential republics or parliamentary republics?
• What is more effective nowadays, war or diplomacy?
• Can we completely overcome corruption?
• Do revolutions cause more good or harm?
• Are nuclear weapons a crucial need for countries in the XXI century?
• Should America build the wall?

Political persuasive essay topics

Do you consider yourself to be a creative person? Do you enjoy dreaming and breaking the existing frames society lives in? If yes, then the persuasive topic is what you need.

There can be no right or wrong point of view in such questions. Diverse opinions, that’s what it would be called more likely. The most popular type among students is a political party essay.

Have your own special vision on it? Cool! Write it down.

Want something else? Try these out!

• Do you believe in your country’s democracy?
• If you had the opportunity, which law would you add to your country’s legislation?
• Tell about the most controversial political figure of your state and your attitude towards him/her.
• Suggest ways of coping with corruption.
• How do you see the future of politics?
• Which political party in your country do you support and why?
• Which political change or situation stroke you most during the last year?
• Imagine creating your political party. What will it be like?
• What is the most winning international rapport your country maintains?
• Tell me how would you build your own state.

On balance…

I hope you’re full of fresh thoughts even if you didn’t choose any of the topics above.

Actually, politics is so multifaceted and diverse that you will definitely find something acceptable.

Finally, yet importantly, if you would consider the issue attractive, try writing an essay on political correctness. Why not?..

Do politics seem to be way too boring? We have trained professionals here, who strive to write a top-notch essay for you! Order it now and enjoy your free time…

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Rethinking geopolitics

• March 8, 2022

Jeremy Black

Geography and politics are closely intertwined, although that no more means that all geography is political than that all politics is geographical.

This essay originally appeared   in  ‘ The Return of Geopolitics ’,  Bokförlaget Stolpe , in collaboration with the  Axel and Margaret Ax:son Johnson Foundation , 2019.

Geopolitics, whatever its drawbacks as a formal analytical system, has many benefits and offers many insights. It is a means for argument as well as analysis, for polemic as well as policy; and these categories are not rigidly differentiated.  Geopolitics  focuses on human society, but also on the contexts within which, and through which, it operates. Geopolitics thus highlights the basic (but often silent) structure and infrastructure of human interaction, as well as the issues involved in formulating and implementing policy. This structure and infrastructure are both man-made, whether frontiers or transport systems, and also  natural , notably place, distance, terrain, climate and resource availability. Man-made and natural both interact and are linked in their influence. Many elements of geopolitics represent an interaction of structure and infra-structure; for example, coast-hinterland relations. This very range of the subject poses problems for any attempt to offer a precise definition and typology.

From a different perspective, contrasting definitions of geopolitics and its application pose a series of problems. The extent to which politics, both international and domestic, can be variously interpreted indicates the difficulties with any narrow definition of geopolitics and, whether linked to that or separate, the problems with any overly didactic account of geographical determinism. Yet, returning to a point that deserves reiteration, there are objective factors, such as location, space, distance and resources. As a result, it is pertinent to consider their impact on the formulation and execution of policy. Concern with such factors asserts a commitment to objective reality based on material factors. However, linked to this, there can be a misleading tendency to downplay the role of the human perception of the situation and the extent of choice. The nature of choice and the factors involved in the latter play significant roles, as with related aspects of the study of international relations.

To take another approach, the tendency to treat geopolitics as a subject focused on international relations begs two questions. First, why should geopolitics not address other forms of politics that have a spatial dimension? These include the dimension of activity on city streets and the politics of urban development. Geopolitics for the Baltic region can operate at the level of Lund and Stockholm, as much as the response to  Russian expansionism.  This question is particularly valid, given the more general issue of geographic perspectives on history. The likely consequences of smaller-scale geopolitics, within individual states, on geopolitics at the state level will probably increase the variations between these latter geopolitics.

Secondly, if attention in geopolitical studies is restricted to, or focuses on, international relations, how far is the treatment of the subject to depart from the classic political agenda? This is an agenda primarily of states, but also of international institutions, agreements and attitudes. These can be seen as the accumulation of state views, or as an international system in which the system has a role of its own. States are the constituent parts, but alongside a system that affects their attitudes and behaviour.

The second question has engaged most attention. There is a preference, in some circles, for alternative voices, indeed critical geopolitics, as well as for transnational and comparative approaches and concerns. This development is of considerable value. Nevertheless, there can be a tendency, not least in some of the work on transnationalism,  to underplay the place of the state  and, indeed, to argue that it has been greatly weakened by the energy and demands of global capitalism. However much it may have taken on unsustainable domestic goals, it is far from clear that effective governance can be organised in alternative forms to that of the conventional state. Furthermore,  the state remains the key player  in international and domestic politics, as well as a vital source of identity and legitimacy. Indeed, an emphasis on the state as a key player became more pronounced as a consequence of the recession that began in 2008 as well as being challenged by this recession. Despite assumptions about the decline of the state, that recession encouraged protectionism in both government policy and public attitudes, notably in opposition to large-scale immigration. Thus, there has been pressure against such immigration from the governments of Australia, Britain,  France , Germany and the US, which has increased since 2013.

There is a distinction between an appreciation of the role of geography and geopolitics and, on the other hand, grand geopolitical theories. Nevertheless, whichever the focus, key issues can be addressed as geopolitical, not least the availability of resources and the resulting significance of particular regions, when considering other regions or localities with different characteristics.  Geopolitics  is also definitely useful as a concept when discussing the influence of geography (for example, distance and propinquity) on inter-state politics. Linked to this is the issue of communications, with geopolitical considerations providing an explanation of reasons for change and a key measure of the importance of changes. Thus, just as the consequences of the  opening of the Suez  and Panama canals in the late 19th century and the building of the  Trans-Siberian Railway  involved geopolitical and geostrategic elements, so also with the likely opening of sea passages through the Arctic, to the north of both North America and Russia, as the ice melts under the impact of global warming.

The value of routes is also a matter of cultural expression for political goals, as with the Chinese welcoming of  Gavin Menzies’ tendentious theory  that the Chinese circumnavigated the globe in 1421. The  China Daily  was happy to claim in July 2004, that the Chinese did so well before Columbus and Magellan and their admiral of the early 15th century,  Zheng He , was commemorated in 2005, while his voyages were highlighted in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Some other uses of spatial elements in the past, such as patterns of settlement or territorial extent, constitute a geopolitics that is designed to be of political value in the present and the future. These elements constitute the prime basis for territorial claims.

Changes to communications and  transport routes  serve as a reminder of the dynamic spatial dimensions, not only of power, but also of interest, specifically state interests and those of, for example, major companies, and of the concern that accompanies them. Interests and interest lead to, and reflect, commitments and tasks, both of which are very important to geopolitics. The spatial component of state interests is made dynamic not only by changes in particular states, and in the means of state action,  for example military technology , but also in relationships within, and between, larger regions. Thus, for example, the geostrategic interests of the great powers have been very important for the Nordic-Baltic region and have helped direct its geopolitics. This dynamic interaction has ranged across issues such as trade, notably in naval stores and iron, as well as the Danish Straits as a choke-point into the Baltic, Finland as a threat to, or security zone for, St Petersburg, and the Norwegian fjords as bases for forces attacking trans-Atlantic communications, or for threatening Russia’s White Sea ports.

At the same time, it can be very difficult to establish likely policy developments from a discussion of geography, and Baltic history exemplifies this, not least in relations between Denmark and Sweden. Moreover, alongside the recent, and apparently well-deserved, emphasis on Chinese expansionism can come the far more prosaic argument that the Chinese will continue to cede safeguarding their  export routes across the Pacific to the American navy , but are less certain about the ability of other navies to defend the maritime routes to, and in, the Indian Ocean. The 1990s  policy  of Deng Xiaoping – ‘to observe carefully, secure our position, hide our capacities, bide our time, be good at maintaining a low profile, never claim leadership’ (a maxim released in 1995) – is not one that inherently can be explained in geopolitical terms. In contrast, the Chinese concern that a North Korean collapse would lead to a Korean reunification around South Korea that brought American power to China’s border is much more readily discussed in these terms. In practice, it is unclear how far a reunified Korea will look to the US and not least because of tensions with Japan and a determination to benefit from economic links with China.

Attempts to consider how best to manage American-Chinese relations face the problem that geographical zones of influence do not correspond with the political views and ideologies of either  party , while the range of modern weapons technology acts as a further complication. There is also the key issue of the views of other powers, such as Japan, South Korea and Taiwan and the powers around the  South China Sea,  which will not be happy to accept the idea or consequences of zones of influence. The idea that zones of influence will prove the best way to manage the transition in Sino-American relations appeals to realists, but does not capture the range of factors involved in global politics, nor the pressures arising from these factors.

Such points indicate the value, but also the complexity, of geopolitics, as well as the need to assess it in terms of competing and changing values. If geopolitics is seen along the line of  HJ Mackinder’s adage  – ‘Who controls the Heartland commands the World-Island’ – then geopolitics can be too general and vague and of use largely for rhetorical purposes. Such purposes are indeed pursued by politicians, commentators, the military and others. Geographical situation does not dictate preparedness, strategy or doctrine. Indeed, the changing nature of values and their clear consequences for conventional geopolitical assessments were clearly demonstrated in 2014, when it emerged that, short of resources and poorly-prepared, the German military would be totally unable to meet its  NATO commitments,  a point publicly admitted by the defence minister. Moreover, some of the geopolitical concepts, such as that of a geopolitical centre, are problematic. This point can also be made about much of the argument surrounding the so-called return of geopolitics.

In terms of conceptual plasticity and ambiguities in application and implementation, geopolitics reflects the situation with earlier theories of international relations, such as the balance of power. In part, this is a question of the inherent problems of social science analysis. However, there were also more specific issues. A crucial one was the degree to which theories, such as the balance of power, containment and geopolitics, were supposedly descriptive or proscriptive. In the first place, there was the issue of whether they referred to what supposedly naturally occurred, or what it was regarded as desirable should occur. Linked to the latter came the use of similar language by competing parties with widely differing intentions and application.

There was also the wider grounding of theory. The balance of power, as classically developed, rested on ideas and metaphors derived from physics and this reflected the thrall of Newtonian physics in the 18th century. In turn, geopolitics owed much to the influence of biological science since the 19th century and, in particular, of Social Darwinism.

However, if what is meant by geopolitics is that geography is an essential factor in understanding a country’s foreign policy, but not one to be seen or presented in automatic terms, then geopolitics is more clear-cut, meaningful and, indeed, important. For example, it is impossible to understand the history of American, British and  Russian  strategic and foreign policies without taking into consideration their geographic circumstances.

Looked at differently, state interests can be approached in terms of the ability of competing groups to define these interests in the light of their particular views. In this perspective, geopolitics emerges as a central part of the debates in which such views are advanced and are identified with those of states. Thus, geopolitics becomes an argument about power, rather than solely a discourse of power in which there is no argument or debate apparent. Indeed, in considering the treatment of Mackinder’s ‘heartland’ theory in  post-Soviet geopolitical discourse ,  Mark Bassin  and  Konstantin Aksenov  have emphasised the conceptual plasticity of the theory, going on to suggest, in a 2006 issue of  Geopolitics , that ‘the popular appeal of geopolitics more generally rests significantly on its ability to generate what it calls ‘objective’ geographical models of political relations which, in fact, are open to reinterpretation and even realignment, in response precisely to those shifts in historical, political, and ideological context which it claims categorically to transcend.’

These responses provide an obvious subject for study by those interested in a historicised approach to geopolitics, including historians. Similarly, the changing use of particular arguments is best understood in terms of a discussion of the historical context. More generally, conceptual plasticity helps explain the appeal, or at least use, of a range of geopolitical theses.

Self-styled ‘critical geopolitics’, with its emphasis on how material realities are inserted into discursive contexts, and the more recent attempts to develop a Marxist, or at least,  marxisant  geopolitics, can be readily and valuably incorporated into an account of geopolitics as an argument about power. This is an aspect that is particularly effective in terms of academic concerns in recent decades. From this perspective, the nature of ‘critical geopolitics’ becomes an understandable factor in light of the dynamics of the debate and the determination to advance concepts of interest.

Yet some of the literature is so uncompromising that it scarcely invites such incorporation. For example, in 1996, Gearóid Ó Tuathail closed his   Critical Geopolitics  –  in which he presented standard geopolitics as being ‘organically connected’ to militarism – by claiming: ‘Critical geopolitics is one of many cultures of resistance to geography as imperial truth, state-capitalised knowledge and military weapon. It is a small part of a much larger rainbow struggle to decolonise our inherited geographical imagination, so that other geo-graphings and other worlds might be possible.’

There was no attempt in this passage, or elsewhere, to conceal the sense of political imperative that at least some of the ‘critical geopoliticians’ espouse. In short, ‘critical geopolitics’ is an aspect of a politicised debate. At the same time, it is important to stress the diversity and dynamism of ‘critical geopolitics’ literature which, indeed, has different proponents, including feminist, post-colonial and post-structuralist wings. The same is the case with Marxist geopolitics.

This is not the place to discuss the epistemological and philosophical aspects of objectivity. Instead, I would argue for objectivity as valid and possible as an aspiration, whatever the difficulty in execution; and I would also draw attention to the role of autonomous sub-cultures, for example cartographers. That geopolitical arguments (often in the form of maps) have been exploited for propaganda purposes, often brilliantly so, does not mean that they are without values, or indeed, simply systems to control territory, by allocating it, or by manipulating the understanding of spatial issues. It is necessary, in practice, to understand the nuances of perception and, therefore, representation and to ‘unpick’ texts, at the same time as appreciating the inherent problems of geopolitical analysis and exposition. For example, a ‘ Map of the West Coast of Africa… including the colony of Liberia ’, published in Philadelphia in 1830, can readily be castigated for its assumptions and languages. Tribes are stereotyped, as with the Dey – ‘an indolent and inoffensive people’ – and the interior is presented as lost in benighted obscurity:

At a distance of from 30 to 60 miles inland, a belt of dense and almost impassable forest occurs along the whole of   the coast, of from one to two days’ journey in breadth, which nearly prevents all intercourse between the maritime and interior tribes, and some of the principal causes why the inland parts of this section of Africa are so entirely unknown to the civilised world.

The last remark now seems ridiculously Western-centric, but there was still the practical problem in 1830 of how best to depict Liberia with the information available and such issues remain pertinent today.

Geopolitics can be regarded as similar to cartography and as worthy of discussion in these terms, notably those of the inherent difficulty of the subject and the practical problems involved. At the same time, there is no coherence to geopolitics. The lack of coherence is not a matter of chronological change, nor of differing national cultures, or understandings of geopolitics, although each of those factors is relevant. Instead, there are differing understandings and uses of geopolitics, not least, but not only, between political geographers and political scientists and between scholars and those in the public sphere, whether as commentators or as planners.

Such a typology and matrix need to allow sufficiently for overlaps and mutual impacts. Moreover, categories in geopolitical use and presentation shift and are capable of a variety of analysis. This point is particularly the case with political geographers, a group that can be taken to cover geopolitics in its varied manifestations. ‘Critical geopoliticians’ are prone to regard old-school political geographers as reactionaries. Thus, one aspect of the history of geopolitics is of the differing definition of geography and geographers and of the changing use of political geography. This is a point that can be greatly amplified by considering the varied definition of geography and the contrasting use of geographers around the world at present.

A further dynamic dimension in the use of geopolitical analysis is that of time. Space and distance seem fixed by the scale, but the very notion of both has changed over time (as have their depiction and measurement)2 and these changes have greatly affected the understanding of power. Moreover, the rates of change, both actually and in perception, are not constant. For example, journeys and concepts of space and time in 1780 were more similar to the situation 230 years earlier than 230 years later. As a separate element, time is more generally significant because a lack of historical awareness weakens some of the use and understanding of geopolitics, other than in terms of somewhat facile comparisons across time. For example, inappropriate geopolitical continuities can be advanced.

To sum up, geography and politics are closely intertwined, although that no more means that all geography is political than that all politics is geographical. A key dimension in which geopolitics is useful is that of the global scale, but geopolitics is also of crucial value in the understanding of particular states and communities, their character, composition, development and interactions. If the interconnection of areas in a region is a sphere for geopolitical consideration, then there is no reason why the region in question should solely be that of the globe. Indeed, more attention in geopolitics needs to be devoted to sub-global levels, rather than to the lure of the world question. The quest for a single explanatory factor, or indeed means of analysis, is unhelpful. Linked to this, geopolitical writing would benefit greatly from a measure of scepticism in assessing influences and in drawing conclusions, and also from offering more questions than answers. That, however, would be of limited value for most commentators.

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International Relations and Geopolitics Dissertation Topics

Published by Carmen Troy at January 9th, 2023 , Revised On August 16, 2023

Introduction

Are you in search of the best dissertation topics on International Relations and Geopolitics?

To help you get a jump-start at mind-mapping and lifting off with International Relations and Geopolitics dissertation, we have formalized a list of the latest trending topics for you. These international relations and geopolitics dissertation topics have been scrutinised by our highly qualified writers to ensure that they can serve as a basis for your dissertation so that you may select them without any doubt.

You may also want to start your dissertation by requesting  a brief research proposal  from our writers on any of these topics, which includes an  introduction  to the topic,  research question , aim and objectives ,  literature review  along with the proposed  methodology  of research to be conducted.  Let us know  if you need any help in getting started.

Check our  dissertation examples to get an idea of  how to structure your dissertation .

Review the full list of dissertation topics for 2022 here.

2022 International Relations and Geopolitics Dissertation Topics

Topic 1: russia-israel relationship and its impact on syria and the middle east..

Research Aim: Russia and Israel share significant aspects of their strategic cultures. Both countries have a siege mentality and are led by a security-first mindset and a predominantly military view of authority. p   Russia’s relationship with Israel has grown in importance in the context of Russia’s military operation in Syria. This study aims to examine the relations between Russia and Israel and how they have impacted Syria and the middle east—focusing on different policies, agreements, and military interventions.

Topic 2: The Impact of International Refugee Laws on Incidence of Human trafficking- A Case of Refugees on the Eastern EU border

Research Aim: This study aims to find the impact of international refugee laws on the incidence of human trafficking in the Eastern EU border. It will determine whether the international refugee laws have a statistically significant effect on the incidence of human trafficking. Furthermore, it will link EU immigration policies and international refugee laws to show how these encourage or discourage human trafficking. Lastly, it will also recommend how the EU can reduce the incidence of human trafficking through more flexible immigration policies following international refugee laws.

Topic 3: The rise of China as a superpower- Impact on Russia’s relationship with the west.

Research Aim: The Asia-pacific region has become the centre of global economic and political gravity. This region has enormous natural resources, industrial financial and people potential. As the focus of global growth turns to the East, Russia sess Asia-pacific region as the engine of the global economy with rising China as a superpower.   This study will focus on the rise of China as a superpower and its impact on Russia’s relations with the Western world, focusing on how Russia is strengthening its ties with China how it is influencing liberal western values.

Topic 4: CPEC- The rising economy of Pakistan

Research Aim: CPEC is a huge international initiative to enhance infrastructure within Pakistan in order to boost commerce with China and further develop the region’s countries. CPEC contributes to the creation of modern transportation infrastructure in Pakistan and makes the country’s economy more competitive in the international market. This study will examine the impact of CPEC on the development of Pakistan’s economy, also focusing on the role of China and Chinese technology in the industrial sector to revolutionise the industrial sector of Pakistan.

Topic 5: The role of cryptocurrencies on international diplomacy.

Research Aim: Taxation., information regulation, and governance all have the potential to be disrupted with significant implications for international politics. This study will analyse the role of cryptocurrency in international diplomacy. Furthermore, it will also focus on how the widespread of digital currencies have the potential to change the world financial system.

2020 Covid-19 International Relations and Geopolitics Research Topics

Topic 1: international relations and covid-19.

Research Aim: This study will address the geopolitical issues and International relations during COVID-19

Topic 2: COVID-19 is a geopolitical instrument

Research Aim: COVID-19 has disturbed everything from health to the world’s economy, and it has also created tensions among the nations of the world. This study will identify whether Coronavirus is a geopolitical instrument or not.

Topic 3: International relations scholars and COVID-19

Research Aim: This study will reveal the opinions and role of international relations scholars and COVID-19

Topic 4: Meta-geopolitics and COVID-19

Research Aim: This study will focus on the meta-geopolitics during the COVID-19 crisis

Topic 5: The global order post Coronavirus pandemic

Research Aim: This study will predict the global order post coronavirus pandemic, including international relations, geopolitics, and geo-economics after COVID-19.

2021 International Relations and Geopolitics Dissertation Titles

Topic 1. what impact would brexit have on the relations between uk and scotland.

Research Aim: the current topic would address the relationship between the United Kingdom and Scotland after the United Kingdom leaves the European Union. It is assumed to significantly impact the ties present between the two regions, as it is considered that the Scottish part would want to exit.

Topic 2. Pakistan-Afghanistan relations post-Taliban-US peace accord vis-à-vis US withdrawal from Afghanistan

Research Aim: the current topic would aim to analyse the Pakistan- Afghanistan relations, especially the role that Pakistan is playing in the smooth exit of the US from Afghanistan. It will also critically review the impact that the US withdrawal will have in influencing the upcoming US elections of 2020.

Topic 3. Legitimising the Taliban in Afghanistan’s combat is likely to change the peace situation in Afghanistan

Research Aim: This research topic will consider the possibilities that the Taliban’s legalisation into Afghanistan will have within Afghanistan and its surroundings. How will it affect the relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan?

Topic 4. Exploring the status of ISIS in Afghanistan post US withdrawal

Research Aim: the current topic would aim to consider the past of ISIS, where it was, the devastation it caused in Syria. It would also analyse the future of ISIS in Afghanistan, especially considering its strong foothold in Afghanistan’s east. It will also put forward the implications of a more robust and growing ISIS presence in the regions and Afghanistan’s international relations with its neighbouring countries.

Topic 5. Possibilities of a domino effect in EU post BREXIT

Research Aim: the current topic aims to study the BREXIT deal. Considering the advantages that Britain thinks it has bagged, how much possibility is Britain creating a domino effect? It will also study the scope of which countries can opt for a BREXIT-like movement and be successful. Most importantly, the research will look into the factors that made the BREXIT deal possible.

Topic 6. The British colonisation of the Indian subcontinent and its after-effects even in the 21st century

Research Aim: The current topic aims to study in-depth the effects that the British colonisation had on the Sub-continent. It will present a detailed analysis of how British East India took over the Indian subcontinent and then gradually went from being traders to rulers. It will explain the after-effects that the British colonisation still has over the minds and culture of the people that now live divided into different countries like Pakistan and India.

Topic 7: Can the issue of Kashmir be the ultimate trigger for India-Pakistan to have a nuclear war? Can the United Kingdom play a key role instead of the US in averting this situation?

Research Aim: The current topic aims to investigate the Kashmir issue and analyze the effect that it is causing on two nuclear holding counties, namely India and Pakistan. Can the recent curfew imposed in Kashmir and revoking their special status trigger a nuclear war between India and Pakistan? Will the UN, and the US, step in as promised to resolve the issue, and will it all be in vain as nuclear war is triggered? Or can the UK play a key role in trying to avert the situation?

Topic 8. Trump’s “vision for peace” and its impact on the European Union and the UK

Research Aim: This research will investigate the scope of the current plan that Trump has put forward to divide Palestine into smaller pieces to resolve the conflict that has been going on for ages. How will this “vision for peace” implicate countries like Jordon, Iran, Egypt, etc.? It will also put forward the impact this plan would have on the rest of the world, especially the Middle East, the greater European Union, and the United Kingdom.

Topic 9. What role is the UK playing in the global warming and increasing energy crisis?

Research Aim: This study will enable the readers to understand that the threat of global warming is real. It is not localised to a specific region, country, or continent. Having said this, the current topic will perform an in-depth analysis of the growing global warming issue and what role the UK is trying to fulfill to curb the problem, raise awareness and promote going green. How big is the UK’s footprint?

Topic 10. Can the African Union be inspired by the BREXIT movement?

Research Aim: the current topic aims to look into the BREXIT movement’s success. The study’s scope will also include possibilities that the BREXIT can inspire the African Union to go their own way. Are there any indicators that this might happen shortly?

Topic 11. Analysis and Implication of US sanctions on Iran

Research Aim: the current topic aims to review the US’s sanctions upon Iran. It will also analyse the implications that the US has to face due to Iranian General Qassim Suleimani. It will explore the possibility that the US has gained the strategic advantage they were looking for or have they angered a sleeping giant. The study will also look into the retaliation strategy of Iran and if it holds any weight. How far will Iran be able to withhold these sanctions before succumbing to US wishes?

Topic 12. Human rights violation in the valley of Kashmir

Research Aim: the current topic aims to study fundamental human rights and the many violations against them in Kashmir. The recent revoking of the Kashmiris’ special status and the curfew imposed by India in the Kashmir valley are all evidence of the many violations of human rights that are happening there. The increasing number of missing persons, kidnapping, sexual and physical abuse are serious human rights violations. Why is the world keeping a shut-eye towards the Kashmiris, and where are the so-called custodians of human rights?

Topic 13. What are the political consequences of the NATO alliance for the UK?

Research Aim: the current topic aims to question the NATO alliance and the political consequences of such an alliance between multiple countries, especially in the UK. NATO might be the biggest known alliance amongst many such countries, and what political and personal gain from the UK’s perspective. The study will address the advantages and disadvantages of being a part of the UK’s NATO alliance.

Topic 14. The effect of terrorist organisations on the international relations of the UK

Research Aim: the current topic aims to explore the effects that a terrorist organisation might have on the UK’s international relations. The example under consideration would be the UK and its dealings with a terrorist plagued country like Pakistan. The study would research how the Taliban of Pakistan adversely affected its international relations and destroyed its image globally while also addressing the remedial steps that Pakistan is taking or has taken to overcome them and refurbish a new image globally. The study will also include how successful they have been in bridging the gap between them and the UK.

Topic 15. Coronavirus and International disease prevention, especially in the UK

Research Aim: this study aims to explore the extent to which Coronavirus has spread starting from China and in a concise amount of time spreading into the different corners of the world. Why was no prevention method applied? The study will implore the need to create better and more effective ways to prevent diseases from spreading across countries. The study’s scope will also include putting forward practices for a more proactive rather than reactive method to disease prevention across nations, especially in the UK. What is the UK doing right to stay and remain safe from the coronavirus?

Topic 16. “Make America Great Again” – an attempt to maintain uni-polarity in the World

Research Aim: the current topic aims to study the central ideology behind the concept of “Make America Great Again.” The world is shifting from uni-polar to multi-polar due to the newly forming alliance between China and Russia. America is trying to preserve its status, but the concern is quite prominent and evident in the slogan of “Make America Great Again”. The study’s scope will include the steps that the US is taking to maintain the status quo. It will also put forth the alliance that Russia and China are forging and the impact that it is having on the US as well as the rest of the world.

Topic 17. The implications of UK-EU and US-China trade wars on developing countries

Research Aim: The current study aims to highlight the impact that the United Kingdom and European Union and the United States and China trade wars have on developing countries’ economies. The study’s scope will include an in-depth analysis of the rising cost of living in such countries, along with the deterioration in the sector of education, health, and GDP per capita. It will also put forward the growing concerns that such developing countries are facing.

Topic 18. The relationship between Canada and the UK

Research Aim: the current topic aims to analyse Canada and the UK’s relationship critically. It is most likely to evolve now that the ex-royal couple is planning to relocate to Canada. How will the terms between Canada and the United Kingdom improve? Will they develop more, or will irreconcilable differences emerge and surface in front of the world.

Topic 19. Prince Harry and Meghan Markel leave the British Crown – How will the monarch be affected?

Research Aim: the current topic aims to study in detail the reasons that might have led to a crowned prince, 7th in line to one of the most powerful thrones in the world have to quit all royal duties and the HRH title. Will Canada accept them? What implications does it have for the taxpayers and the millions of pounds they will save on providing security for the royal couple?

Topic 20. A bright future for more strengthened relationships between the African Union and the European Union

Research Aim: the current topic aims to study in-depth the scope that a strong alliance between the European Union and the African Union will have on eliminating and improving problems in Africa. It will be providing theoretical data supported by facts and statistics. The study’s scope will also examine how developing and investing within Africa will help it overcome the internal and external problems it faces.

How Can ResearchProspect Help?

ResearchProspect writers can send several custom topic ideas to your email address. Once you have chosen a topic that suits your needs and interests, you can order for our dissertation outline service which will include a brief introduction to the topic, research questions , literature review , methodology , expected results , and conclusion . The dissertation outline will enable you to review the quality of our work before placing the order for our full dissertation writing service!

Important Notes:

As a student of international relations and geopolitics looking to get good grades, it is essential to develop new ideas and experiment with existing international relations and geopolitics theories – i.e., to add value and interest in your research topic.

The field of international relations and geopolitics is vast and interrelated to many other academic disciplines like civil engineering ,  construction ,  project management , engineering management , healthcare , finance and accounting , artificial intelligence , tourism , physiotherapy , sociology , management , and project management , graphic design , and nursing . That is why it is imperative to create a project management dissertation topic that is articular, sound, and actually solves a practical problem that may be rampant in the field.

We can’t stress how important it is to develop a logical research topic based on your entire research. There are several significant downfalls to getting your topic wrong; your supervisor may not be interested in working on it, the topic has no academic creditability, the research may not make logical sense, and there is a possibility that the study is not viable.

This impacts your time and efforts in writing your dissertation as you may end up in the cycle of rejection at the initial stage of the dissertation. That is why we recommend reviewing existing research to develop a topic, taking advice from your supervisor, and even asking for help in this particular stage of your dissertation.

While developing a research topic, keeping our advice in mind will allow you to pick one of the best international relations and geopolitics dissertation topics that fulfill your requirement of writing a research paper and add to the body of knowledge.

Therefore, it is recommended that when finalizing your dissertation topic, you read recently published literature to identify gaps in the research that you may help fill.

Remember- dissertation topics need to be unique, solve an identified problem, be logical, and be practically implemented. Please look at some of our sample international relations and geopolitics dissertation topics to get an idea for your own dissertation.

How to Structure your International Relations & Geopolitics Dissertation

A well-structured dissertation can help students to achieve a high overall academic grade.

• A Title Page
• Acknowledgements
• Declaration
• Abstract: A summary of the research completed
• Table of Contents
• Introduction : This chapter includes the project rationale, research background, key research aims and objectives, and the research problems. An outline of the structure of a dissertation can also be added to this chapter.
• Literature Review : This chapter presents relevant theories and frameworks by analysing published and unpublished literature available on the chosen research topic to address research questions . The purpose is to highlight and discuss the selected research area’s relative weaknesses and strengths whilst identifying any research gaps. Break down the topic, and critical terms can positively impact your dissertation and your tutor.
• Methodology : The data collection and analysis methods and techniques employed by the researcher are presented in the Methodology chapter which usually includes research design , research philosophy, research limitations, code of conduct, ethical consideration, data collection methods, and data analysis strategy .
• Findings and Analysis : Findings of the research are analysed in detail under the Findings and Analysis chapter. All key findings/results are outlined in this chapter without interpreting the data or drawing any conclusions. It can be useful to include graphs, charts, and tables in this chapter to identify meaningful trends and relationships.
• Discussion and Conclusion : The researcher presents his interpretation of results in this chapter, and states whether the research hypothesis has been verified or not. An essential aspect of this section of the paper is to draw a linkage between the results and evidence from the literature. Recommendations with regards to implications of the findings and directions for the future may also be provided. Finally, a summary of the overall research, along with final judgments, opinions, and comments, must be included in the form of suggestions for improvement.
• References : This should be completed following your University’s requirements
• Bibliography
• Appendices : Any additional information, diagrams, and graphs used to complete the dissertation but not part of the dissertation should be included in the Appendices chapter. Essentially, the purpose is to expand the information/data.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How to find international relations and geopolitics dissertation topics.

For international relations and geopolitics dissertation topics:

• Follow global news and conflicts.
• Study diplomatic relations.
• Explore historical events.
• Analyze regional dynamics.
• Investigate security challenges.
• Select a specific focus that aligns with your expertise and curiosity.

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Global Politics Extended Essay Topics: 20+ Ideas to Get Started

by  Antony W

May 8, 2023

Have you searched widely for information on Global Politics Extended Essay topics but came out empty? Or maybe you found scanty information and you need more ideas to supplement what you already know?

This guide is for you.

Global Politics in EE has terminologies, theories, and concepts that are specific to the subject. So to write a successful essay in this area, you must be familiar with these aspects. In practice, it makes sense to write an essay in this subject only if you’re studying Global Politics at SL and HL. 

IB’s Advice on Global Politics Extended Essay

Before we go any further, it’s important to understand what IB requires you to do as far as the Global Politics subject is concerned.

First, the topic you choose must deal with a political issue, which IB defines as a question that investigates the distribution and operation of power within a social organization.

Second, your selected topic has to be within your lifetime. You may refer to historical events, but the primary focus should be on contemporary events.

How to Choose a Global Politics Extended Essay Topic

To do well on your EE in Global Politics, you need to identify a specific research issue that you can investigate and address thoroughly in under 4,000 words.

Therefore, you should narrow your emphasis from a wide area of interest to a specific topic before attempting to write a research question. 

10+ Global Politics Extended Essay Topics

The following are some examples of Global Politics EE topics:

• The importance of the International Criminal Court to a global human rights framework, and how well it performs its duties
• The ‘burkini’ and lacité in modern France: an exploration of their connection
• The effect of Bengal’s ready-made clothing trade on the rights of its employees
• Examining the relationship between the refugee crisis in the Mediterranean and the rise of nationalism and populism in modern Europe
• The FARC Peace Treaty of 2016 strikes a delicate balance between the goals of peacemaking and democracy.
• The implications of cryptocurrency for the authority of states
• To what extent do you think CIGIG has helped Guatemalan authorities tighten their grip on power?
• Explore the benefits and drawbacks of constructing a strong wall along the United States’ southern border with Mexico.
• Examining why LGBT individuals in the United States don’t have the same protections as the general population
• Is there any data on how the legalization of dispensaries in California altered patronage patterns?
• Explain the circumstances that led to Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 presidential election.
• What impact do negative perceptions of Asian Americans have on their career prospects?
• How can countries in Sub-Saharan Africa eventually become self-sufficient?
• What prevented Germany from forming a republic before and during WWII?
• Is there anything Aristotle would have to say about the world as it is today?
• How does Michel Foucault’s Discipline and Punishment account for the rise of Western penal systems?
• When compared to nearby countries, why does yours experience a higher rate of terrorist attacks?
• Examples of the differences between representational democracy and participatory democracy
• The prediction for the political and economic state of the United States in the next half-century
• Conflict resolution in the Middle East: Is it military intervention or diplomatic negotiation?
• To what extent should the government regulate human cloning?
• What would you alter, if anything, in the United States Constitution and why?
• How can we encourage more people to cast ballots in upcoming elections?
• Why do African countries have such difficulty applying the rule of law and prosecuting corrupt leaders?

How to Write a Research Question for IB Global Politics EE

To complete an EE in Global Politics, you will need to hone your topic into a research question that you can investigate and answer within the scope of the assignment.

Here are the steps to follow:

1. Find a Topic

Look at the topic ideas we’ve provided above and consider an area that interests you. We strongly recommend picking a topic you’re interested in, so you can keep yourself engaged throughout the planning and writing process.

2.  Do Preliminary Research

Spare enough to research your topic. By the time you’re through with this stage, you’ll have a clear idea whether you can investigate the topic in question and write exhaustively within the 4,000 words limit.

Some questions that can help you get this done faster are:

• Are there any materials about the topic already in existence?
• Are the sources of information for the topic easy to find?
• How many types of sources are out there?
• Are there different points of view on the topic? 

3. Pose Some Open-ended Questions

Now that you’ve completed your preliminary reading, write down some open-ended questions related to your topic.

Feel free to use terms such as “to what extent”, “how” or “why”.

4. Evaluate Your Questions  

After brainstorming potential research questions, you should assess them using the following questions:

• Do I need to elaborate on the scope of my study for the reader?
• Is the inquiry narrow enough to answer in the allotted space and time?
• Does the research question allow for review, analysis, and the construction of a logical argument?

5. Consider the Direction Your Investigation Might Take

The last step is to brainstorm potential future avenues of the research question.

• What type of argument will you make?
• How will you back it up with evidence?

These are all things to think about while you conduct your research.

You can use primary sources, secondary sources, or a combination of the two to support your EE in Global Politics. However, keep in mind that the utilization of secondary data requires you to be confident in your ability to evaluate the sources you consult.

Keep in mind that an EE in Global Politics not only require a thorough familiarity with the concepts and frameworks of Global Politics, but also the ability to use this knowledge in the construction and defense of an argument.

If you’re interested in taking a more theoretical approach to political issues, you may examine the central concepts of global politics in a manner more grounded in academic debates. If you’re interested in the statistics that underpin decisions and perceptions in global politics, you can undertake more comprehensive data analysis.

About the author 

Antony W is a professional writer and coach at Help for Assessment. He spends countless hours every day researching and writing great content filled with expert advice on how to write engaging essays, research papers, and assignments.

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Article contents

Critical geopolitics.

• Merje Kuus Merje Kuus Department of Geography, University of British Columbia
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190846626.013.137
• Published in print: 01 March 2010
• Published online: 30 November 2017

Critical geopolitics is concerned with the geographical assumptions and designations that underlie the making of world politics. The goal of critical geopolitics is to elucidate and explain how political actors spatialize international politics and represent it as a “world” characterized by particular types of places. Eschewing the traditional question of how geography does or can influence politics, critical geopolitics foregrounds “the politics of the geographical specification of politics.” By questioning the assumptions that underpin geopolitical claims, critical geopolitics has evolved from its roots in the poststructuralist, feminist, and postcolonial critique of traditional geopolitics into a major subfield of mainstream human geography. This essay shows that much of critical geopolitics problematizes the statist conceptions of power in social sciences, a conceptualization that John Agnew has called the “territorial trap.” Along with political geography more generally, critical geopolitics argues that spatiality is not confined to territoriality. The discursive construction of social reality is shaped by specific political agents, including intellectuals of statecraft. In addition to the scholarship that draws empirically on the rhetorical strategies of intellectuals of statecraft, there is also a rich body of work on popular geopolitics, and more specifically on resistance geopolitics or anti-geopolitics. Another emerging field of inquiry within critical geopolitics is feminist geopolitics, which shifts the focus from the operations of elite agents to the constructions of political subjects in everyday political practice. Clearly, the heterogeneity of critical geopolitics is central to its vibrancy and success.

• world politics
• critical geopolitics
• human geography
• political agents
• intellectuals of statecraft
• popular geopolitics
• anti-geopolitics
• feminist geopolitics

Introduction

Critical geopolitics investigates the geographical assumptions and designations that enter into the making of world politics (Agnew 2003 :2). It seeks to illuminate and explain the practices by which political actors spatialize international politics and represent it as a “world” characterized by particular types of places (Ó Tuathail and Agnew 1992 :190). This strand of analysis approaches geopolitics not as a neutral consideration of pregiven “geographical” facts, but as a deeply ideological and politicized form of analysis. Eschewing the traditional question of how geography does or can influence politics, it investigates how geographical claims and assumptions function in political debates and political practice. In so doing, it seeks to disrupt mainstream geopolitical discourses: not to study the geography of politics within pregiven, commonsense places, but to foreground “the politics of the geographical specification of politics” (Dalby 1991 :274). Critical geopolitics is not a neatly delimited field, but the diverse works characterized as such all focus on the processes through which political practice is bound up with territorial definition.

This essay reviews critical geopolitics as a subfield of human geography: its intellectual roots, trajectories, internal debates, and interactions with other fields of inquiry. Its goal is to situate critical geopolitics in the study of international affairs and to highlight its contribution to that study. To underscore the spatiality of world affairs is not to add a token “geographical” perspective to international studies. It is rather to insist that a critical inquiry into the spatiality of world affairs must be central to the study of politics. All analyses of international affairs make geographical assumptions, whether acknowledged or not. Critical geopolitics seeks to make these assumptions visible so as to submit them to analytical scrutiny.

The essay proceeds in four steps. The next section (“Geopolitics and its Discontents”) briefly situates critical geopolitics in the scholarship that preceded it and lays out the principal theoretical and empirical concerns of this subfield. The following two sections discuss some key strands of and debates within critical geopolitics in more detail. Thus, the third section (“Locating Critical Geopolitics”) addresses the debates over the “location” of critical geopolitics in two senses of the term. It first discusses the location of that scholarship within human geography and the social sciences more broadly, and then addresses its geographical scope. The subsequent section (“Geopolitics and Agency”) tackles questions about who produces geopolitical discourses. In particular, it foregrounds the substantial work on intellectuals of statecraft, popular geopolitics, feminist geopolitics, and resistance or antigeopolitics. In so doing, the section seeks to illuminate the role of human agency (capacity to act) in geopolitical practices. The final section (“Critical Geopolitics as the Fragmented Mainstream”) summarizes the position of the field within human geography today. Throughout, the focus is not only on studies that are self-consciously “critical geopolitical,” although these are central to the essay. Rather, the essay takes a broader look at geographic analyses on the spatiality of international affairs, regardless of whether they are commonly labeled as critical geopolitics.

Geopolitics and its Discontents

To understand the intellectual and political concerns of critical geopolitics, we must briefly consider the troubled relationship between academic geography and classical geopolitical thought. Classical geopolitics, taken to mean the statist, Eurocentric, balance-of-power conception of world politics that dominated much of the twentieth century , is closely bound up with the discipline of geography. This is an association of which geography unfortunately cannot be proud. It goes back to the birth of self-consciously geopolitical analysis in the nationalism and imperialism of fin-de-siècle Europe. From the beginning, geopolitics was intimately connected to the competitive ambitions of European states (Parker 1998 ; Heffernan 2000 ). For example, Friedrich Ratzel ’s ideas of living space grew out of the widespread anxiety about the position of Germany in European politics, and Halford Mackinder ’s heartland theory reflected similar anxieties in Britain (Ó Tuathail 1996b ). For many writers inside and outside academic geography, geopolitics promised a privileged “scientific” perspective on world affairs. It appeared as an objective science, a detached “god’s eye” view of the material (or geographical) realities of world politics (Ó Tuathail 1996b ). This so-called classical geopolitics conceptualized politics as a territorial practice in which states and nations naturally vie for power over territory and resources quite similarly to evolutionary struggles. As such, it served to justify interstate rivalry throughout the twentieth century (Atkinson and Dodds 2000 ; Agnew 2003 ). In the 1930s and 1940s, geopolitics acquired an association with the intellectual apparatus of the Third Reich, in part because of the works of the prominent German geographer Karl Haushofer . This episode was subsequently used in American geography and political propaganda to vilify the whole field of geopolitics and to treat is as synonymous with Nazi expansionism (even though there is no evidence of the far-reaching influence on Hitler that Haushofer was said to have had). Geopolitics became one of the most controversial terms in the modern history of the discipline (Atkinson and Dodds 2000 :1).

Because of its negative image in the decades after World War II, academic geographers virtually ignored geopolitics. Geography’s way of dealing with the troubling baggage of the term was to exclude it from the discipline’s historiography (Livingstone 1993 ). Of the numerous books and articles on geopolitics during the Cold War, most have little to do with the discipline of geography. Geopolitical writing of that time was an explicitly strategic analysis closely bound up with foreign and security policies of core states (Ó Tuathail 1986 ; 1996b ; Hepple 1986 ; Parker 1998 ). Its assumption of state-based bipolarity dovetailed neatly with the statism of the postwar social sciences more generally (Herb 2008 ). Although the tradition of “classical” geopolitics had been discredited by its (presumed) connection to the Nazi regime, the everyday use of the term geopolitics treated geography as a stable given – an independent variable of sorts. To speak of geopolitics was to speak of seemingly natural realities. The rhetorical power of geopolitical claims stems in significant part from their link to such supposedly self-evident “geographical” facts.

The end of the Cold War, which had been the containing territorial structure of political thought for over forty years, fueled anxiety about the spatial organization of power (Agnew and Corbridge 1995 ). It spelled trouble to the analyses that were analytically premised on superpower rivalry within the state system, brought increased interest in the spatiality of power across the social sciences, and rejuvenated the subdiscipline of political geography (Hepple 1986 ; Agnew 2003 ; Herb 2008 ). Geographic work concentrating explicitly on geopolitical thought and practice was not long in coming.

This new work was an integral part of a broader rethinking of power in the social sciences. In geography as well as other disciplines, it grew out in particular of the wide-ranging interest in Foucauldian genealogy. This work approaches power not only as coercive and disabling but also as productive and enabling. It contends that power relations are not imposed on already existing subjects: rather, it is within and through power relations that political subjects come into being. Such processes of subject-making are among the key themes of analysis in that broadly Foucauldian scholarship.

In geography, this relational and anti-essentialist work produced a marked interest in the discursive construction of political space and the role of geographic knowledge in this process. Approaching geographical knowledge as a technology of power – both the result and a constitutive element of power relations – it pushed geography out of the illusion of political neutrality and fueled a critical examination of the discipline itself. Whereas traditional geopolitics treats geography as a nondiscursive terrain that preexists geopolitical claims, critical geopolitics approaches geographical knowledge as an essential part of the modern discourses of power. Thus, the 1990s produced numerous analyses of the complicity of geography and geographers in colonialism, imperialism, nationalism, and Cold War superpower enmity (Livingstone 1993 ; Gregory 1994 ; Ó Tuathail 1996b ).

Many of these early analyses were historical. They traced geopolitical theorizing to the emergence of European geopolitical imagination during the Age of Exploration (Gregory 1994 ; Agnew 2003 ; Heffernan 2007 ). They showed how geopolitical thought – the god’s eye view of the world as a structured whole that can be captured and managed from one (European) viewpoint – emerged as a part and parcel of European exploration and colonialism. Highlighting that many of the key territorial assumptions of international politics have European origins – often more specifically northern European origins – this work showed that the history of geopolitics is also the history of imposing these concepts inside and outside Europe. It also reexamined the key writers of classical geopolitics, illuminating the role of geographical knowledge in legitimizing the balance-of-power politics of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (see Holdar 1992 ; Crampton and Ó Tuathail 1996 ; Ó Tuathail 1996b ).

The critical work on geopolitics was further fueled by the increased popularity of explicitly geopolitical claims in mainstream political analysis. The term critical geopolitics was first coined by Simon Dalby ( 1990 ) in his analysis of the representational strategies of the Committee on Present Danger (a conservative foreign policy interest group) in the 1970s and 1980s. By the late 1990s, after numerous articles and several further books (e.g. Agnew and Corbridge 1995 ; Ó Tuathail 1996b ; Ó Tuathail and Dalby 1998 ), critical geopolitics was a clearly discernible and rapidly growing strand within political geography.

Much of this early self-consciously critical work tackled the legacies of the Cold War. It highlighted the ways in which the Cold War and international politics in general were informed by entrenched geographical and territorial assumptions about East and West, freedom and unfreedom, development and underdevelopment. It showed that these supposedly universal concepts were highly parochial, coming out of a particular corner of Western intellectual and political circles. This early work also situated critical geopolitics in other strands of the social sciences, including International Relations (IR) theory, as well as feminist and postcolonial theory (Dalby 1991 ; Ó Tuathail 1996b ). At the same time, critical geopolitics also differentiated itself from political theory by its more sustained engagement with political economy and the materiality of power more generally.

Although one can tentatively trace critical geopolitics back to the early 1990s, as has been done here, it has never connoted a clearly delimited or internally coherent research program. It is rather a set of approaches that borrow particularly, but not exclusively, from poststructuralist strands of social theory. It is distinct from other themes in political geography not by its empirical focus but by its theoretical and methodological underpinnings. In broad terms, critical geopolitics does tend to differ from other strands of critical scholarship, such as Marxism, by its explicitly Foucauldian underpinnings. Like much of poststructuralist analysis, it pays greater attention to micro-level capillaries of power than to macro-level or global economic developments. However, there is no neat distinction between poststructuralist and other critical approaches. Thus, the subfield includes a range of works that explicitly address economic structures and/or utilize Marxist perspectives, among others (e.g. Agnew and Corbridge 1995 ; Herod et al. 1997 ; Agnew 2005b ). The key trait of critical geopolitics is that it is not a theory-based approach – there is no “critical geopolitical” theory. The concerns of critical geopolitics are problem-based and present-oriented; they have to do not so much with sources and structures of power as with the everyday technologies of power relations. The field’s key claim is that although (classical) geopolitics proclaims to understand “geographical facts,” it in fact disengages from geographical complexities in favor of simplistic territorial demarcations of inside and outside, Us and Them. Critical geopolitics seeks to destabilize such binaries so that new space for debate and action can be established. Conceptualizing geopolitics as an interpretative cultural practice and a discursive construction of ontological claims, it foregrounds the necessarily contextual, conflictual, and messy spatiality of international politics (Herod et al. 1997 ; Toal and Agnew 2005 ; see also Campbell 1993 ). In so doing, it offers richer accounts of space and power than those allowed within mainstream geopolitical analysis. Geography in that conceptualization does not precede geopolitics as its natural basis. Rather, claims about geographical bases of politics are themselves geopolitical practices.

Nearly twenty years later, critical geopolitics has influenced every strand of geographic scholarship. From its beginnings as a primarily historical investigation informed by poststructuralist political theory, it has fanned out to virtually all aspects of human geography. The field is prominently represented in major political geographic journals like Political Geography and Geopolitics . There are now several textbooks that take an explicitly critical geopolitical position as their starting point (Agnew 2003 ; Dodds 2005 ; Ó Tuathail et al. 2006 ). Given the diversity of critical geopolitics, it is difficult and indeed pointless to catalogue its main themes and arguments. Any such themes are subject to voluminous internal debate. With these caveats in mind, and in an effort to nonetheless offer a tentative guide to the field, the essay proceeds to highlight some key clusters of work and lines of debate.

Locating Critical Geopolitics

Spatiality and subjectivity.

A substantial part of critical geopolitics seeks to unpack the rigid territorial assumptions of traditional geopolitical thinking. Thus, numerous analyses dissect post–Cold War geopolitics to reveal the continued reliance on binary understandings of power and spatiality, on notions of East and West, security and danger, freedom and oppression. More recently, geographic scholarship has foregrounded how the “war on terror” works with these same binaries (Agnew 2003 ; Gregory 2004 ; Gregory and Pred 2006 ).

In particular, much of critical geopolitics problematizes the statist conceptions of power in social sciences – a conceptualization that John Agnew (e.g. 1999 ) calls the “territorial trap.” Along with political geography more generally, critical geopolitics argues that spatiality is not confined to territoriality, either historically or today (Murphy 1996 ). It advances the drift away from rigidly territorialized understandings of politics toward more nuanced understandings of the complex spatialities of power (Agnew 1999 ; 2005b ; Dalby 2002 ; Elden 2005 ; Sparke 2005 ). State power, it shows, is not limited to or contained within the territory of the state; it is also exercised nonterritorially or in space-spanning networks (Kuus and Agnew 2008 ). It is applied differentially in different spheres and to different subjects (Gregory 2006 ; Painter 2006 ; Sparke 2006 ). The argument is not that geography or borders no longer matter. In fact, the celebrations of borderless world also equate spatiality with state territoriality, mistakenly taking the transformations of state power for the “end of geography” (Agnew 2005b ). This applies not just to popular writers like Thomas Friedman (for a critique, see Sparke 2005 ). Proclamations of the transnational governmentality termed “Empire” by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri ( 2000 ) also betray insensitivity to the intricate topographies or power (Sparke 2005 ; Coleman and Agnew 2007 ). Critical geopolitics argues that the emerging forms of global governance do not “flatten” space; to the contrary, they increase spatial differentiation globally (Albert and Reuber 2007 :550). In terms of the state, the key questions to address are not about the “real” sources, meanings or limits of state sovereignty in some general or universal sense, but, more specifically, about how state power is discursively and practically produced in territorial and nonterritorial forms (Kuus and Agnew 2008 ; Painter 2008 ). The task is to decenter but not to write off state power by examining its incoherencies and contradictions (Coleman 2005 :202). Such investigations must also be mindful of the increasing complexity of regional integration and differentiation (Agnew 2005a ). Regionality here does not refer to any pregiven constellation, such as the European Union (EU) or the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). It rather refers to the multilayered socioeconomic and cultural processes through which “regionness” is produced and sustained (Sidaway 2002 ; Albert and Reuber 2007 :551).

This drift away from state-based analysis of world politics links up with interest in subjectivity and identity across the social sciences. For the assumption that international politics is a fundamentally territorial (as distinct from spatial) politics of states is closely bound up with the notion that states are the basic subjects of international politics (Kuus and Agnew 2008 ). Critical geopolitics departs from both of these assumptions. It does not examine the identities or actions of pregiven subjects; it rather investigates the processes by which political subjects are formed in the first place. It shows that the sovereign state is not the basis for, but the effect of, discourses of sovereignty, security, and identity. Put differently, state identity and interest do not precede foreign policy, but are forged through foreign policy practices. The enactments of state interest and identity are therefore among the key themes of critical geopolitics. The principal object of this scholarship is not the state as an object but statecraft as a multitude of practices (Coleman 2007 :609).

As a part of this interest in political subjectivity and subject-formation, there has been tremendous interest in identity politics, that is, in the geographical demarcation of Self and Other, “our” space and “theirs.” This strand of work has been so voluminous that critical geopolitics is sometimes accused of overvalorizing culture and identity at the expense of economic issues (e.g. Thrift 2000 ). Much of this “cultural” work has focused on the construction of national spaces and the geopolitical cultures of particular states (e.g. Campbell 1998 ; Sharp 2000 ; Toal 2003 ; Jeffrey 2008 ). It shows that geographical claims about cultural borders and homelands are central to narratives of national identity. There is also an extensive literature on bordering practices (Paasi 1998 ; 2005a ; Newman 2006 ; Rajaram and Grundy-Warr 2007 ; Agnew 2007b ; Kaiser and Nikiforova 2008 ). It argues that international borders are best viewed not as lines representing already existing political entities called states or nations. Rather, these entities themselves are constituted through bordering practices. In John Agnew’s ( 2007b :399) succinct formulation, “borders […] make the nation rather than vice versa.” It is indeed at borders first and foremost where these entities are defined: where the inside is demarcated from the outside and Self is differentiated from the Other. This process is not only about exclusion. It is also about borrowing and adaptation – for example, of the concepts of statehood and nationhood. Borders thus have multiple functions: they serve as barriers, but they must also necessarily allow movement across in order to reproduce the entities they supposedly contain. Statecraft is being activated and transformed at multiple scales at and far away from borders (Coleman 2007 ). Borders do not simply differentiate space. They are spaces where both different as well as similar conceptions of citizenship and belonging are operationalized. State borders are becoming markedly more porous in some spheres and for some groups, while being securitized for other flows of goods, people, and ideas (Sparke 2006 ).

These processes of geopolitical subject-making are not limited to nation-states. On the supranational level, region-building processes, such as the processes of European integration, are deeply geopolitical exercises in the same way (Moisio 2002 ; Kuus 2007 ). European integration, for example, may well overcome nationalist narratives of territory and identity, but it entails powerful claims about Europe as a territorial and cultural unit (Bialasiewicz 2008 ; Heffernan 2007 ). This process is a particularly fascinating geopolitical project because it explicitly moves beyond the state-centered understandings of space. The power of the EU is the governmentalized power of technical and political standards. There is an emerging literature that explores the intricate reworking of political, economic, and juridical borders inside and around the EU. This reworking is richly illustrative of processes of regionalization and the respatialization of borders today (Agnew 2005b ).

Given the large-scale violence engendered by the “war on terror,” the scholarship on subject-making includes substantial work on militarization. It seeks to analyse the current period of militarization without uncritically reifying the role of the state in this process (Flint 2003 ; Kuus 2009 ). It focuses not so much on military institutions and military conflict – although these issues are undoubtedly important – as on the structures of legitimacy on which military force depends. For as Enloe ( 2004 :220) points out, most of the militarization of social life, a process in which social practices gain value and legitimacy by being associated with military force, occurs in peacetime. To understand the dynamics of this process, then, we need to look at the civilian rather than the military. Critical geopolitics documents the explicit glorification and implicit normalization of military force and military institutions throughout society (Hannah 2006 ; Cowen and Gilbert 2007 ; Flusty 2008 ; Gregory 2008 ; Sidaway 2008 ; Pain and Smith 2008 ). It also exposes the intellectual apparatus of militarization; for example, an integral part of academic geography is the development of the US military-industrial complex (Barnes and Farish 2006 ). This work is part and parcel of the growing work on security as a key concept and trope in political life today. The “war on terror” has clearly fueled (uncritical) geopolitical analysis that operates with explicitly militaristic and imperialist language (Retort 2005 ; Dalby 2007 ). This analysis maps some parts of the world in an imperial register as spaces in need of military pacification; understanding that process requires that we first unpack such maps (Gregory 2004 ; Dalby 2007 ). Geographers were latecomers to the critical study of security, but there are now a number of specifically geographic studies on the processes of securitization. They flesh out the inherent spatiality of these processes – the ways in which practices of securitization necessarily locate security and danger (e.g. Dalby 2002 ; Gregory 2004 ; Kuus 2007 ; Dodds and Ingram 2009 ).

Although the bodies of work above do not make up one set of literature, they all investigate the processes by which people are socialized as members of territorial groups, be it at subnational, national, or broader regional level. Their focus is not simply on what various actors think or believe. It is rather on the discursive constructions of ontological claims – the ways in which material reality of politics is problematized within geopolitical discourses (Toal and Agnew 2005 ). The argument in that work is not that objects cannot exist externally to thought or that they are not produced through material forces. The contention rather is that objects cannot be represented as outside any discursive formation (Campbell 1993 :9).

Geographical Scope

Much of critical geopolitics focuses empirically on the core states of the West, especially the US. This is not surprising given that US foreign policy, scholarship, and popular culture have been hegemonic in the exercise of geopolitics for over sixty years now. As Agnew points out (2007a:138), much of what goes for geopolitical writing involves projecting US context and US interests onto the world at large. Geographers have therefore looked closely at the geographs of American political elites and popular culture, as well as the processes through which these are projected onto the world at large.

In parallel, there has been substantial interest in broadening critical geopolitics empirically outside the core states. If critical geopolitics is to disrupt commonsense geopolitical narratives, it must first undermine the tacit assumption of American (or Western) universalism that underpins these narratives. Furthermore, numerous other countries have rich geopolitical literatures. There are now substantial literatures on key states such as Britain, Germany, France, and Russia (see Hepple 2000 ; Ingram 2001 ; Dodds 2002 ; Bassin 2003 ; O’Loughlin et al. 2005 ). In addition to these obvious cases, and perhaps more interestingly, there are also numerous studies of geopolitical traditions of smaller and historically more peripheral states (see Ó Tuathail and Dalby 1998 ; Dodds and Atkinson 2000 ; see also Berg and Oras 2000 ; Megoran 2005 ; Sidaway and Power 2005 ; Kuus 2007 ). This work amply demonstrates both the consistency and diversity of geopolitical thought. In terms of the former, for example, claims of national exceptionalism or external threat are extraordinarily consistent throughout the twentieth century . As for diversity, geopolitical practices are deeply rooted in the specific political circumstances of particular countries. They involve not only the predictable right-wing tradition of geopolitical analyses, but also a critical and radical tradition of geopolitics, as for example in the pages of the French journal Herodote (Hepple 2000 ). Some claims are repeated, but their specific political functions and effects vary considerably. By highlighting such variation, critical geopolitics shows that there is no single tradition of geopolitical thought or practice. There are, rather, different geopolitical cultures owing to specific geographical contexts and intellectual traditions.

These case studies notwithstanding, critical geopolitics still tends to concentrate on North America and Western Europe. This narrow focus has been pointed out repeatedly since the 1990s (Dodds and Sidaway 1994 ; Dowler and Sharp 2001 ; Chaturvedi 2003 ; Kuus 2004 ), but it is still relevant today. The case studies of other countries, as valuable as they are, have not shifted the center of gravity of the subfield as a whole. They tend to be cited mostly as examples of particular empirical contexts rather than as instances of broader geopolitical theorizing. The subfield in this sense mirrors the focus on the Anglo-American realm in human geography more broadly (Paasi 2005b ). This is a problem because it impoverishes our understanding of the very geographical complexities that critical geopolitics seeks to foreground. If critical geopolitics is about geographical context, then it must be empirically and theoretically firmly grounded in contexts outside North America and Western Europe. Ideas move and their political uses and functions change in the process (Agnew 2007a ). Disrupting the hegemonic status of certain geopolitical claims requires that we show their empirical flatness as an integral part of their conceptual primitivism.

This is not simply a matter of cataloging distinct geopolitical cultures: British, Russian, Estonian, and so on. Such glamorization of local knowledge would be as problematic as the assumption of geopolitical universals. Rather, in addition to tracing the geopolitical traditions of different countries, and perhaps more importantly, we must also examine the power relationships between centers and margins of dominant geopolitical discourses. For example, as Sergei Prozorov ( 2007 ) compellingly shows, contemporary Russian geopolitical thought has as much to do with Russia’s relations with the West as it has with any quintessentially Russian identity or interests. At the same time, although Russians work with hegemonic concepts from the West, they do not necessarily adopt these concepts at face value. Geopolitics is not simply written in the concert of great powers and then handed down to the smaller, relatively marginal, states. Geopolitical discourses in central locations, such as North America and Western Europe, are not only constitutive of such discourses elsewhere, but are also in part constituted by these “other” discourses.

This foregrounds the role of political actors on the margins – outside the main power centers of the US and Western Europe. These actors do not simply bear witness to dominant geopolitical discourses; they also appropriate these discourses for their own purposes. Put differently, these actors do not only consume geopolitical concepts; they also produce these concepts. We therefore have to unravel the maneuvers of relatively marginal actors vis-à-vis the dominant narratives of the center, and vice versa (Kuus 2004 ). Concepts are not misinterpreted, but they are interpreted in particular ways. For example, the work of Mackinder or Samuel Huntington has been utilized for particular nationalist goals in a variety of contexts (for examples, see Ingram 2001 ; Moisio 2002 ; Dodds and Sidaway 2004 ; Megoran 2004 ; Kuus 2007 ). What functions as state-of-the-art geopolitical thinking in particular social contexts has as much to do with such appropriation as it does with the original objects of appropriation. In the Central Europe of the 1990s, for example, these were not simply “Western” views, but a very narrow range of Western views that were influential there. These views did not present themselves to the people in the marginal states; they were translated, literally and figuratively, by local intellectuals of statecraft. For example, to say that Huntington’s thesis of civilizational clash is influential in Central Europe tells us little. We need to understand how specifically it has been made influential locally. Huntington’s thesis would not be as influential in Central Europe if it was not actively promoted by influential individuals in the region. The Huntingtonian arguments of these individuals, in turn, were legitimized by Huntington’s prestigious position at the center of the Western security establishment. The reverse flow of information and influence is at play as well. Local intellectuals of statecraft are often the main sources of the so-called local insight to Western scholars and journalists. They are key players in mapping places for Western scholars and diplomats alike. Hegemonic discourses of the center are so powerful in part because they are bolstered on the margins. In terms of Huntington, then, being cited at a putative civilizational faultline like Central Europe has greatly enhanced the standing of Huntington’s thesis in the West itself. Both sides – the center and the margin – need each other for the Huntingtonian narrative to work (Kuus 2007 : ch. 3).

This example underscores the need to examine how broad politically charged categories, such as security, identity, and geopolitics, are problematized and used by different groups in different circumstances. In particular, it shows that this process has to do not only with the substance of the ideas but also with the power relationships among the actors who promote them. The task is not only to look at more actors – not only the United States but also Hungary or Morocco, for instance – but also to unpack the power relationships among these actors. In other words, we need to look not at “marginal perspectives” as such, but to flesh out the relationships between centers and margins (Paasi 2005b ; Parker 2008 ). We need to analyze how some Western views become “state of the art” while other views do not even reach political debates in the margins – and vice versa. To do so is not to romanticize “local knowledge” but to acknowledge the complexity of knowledge production.

This highlights the need to investigate the practitioners of geopolitics – from presidents and foreign ministers, through a wide range of journalists, government officials, leaders of nongovernmental organizations, and activists, to the so-called average people. Arguments about the discursive construction of social reality remain flat unless they illuminate how this process is shaped by specific political agents. The agency or capacity to act of all these actors is the realm of numerous debates in critical geopolitics. This is the subject of the next section.

Geopolitics and Agency

Intellectuals of statecraft.

Geopolitics is traditionally conceived as a highbrow matter – too important and too specialized for a lay person. An aura of dignity sets off the statesman from the politician (Kuklick 2006 ). Foreign policy is in substantial measure a realm of elite-level pronouncements and well-established state institutions. Although the practices of modern state are highly diffuse and operate throughout social life, foreign policy has remained a relatively concentrated realm of specialized elites. These elite circles extend beyond elected and appointed officials; they include academics, journalists, and various analysts and pundits who gain social acceptance for their (presumed) expertise in international affairs. Located within the government apparatus as well as universities and think tanks, these intellectuals of statecraft explain international politics to the domestic audience and translate (figuratively and sometimes literally) national debates to foreign audiences. They offer a map of the world as a collection of particular kinds of places, and they narrate the dominant story of the nation’s place in that world.

Not surprisingly, a substantial part of critical geopolitics has focused empirically on intellectuals of statecraft – the academics, politicians, government officials and various commentators who regularly participate and comment on the activities of statecraft. This is the case especially with the early work, which indeed defined geopolitics in terms of that group of professionals – as the study of how intellectuals of statecraft represent international politics (Ó Tuathail and Agnew 1992 :193). In order to unpack the influence of that group in more detail, that work loosely divided geopolitical reasoning into formal, practical, and popular geopolitics. In this division, formal geopolitics denotes formal highbrow analysis, practical geopolitics refers to the reasoning of politicians, pundits and specialized journals, and popular geopolitics encompasses the ways in which world politics is spatialized in popular culture. The three levels are closely intertwined (as will be elaborated below) and none should be treated as primary. This notwithstanding, practical geopolitics – the realm of intellectuals of statecraft – is particularly effective because it combines the clout and authoritative tone of formal geopolitical reasoning with commonsense metaphors from popular culture. Critical geopolitics has thus paid close attention to the production of geopolitical knowledge in these elite circles. Even today, a large share of the critical scholarship focuses on the cultural and organizational processes by which foreign policy is made in states. It investigates the geographs of elected and appointed government elites as well as popular commentators like Robert Kaplan , Samuel Huntington , Thomas Friedman or Thomas Barnett . In one sense, this work dovetails with critical analyses of intellectuals of statecraft within IR (e.g. Campbell 1998 ; 1999 ). Yet it also differs from these other critiques by focusing explicitly on the spatial assumptions underpinning their arguments (Roberts et al. 2003 ; Sparke 2005 ; Dalby 2007 ).

The point of this scholarship is not to uncover what the “wise men” think. It rather dissects the assumptions that enable and constrain elite geopolitical practices. True, even a cursory investigation of geopolitical practices quickly reveals that these assumptions are not homogeneous. Disagreements and power struggles among different state institutions, think tanks, news organizations or schools of scholarship are well known (for geographical analyses, see Dalby 1990 ; Flint 2005 ; Gregory 2006 ). Indeed, as Gertjan Dijkink ( 2004 ) points out, a great deal of geopolitical writing is penned by elites who are frustrated with received wisdom (see also Coleman 2004 ). However, although intellectuals of statecraft do not work in the same end of the political spectrum, they tend to draw on and embellish a loosely coherent set of myths about nature, culture, and geography (Gusterson and Besteman 2005 :2). As a result, vigorous debates are often contained in simplistic unexamined assumptions about geography and territoriality (Campbell 1999 ; Dahlman and Ó Tuathail 2005 ).

A problem with this emphasis on intellectuals of statecraft is that it focuses on a very narrow range of geopolitical actors. In response, recent work has paid greater attention to geopolitical practices outside state structures (and these strands of work will be discussed below). In addition, there have also been attempts to analyze state bureaucracies in more detail. Especially in the context of increased state power in the realms of security, state institutions require renewed scrutiny as sites of geopolitical practice (Agnew 2005b ; Coleman 2005 ; Retort 2005 ). This attention to the fragmented and articulated institutional structures of geopolitics links up with analyses of policy. For policy impinges on all aspects of self and society. It shapes not just societal outcomes but, more importantly, the processes that produce these outcomes. To study policy is to investigate not a ready-made blueprint but a dynamic and unpredictable process. In geography as well as other social sciences, there is today a growing recognition of the need for utilizing ethnographic methods to understand policy (Megoran 2006 ; see also Mitchell 2005 ; Agnew 2007a ; Neumann 2007 ). Ethnographic work is especially helpful for dislodging studies from the stereotype that policy professionals merely execute pregiven political and juridical blueprints without any significant agency of their own.

Ultimately, this closer focus on policy procedures is about sensitivity to specific geographical contexts. Such contexts include the personal backgrounds, interests, and identities of the individuals who actually articulate geopolitical claims. Intellectuals of statecraft are not synonymous with the state and we cannot assume that they merely voice some pregiven state interest. Rather, their geopolitical practices need to be carefully contextualized in their specific societal settings. For example, we cannot understand American geopolitics of the Cold War era without considering the personal anticommunism of some of the leading writers – in some cases because of their personal contacts among Russian émigré circles (Crampton and Ó Tuathail 1996 ; Ó Tuathail 2000 ). We likewise cannot comprehend the culturalist flavor of Central European geopolitics without considering the arts and humanities backgrounds of many of the region’s leading politicians (Kuus 2007 : ch. 5). In that example, humanities backgrounds give these individuals special legitimacy to speak in the name of culture and identity. The culturalist narratives of foreign policy in Central Europe – for example, the “return to Europe” narrative – points to the need to carefully unpack such cultural resources.

In addition to adding nuance and color to analyses, there are at least two further reasons why a close examination of agency in geopolitics must include in-depth studies of intellectuals of statecraft. The first reason has to do with their influence. Other actors undoubtedly contest the dominant geopolitical discourses, but their arguments are still positioned in relation to intellectuals of statecraft. Over the long run, the institutional and cultural resources available to them serve to systematically push the game in their direction. As James Scott ( 2005 :401) puts it, even though the dominant arguments do not reach the ground uncompromised, “can there be much doubt about which players in this […] encounter hold most of the high cards?” The “war on terror” has further highlighted the crucial importance of a few state agencies, particularly those connected to the national security apparatus, in mainstream conceptions of world affairs (Gregory and Pred 2006 ; Coleman 2007 ; Dalby 2007 ). It is easy to say that we need to look beyond elites and beyond the state. Yet this process of producing hegemonic norms outside the sphere of the state is still heavily influenced by state elites.

The second reason why we need more studies of these professionals has to do with their diversity. Simply speaking of power discourses can overlook the conscious manipulation of (geo)political claims by specific well-placed individuals. If we broaden our definition of geopolitics from the narrowest circles of officials in the highest echelons of the state apparatus, we need to analyze more diverse settings of policy. These settings include immigration, trade and aid policies, as well as international and supranational institutions – and all of these in addition to locations like foreign ministries. The study of geopolitics must not be limited to the handful of men at the key nodes of state power, but neither should it exclude these men. Given the relatively closed nature of foreign policy, challenges to dominant geopolitical narratives come as much from the inside as from the outside of policy structures (see Ó Tuathail 1999 ; Dijkink 2004 ). The challenge, then, is not to bypass intellectuals of statecraft, but, to the contrary, to offer more nuanced accounts of them. There is no easy way around the methodological difficulties (e.g. access) in attempting such accounts, but they should be pursued nonetheless. Critical geopolitics is indeed increasingly engaged with fieldwork in diverse empirical settings (Megoran 2006 ; see also Pain and Smith 2008 ).

To argue for a closer engagement with intellectuals of statecraft is not to imply that we should try to uncover their “identities” in some abstract sense disconnected from their social context. It is likewise not an attempt to uncover some “real story” in the corridors of power. It is rather to argue for a closer examination of the interconnections between geopolitical practices and the agents of these practices (Agnew 2007a ). It is to more closely consider the daily production of geopolitical knowledge – the mundane repetition of claims not just in official speeches, but also around the coffee machine (e.g. Neumann 2007 ). This would help us to bring into focus the multiple structures of authority and legitimacy through which geopolitical arguments work.

Popular Geopolitics and Anti-geopolitics

The same air of power and secrecy that seems to set geopolitics apart from “normal boring” politics also feeds popular fascination with it. Although explicitly geopolitical arguments evoke exclusive expertise, the categories of security and danger, community and enmity, Us and Them on which these claims rely are formed at the popular level. The “expert” statements would not hold if they were not legitimized at the popular level. This duality, whereby security and geopolitics excite popular fascination and play on popular beliefs, and yet the authority to speak on them is relatively limited, is a necessary part of geopolitical arguments. To be effective, these arguments need both sides.

Not surprisingly, then, in addition to the scholarship that draws empirically on the rhetorical strategies of intellectuals of statecraft, there is also a rich body of work on popular geopolitics – that is, the geopolitical narratives that circulate in popular culture. Investigating various cultural products as well as their producers and audiences, it offers insights into a range of locations and agents of geopolitics outside the realm of the state: popular magazines, newspaper reporters, cartoonists, film directors, and social activists of various kinds (see Power and Crampton 2005 ). Thus, there is extensive literature on the narratives that animate James Bond films (Dodds 2003 ; 2006 ), the Captain America comic strip (Dittmer 2005 ; 2007 ), or the Readers Digest magazine (Sharp 2000 ). There is also a substantial popular geopolitics scholarship on the “war on terror.” This work situates the spatiality of everyday life and popular culture specifically in the current period of militarization and political violence (e.g. Toal 2003 ; Falah et al. 2006 ; Flusty 2008 ; Pain and Smith 2008 ; Dodds and Ingram 2009 ). In that effort to understand current political violence, geographers are also paying more attention to the linkages between religion and geopolitical thought (e.g. Agnew 2006 and the special issue it introduces). Much of this work analyzes the structure of the texts and the techniques used to make them credible: the metaphors, the repetitions, the claims of authority and authenticity. It thereby brings into relief the broader cultural milieu in which particular geopolitical claims thrive.

One part of this inquiry into popular culture and everyday life is the work on resistance geopolitics or anti-geopolitics. Paul Routledge ( 2006 :234) defines anti-geopolitics as “an ambiguous political and cultural force within civil society that articulates forms of counter-hegemonic struggle.” By civil society, Routledge means those institutions that are not part of either material production in the economy or the formal sphere of the state. By counter-hegemonic, he means resistances that challenge the material and cultural power of dominant geopolitical interests or states and their elites ( 2006 :234). The work focusing explicitly on resistance geopolitics is still relatively slim, but there are studies of activist groups (Routledge 2008 ; Slater 2004 : ch. 8), journalists (Ó Tuathail 1996a ; Dodds 1996 ), as well as the so-called average citizens (Mamadouh 2003 ; Secor 2004 ) who challenge dominant geopolitical representations.

A key challenge in this scholarship, as in resistance studies more broadly, is to avoid glamorizing resistance and the civil society in general: to show the diversity of resistance, the entanglements of domination and resistance, and the futility of looking for the “self-evidently good” (Sharp et al. 2000 ; Kuus 2008 ). For elite discourses are not only resisted but also reproduced by nongovernmental organizations in the civil society. Moreover, resistance involves much more than conscious overt dissent. In today’s society it is increasingly difficult to stand heroically on the edge of the system of power one opposes and to practice dissent as an overt, conscience-driven rejection of an official practice. Rather, we need to look at passiveness, irony, and anonymity as resources for resistance. To do justice to the entanglements of domination and resistance, critical geopolitics increasingly foregrounds the practices that “pursue a certain anonymity, prefer tactics of evasion and obfuscation over those of repudiation and confrontation, and seek a loose or vague or superficial rather than definitive, weighty or substantial identity” (Bennett 1992 :152–3).

Feminist Geopolitics

Critical geopolitics emerged out of the same postpositivist and anti-essentialist intellectual ferment as feminist work. It undermines the “view from nowhere” of the traditional geopolitical reasoning by offering more situated and embodied accounts of power. Yet ironically, the initial wave of critical geopolitics in the 1990s focused empirically almost exclusively on male intellectuals of statecraft at the centers of state power. In part, this focus has to do with its subject matter – Cold War superpower politics was a heavily male dominated affair. However, the effect of studying such a small group of individuals was not only to describe but also to tacitly prescribe geopolitics as a narrow field of male practice and analysis. From early on, feminist research has sought to broaden the conception of agency in critical geopolitics beyond such a narrow field of inquiry. There is now a discernible subfield of feminist geopolitics.

This work – and feminist political geography of which it is a part – argues that the focus on policy elites implies an untenable conceptual division between the public sphere of international relations and the private sphere of everyday life. As a result, even though critical geopolitics compellingly challenges the power relations embedded in dominant geopolitical narratives, it still tends to offer a disembodied “spectator” theory of knowledge (Hyndman 2004 :6; see also Dowler and Sharp 2001 ; Gilmartin and Kofman 2004 ; Staeheli et al. 2004 ). In other words, despite the subfield’s avowed critical stance toward power structures, critical geopolitics to some extent reproduces the view from the center that it critiques.

Feminist geopolitics aims to rectify this gap by engaging closely with actors and locations outside the formal sphere of the state (Hyndman 2007 ). It takes the central tenet of feminist work – that the personal is also political – to posit that the personal is also geopolitical (e.g. Sharp 2005 ). Approaching the so-called average people as political subjects, it seeks to understand “how political life plays out through a multiplicity of alternative, gendered political spaces” (Hyndman 2000 ; Secor 2001 :192). By highlighting the geopolitical practices of those located outside the top echelons of the state apparatus, it brings into focus the institutional structure through which the illusory division between political and “nonpolitical” spheres, or the realm of “geopolitics” and “normal” or “domestic” politics is constructed (Hyndman 2004 ; Sharp 2005 ). As a body of work, feminist geopolitics shifts the focus from the operations of elite agents to the constructions of political subjects in everyday political practice (Kofman and Staeheli 2004 ). It thereby links up with the broader efforts to produce more embodied accounts of power (e.g. Marston 2003 ; Pratt 2003 ; Mountz 2004 ; Staeheli et al. 2004 ). This strand of work is relatively new and there are few empirical investigations to follow up on its theoretical exposés (but see Secor 2004 ; Hyndman 2007 ; Sundberg 2009 ). However, feminist geopolitics is clearly one the growing fields of inquiry within critical geopolitics.

Critical Geopolitics as the Fragmented Mainstream

This essay charted the development of critical geopolitics as a subfield of human geography since the 1990s. It highlighted the field’s intellectual roots as well as its engagements with other strands of inquiry within and beyond geography. To discuss critical geopolitics as a distinct subfield is not to essentialize or to homogenize it. To the contrary, perhaps the principal conclusion of the essay is that we should resist temptations to delimit critical geopolitics by subject matter, theoretical concerns or methodology. Such limitations would create an illusion of internal coherence and external differentiation that this work does not possess or claim. Critical geopolitics is concerned not with power in general but with the operation of power relations in particular places. To treat critical geopolitics as a subfield of human geography is rather to foreground the sustained engagement in geography with the spatiality of power and politics on the global scale.

The essay also highlighted some ongoing debates on the geographical scope and theoretical reach of critical geopolitics. In particular, it has been argued that more work still needs to be done to illuminate the diversity of geopolitical arguments in different countries and in different spheres of social life. Debates on agency in geopolitics – that is, questions about the capacity of various groups to participate in and influence the production of geopolitical discourses – form an integral part of that effort. There has been indeed a discernible shift toward a more explicit analytical emphasis not just on political processes, but, more specifically, on political agency within these processes (Albert and Reuber 2007 :553). The various strands of work on agency all problematize the notion of pregiven political subjects to investigate the processes of subject-making. They all share the sustained attention on nonstate and nonelite actors in the spatialization of world politics. As a field, critical geopolitics has engaged more closely with not just formal and practical geopolitical reasoning but also with the prosaic and mundane geopolitics of everyday life. This line of inquiry requires considerable methodological diversity, as well as sensitivity to the geography of knowledge production (Agnew 2007a ).

The heterogeneity of critical geopolitics is central to its vibrancy and success. This field is not about producing core texts but about questioning the assumptions that underpin geopolitical claims. Through such efforts, critical geopolitics has emerged from its roots in the poststructuralist, feminist, and postcolonial critique of traditional geopolitics to become an integral part of mainstream human geography. To study geopolitics within the discipline of geography today is to study it critically. Even treatments that are not labeled “critical” as such draw from various anti-essentialist nonpositivist approaches to power, be it various strands of Marxism, feminism, or postcolonial work, or world systems theory (e.g. Flint 2005 ; Cowen and Gilbert 2007 ). These analyses may not necessarily seek the label of critical geopolitics, but this is not because they are not critical but because their critical stance can be taken for granted. The debate in geography has moved beyond critiquing mainstream geopolitics; it is now about how specifically such critique can be combined with effective visions for alternative political spaces.

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Acknowledgments

I thank Colin Flint , Klaus Dodds , and two anonymous referees for constructive feedback on earlier versions of the essay. Research for the essay was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Lawrence Santiago provided helpful research assistance.

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Asia’s New Geopolitics: Essays on Reshaping the Indo-Pacific

• Charles Edel
• January 19, 2021

Several years ago, a Chinese general remarked to me that “unlike the United States, we think in grand strategic terms. We think about how things are connected, and we see more than two issues at a time.” While it was unclear if this comment was offered as an observation, boast, or rebuke, the message was clear: Beijing’s confidence in its strategy was high, its perception of American statecraft was dim, and those views derived from a fundamental belief that the United States was hobbled by a myopic outlook, while the People’s Republic of China benefitted from its long-term and broad-ranging perspective.

At a moment when China’s increasingly aggressive policies have generated widespread concern in and beyond Asia, the wisdom of Beijing’s grand strategy certainly seems up for debate. But, as Michael Auslin emphasizes in his insightful collection of essays,  Asia’s New Geopolitics , U.S. strategy is often hobbled by its inability to grasp the totality of China’s actions and its failure to treat the Indo-Pacific region as an integrated theater.

Consider the South China Sea. Auslin writes that the “intense interest in the South China Sea, however justified, occluded a larger picture of the strategic environment in East Asia, even as it revealed fears about America’s position within it.” For Auslin, America’s constricted view of the forces at work in Asia is a perennial challenge because Washington, he writes, “appears to prefer focusing, or is able to focus, on only one sub-region at a time.”

This collection of essays is his attempt to correct that partial view by painting on a larger canvas. Auslin, a historian and Asia specialist at Stanford’s Hoover Institute, does so by enumerating the growing number of regional players, highlighting the connections between Asia’s different sub-regions, examining the trends most likely to affect the region’s future, and providing conceptual frameworks to understand regional dynamics.

Access the book review here.

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World Studies Extended Essay: Global Themes

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World Studies Global Themes

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• Making Meaningful Connections Use this worksheet to help you think about your research plans: the concepts or methods your will be using, the global topic you're focusing on, and the academic disciplines you will be using.

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How to Write the Political and Global Issues College Essay

Essays are one of the best parts of the college application process. With your grades in, your test scores decided, and your extracurriculars developed over your years in high school, your essays are the last piece of your college application that you have immediate control over. With them, you get to add a voice to your other stats, a “face” to the name, so to speak. They’re an opportunity to reveal what’s important to you and what sets you apart from other applicants and tell the admissions committee why you’d be an excellent addition to their incoming student class.

Throughout your college applications process, there are many different types of essays you’ll be asked to write. Some of the most popular essay questions you’ll see might include writing about an extracurricular, why you want to matriculate at a school, and what you want to study.

Increasingly, you might also see a supplemental college essay asking you to discuss a political or global issue that you’re passionate about. Asking this type of question helps colleges understand what you care about outside of your personal life and how you will be an active global citizen.

Some examples from the 2019-2020 cycle include:

Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service : Briefly discuss a current global issue, indicating why you consider it important and what you suggest should be done to deal with it.

Yeshiva University Honors Programs : What is one issue about which you are passionate?

Pitzer College : Pitzer College is known for our students’ intellectual and creative activism. If you could work on a cause that is meaningful to you through a project, artistic, academic, or otherwise, what would you do?

Your GPA and SAT don’t tell the full admissions story

Our chancing engine factors in extracurricular activities, demographics, and other holistic details. We’ll let you know what your chances are at your dream schools — and how to improve your chances!

Our chancing engine factors in extracurricular activities, demographic, and other holistic details.

Our chancing engine factors in extracurricular activities, demographic, and other holistic details. We’ll let you know what your chances are at your dream schools — and how to improve your chances!

Tips for Writing the Political and Global Issues College Essay

Pick an issue close to your life.

When you first see a political and global issues prompt, your gut reaction might be to go with a big-picture topic that’s all over the news, like poverty or racism. The problem with these topics is that you usually have a page or less to talk about the issue and why it matters to you. Students also might not have a direct personal connection to such a broad topic. The goal of this essay is to reveal your critical thinking skills, but the higher-level goal of every college essay is to learn more about who you are.

Rather than go with a broad issue that you’re not personally connected to, see if there’s just one facet of it that you  can  contend with. This is especially important if the prompt simply asks for “an issue,” and not necessarily a “global issue.” While some essay prompts will specifically ask that you address a  global  issue (like Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service), there are still ways to approach it from a more focused perspective.

For example, if you were to talk about world hunger, you could start with the hunger you see in your community, which is a food desert. For your solution, you can discuss your plan to build a community garden, so the town is able to access fresh produce. Food deserts, of course, aren’t the only reason world hunger exists; so, you should also explore some other reasons, and other solutions. Maybe there is a better way to prevent and recuperate produce currently being wasted, for instance. If the prompt doesn’t specifically ask for a global issue, however, you could simply focus on food deserts.

For another example, maybe you want to talk about climate change. A more personal and focused approach would deal with happenings in your community, or a community you’ve had contact with. For instance, perhaps your local river was polluted because of textile industry waste; in this case, it would be fitting to address fast fashion specifically (which is still a global issue).

Remember your audience

As you’re approaching this essay, take care to understand the political ramifications of what you’re suggesting and how the school you’re addressing might react to it. Make sure you understand the school’s political viewpoints, and keep in mind that schools are hoping to see how you might fit on their campus based on your response.

So, if you’re applying to a school known for being progressive, like Oberlin or Amherst, you might not want to write an essay arguing that religious freedom is under threat in America. Or, if you’re applying to Liberty University, you should probably avoid writing an essay with a strong pro-LGBTQ stance. You don’t have to take the opposite position, but try picking a different issue that won’t raise the same concerns.

If you have no political alignment, choose economics

If you find yourself applying to a school with which you share no political viewpoints, you might want to consider if the school would even be a good fit for you. Why do you really want to go there? Are those reasons worth it? If you think so, consider writing about an economic issue, which tend to be less contentious than social issues.

For instance, you could write about the impact of monopolies because your parents own an independent bookstore that has been affected by Amazon. Or you could discuss tax breaks for companies that keep or move their production domestically, after seeing how your town changed when factories were moved abroad. Maybe tax filing is a cause you’re really passionate about, and you think the government should institute a free electronic system for all. No matter what you write about here, the key is to keep it close to home however you can.

Pick the best possible framing

When you’re writing an essay that doesn’t fully align with the political views of the school you’re applying to, you’ll want to minimize the gap between your viewpoint and that of the school. While they still might disagree with your views, this will give your essay (and therefore you) the best possible chance. Let’s say you’re applying to a school with progressive economic views, while you firmly believe in free markets. Consider these two essay options:

Option 1:  You believe in free markets because they have pulled billions out of terrible poverty in the developing world.

Option 2:  “Greed is good,” baby! Nothing wrong with the rich getting richer.

Even if you believe equally in the two reasons above personally, essay option 1 would be more likely to resonate with an admissions committee at a progressive school.

Let’s look at another, more subtle example:

Option 1:  Adding 500 police officers to the New York City public transit system to catch fare evaders allows officers to unfairly and systematically profile individuals based on their race.

Option 2:  The cost of hiring 500 additional police officers in the New York City public transit system is higher than the money that would be recouped by fare evasion.

While you might believe both of these things, a school that places a lower priority on race issues may respond better to the second option’s focus on the fallible economics of the issue.

Structuring the Essay

Depending on how long the essay prompt is, you’ll want to use your time and word count slightly differently. For shorter essays (under 250 words), focus on your personal connection rather than the issue itself. You don’t have much space and you need to make it count. For standard essays (250-500 words), you can spend about half the time on the issue and half the time on your personal connection. This should allow you to get more into the nuance. For longer essays, you can write more on the issue itself. But remember, no matter how long the essay is, they ultimately want to learn about you–don’t spend so much time on the issue that you don’t bring it back to yourself.

Want help with your college essays to improve your admissions chances? Sign up for your free CollegeVine account and get access to our essay guides and courses. You can also get your essay peer-reviewed and improve your own writing skills by reviewing other students’ essays.

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1 (page 1) p. 1 What is geopolitics?

• Published: July 2019
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‘What is geopolitics?’ explains that geopolitics involves three qualities. First, it is concerned with questions of influence and power over space and territory. Second, it uses geographical frames to make sense of world affairs. Third, geopolitics is future-oriented. It offers insights into the likely behaviour of states because their interests are fundamentally unchanging. States need to secure resources, protect their territory including borderlands, and manage their populations. Two fundamental ways of understanding the term geopolitics are offered: classical geopolitics that focuses on the interrelationship between the territorial interests and power of the state and geographical environments, and critical geopolitics, which tends to focus more on the role of discourse and ideology.

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Geopolitics and Geoculture: Essays on the Changing World-System

1992, Contemporary Sociology

Related Papers

Matt Sparke

'Geoeconomics', 'geo-economy', and the 'geoeconomic social' are just a few of the conceptual formulations swirling around recent attempts to make sense of how geopolitical struggles and strategies relate to globalizing capitalism, to its economic remaking of territory, and to the market imperatives and networked cross-border geographical imaginations of contemporary globalization in particular. The result is a confusing constellation of concepts that raise big questions about how capitalist economic influences shape international relations and statecraft, how interstate politics and strategy reciprocally influence economic development, and how the dynamic geography of capitalism simultaneously makes, mediates, and embodies these reciprocal relations. In this article I argue that a useful way of navigating through these confusions is to theorize the relationship between geopolitics and geoeconomics in terms of cogenerational dialectics. Inspired by an older and often overlooked essay by David Harvey (1985), I suggest that the 'external' dialectic of geopolitics and geoeconomics is best understood as an overdetermined expression of the 'internal' uneven development dialectic between spatial fixity and spatial expansion at the heart of capitalism. Geopolitical economy can in turn be treated as the analysis of the relays between these internal and external dialectics. Taking this approach allows us to transform the swirling constellation of geoeconomic concepts from a blurry galaxy into some clearer guiding stars through which scholars of geopolitical economy can navigate the complexities of the material

Nikos Deniozos

Abstract. In the current restructuring phase of globalization, the geopolitical analysis, combined with the derived concept of geoeconomics, seems to acquire a new, growing interest. Specifically, the scientific discipline of geopolitics synthesizes the different socioeconomic analytical tools, having as final goal to propose and implement a proper strategy (geostrategy) by focusing on increasing national power and broadening the control of a geographic territory. In this context, this article explores how the contemporary geopolitical and geoeconomic analysis can valorize a composite evolutionary-dialectical method to enhance their understanding. To this end, substantial points of analytical enrichment to geopolitics and geoeconomics seem to emerge in the globalization’s restructuration era. Keywords. Geopolitics and geoeconomics, Global crisis and restructuring, Geostrategy, Dialectics, Structural-evolutionary crisis. JEL. B52, F69, F59.

Geography Compass

Sami Moisio

Geoeconomics is a contested concept. What seems common to recent attempts to define the concept of geoeconomics is that it is almost invariably discussed with relation to geopolitics. In this paper, I seek to provide a reading of “geoeconomics” from political geography that both evaluates geoeconomic claims on their own terms and, moreover, avoids a political/economy binary that even some of the critical approaches tend to fall into. For this purpose, I provide a selective mapping of some of the ways in which geoeconomics has been scrutinized in IR and in human geography and defined with relation to the concept of geopolitics. I single out two main fields of scholarship. First, I introduce a foreign policy tradition that at least superficially draws from the realist tradition in IR. Second, I discuss various materialist and poststructuralist approaches in political geography that can be at least implicitly connected to the term geoeconomics. Third, I develop a reading of geoeconomics as political geographies of knowledge-intensive capitalism. This perspective turns attention to the geopolitical space economy of capitalism, draws from work in critical human geography, heterodox political economy, and urban studies, and seeks to overcome the separation between geoeconomics and geopolitics.

Journal of Interdisciplinary History

Luca Muscarà

Economic and Social Thought, 6(2), 65-92

Charis Vlados , Dimos Chatzinikolaou

In the current restructuring phase of globalization, the geopolitical analysis, combined with the derived concept of geoeconomics, seems to acquire a new, growing interest. Specifically, the scientific discipline of geopolitics synthesizes the different socioeconomic analytical tools, having as final goal to propose and implement a proper strategy (geostrategy) by focusing on increasing national power and broadening the control of a geographic territory. In this context, this article explores how the contemporary geopolitical and geoeconomic analysis can valorize a composite evolutionary-dialectical method to enhance their understanding. To this end, substantial points of analytical enrichment to geopolitics and geoeconomics seem to emerge in the globalization's restructuration era.

Luka Zloporubovic

Mikael Wigell

Nicholas J Crane

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.chakra .wef-1t4fkg7{margin-top:16px;margin-bottom:16px;line-height:normal;color:#ffffff;display:block;background:#000000;margin:0px;font-size:2.5rem;padding-left:16px;padding-right:16px;padding-bottom:12px;border-radius:0.25rem;border-top-left-radius:0;border-bottom-left-radius:0;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;-webkit-box-decoration-break:clone;box-decoration-break:clone;}@media screen and (min-width:37.5rem){.chakra .wef-1t4fkg7{display:inline;}}@media screen and (min-width:56.5rem){.chakra .wef-1t4fkg7{font-size:4rem;}} Davos 2023: What you need to know about geopolitics

In a fragmented world, global leaders must work together to tackle a multitude of crises. Here's what you need to know about geopolitics. Image: Unsplash/Vladislav Klapin

.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo{-webkit-transition:all 0.15s ease-out;transition:all 0.15s ease-out;cursor:pointer;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;outline:none;color:inherit;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:hover,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-hover]{-webkit-text-decoration:underline;text-decoration:underline;}.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo:focus,.chakra .wef-1c7l3mo[data-focus]{box-shadow:0 0 0 3px rgba(168,203,251,0.5);} Forum Agenda

• The impacts from Russia's invasion of Ukraine have rippled out across the world.
• The theme of the World Economic Forum’s 2023 Annual Meeting was “Cooperation in a Fragmented World”.
• Nearly 50 heads of state and government came together with business and society leaders to discuss solutions to the most pressing problems.

This winter will mark one year since Russia invaded Ukraine in a wanton act of aggression.

The war, which has killed at least tens of thousands and has forced nearly 8 million refugees to flee across Europe, has exacerbated crises worldwide. This includes causing energy prices to soar, disrupting supply chains, rattling financial markets and intensifying the climate crisis, among other repercussions.

6 ways Russia's invasion of Ukraine has reshaped the energy world

The geopolitical consequences have been manifold — and have significantly impact the most vulnerable. Somalia, for example, is on the brink of famine due to drought and the global food crisis. The country, which relies on Russia and Ukraine for 90% of its wheat supply , now tops the International Rescue Committee's crises watchlist for the first time ever.

As the World Economic Forum’s Global Risks Report 2023 notes, "The first years of this decade have heralded a particularly disruptive period in human history."

"The return to a 'new normal' following the COVID-19 pandemic was quickly disrupted by the outbreak of war in Ukraine, ushering in a fresh series of crises in food and energy – triggering problems that decades of progress had sought to solve," the report adds.

Geopolitics at the Annual Meeting 2023

• De-Globalization or Re-Globalization?

The ties that bind the world economy together have frayed in recent years. Has globalization reached the end of the line or is a resurgence on the cards?

De-globalization or Re-globalization? It's more a 'cocktail' of globalization, says an expert at Davos

• The Geopolitics of Industry

From the use of sanctions to technology supply shocks, how can business leaders adapt to a world of increased geopolitical fractures?

• Democracy: The Way Forward

As democracy comes under increasing pressure, what can leaders do today to strengthen democratic systems?

Let's step back and say what do we need to do differently? What do the new coalitions need to look like? What does the toolkit need to look like?

• Ukraine: What next?

Nearly one year since the start of the war, Ukraine has surpassed all expectations in its ability to defend itself against Russia. What is the outlook for the conflict and horizons for Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction?

• Keeping the Lights on amid Geopolitical Fracture

From energy to food to humanitarian relief, where are the concrete opportunities for progress on urgent global challenges despite the strong tides of geopolitical and geo-economic fragmentation?

• War in Europe: Year 2

What are the policy pathways to take and the points of vulnerability to address in Europe in the coming year as it grapples with the multidimensional effects of the war in Ukraine?

We need to send more support to Ukraine, more weapons, more humanitarian aid, more financial aid to make sure the war ends as soon as possible.

• Crises to Watch

While the conflict in Ukraine has dominated headlines since February, a number of other crises and worrying trends are affecting millions of people around the world and deserve international attention and action. Join International Rescue Committee President David Miliband for a discussion of how widening inequality gaps, debt decay and impending famine will impact economies and societies in 2023 and what actions the international community must take to prevent the worst possible outcomes.

• Special Address by António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations

Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, and the Forum's President, Børge Brende, join António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations.

We risk what I've called a great fracture, the decoupling of the world's two largest economies.

• Restoring Security and Peace

The war in Ukraine has exacerbated a fragile geopolitical and security landscape. Bold leadership is required not only to restore peace and security in Europe but also for the world. In a time of grave challenges, how can leaders collaborate and cooperate to defend our collective security?

The main focus now is to support Ukraine. To ensure that Ukraine wins the war.

• A New Helsinki

With current geopolitics in flux, how can key powers stem the slide to volatility and strike a new bargain for security dialogue and coordination?

Geopolitics is reflecting a lot of domestic politics.

Cooperation in a Fragmented World

Nearly 50 heads of state and government from across the globe gathered with business and society leaders at the Forum's Annual Meeting 2023 in Davos, Switzerland, under the theme of “Cooperation in a Fragmented World”. The programme included special addresses from leaders such as Prime Minister Sanna Marin of Finland, President Yoon Suk Yeol of South Korea and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The summit was held as the need for cooperation rose significantly. As the Global Risks Report 2023 explains, a "polycrisis" dominated by the cost of the living crisis, the climate crisis and political instability is threatening to reverse hard-fought gains in development and growth.

“We see the manifold political, economic and social forces creating increased fragmentation on a global and national level," said Klaus Schwab, the Forum's Founder and Executive Chairman. "To address the root causes of this erosion of trust, we need to reinforce cooperation between the government and business sectors, creating the conditions for a strong and durable recovery."

More on geopolitics on Agenda

Why it's time for the dawn of stakeholder geopolitics

Olena Zelenska, First Lady of Ukraine, calls for unity at Davos 2023

The 20 humanitarian crises the world cannot ignore in 2023 — and what to do about them

In a time of geopolitical and economic challenges, business leaders explain how to adapt

Global cooperation has mended a divided world before - it can do the same for a fragmented one

Croatia joins Europe's Schengen Area: What is it and how does it work?

Corporate geopolitics: How boards navigate a complex and volatile world

The power couple: Why solar and storage are key to reducing geopolitical risk and securing access to energy

What are foreign currency reserves and can they help combat the global economic crisis?

Davos geopolitics videos to watch

Reports, initiatives and announcements on geopolitics during am23.

The Global Risks Report 2023 was published on 11 January, just days before Davos convened world leaders to discuss how to navigate the "polycrisis". You can catch up with the press conference here or read this blog on how organization's should respond .

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‘Disability Intimacy’ starts a long-overdue conversation

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Book Review

Disability Intimacy: Essays on Love, Care, and Desire

Edited by Alice Wong Vintage: 384 pages, $19 If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org , whose fees support independent bookstores.

To whom does desire belong? How about love and care? These are the questions at the heart of “Disability Intimacy,” a new book of essays and ephemera collected by the San Francisco activist Alice Wong, and the answers are painfully obvious: Those human experiences are for everyone. What’s less obvious to many, and acutely painful to some of us, is that those questions needed to be asked and answered. This book needed to exist.

It is a longstanding and unfortunate truth that disabled people are often seen as undesirable and even as unable to experience desire, love or care in the ways that all individuals do. As disabled people we understand how false that notion is and how harmful it can be. Giving and receiving love — physically or verbally, in a context of romance, sex, close friendship or family bonds — is as much our right to experience as anyone else’s, and our stories of intimate connections and losses are worth telling as much as anyone else’s. So I commend Wong and the collection’s 40 contributors for taking on this topic.

“Disability Intimacy” is not an extended lament. Many of its standouts are downright celebratory, as well as lessons in engaging storytelling. “The Last Walk” by Melissa Hung explores the grief of losing a beloved friend while simultaneously cherishing their last moments together and the sling bag that became a physical memory of her friend Judy. In “Hi, Are You Single?” by Ryan J. Haddad, one of the standout poems in the collection, Haddad explores the messy, awkward and welcome way a hookup can support their collective desire for pleasure.

Having contributed to and read Wong’s anthology from 2020, “Disability Visibility,” I thought I knew what I was getting into, but the two collections are quite different. It was disappointing to come away from “Intimacy” without a theme as clear as that of “Visibility,” perhaps in part reflecting the older collection’s more straightforward subject matter. Love is complicated. And 40 contributors is a lot.

As one of the first of its kind to attempt what it is attempting, “Disability Intimacy” has the unfair expectation to be everything for everyone, to answer the question of desirability for an entire community that is not monolithic. Wong refuses to shut out the “other” in favor of the conventionally digestible. This collection shines in its entries that take big swings, discussing topics such as BDSM, queer love and intergenerational relationships — and even laziness, a concept that one essay reclaims and celebrates as a purposeful act of rest, epitomized by the love between a father and son who connect over turning out the light and climbing in bed to take naps. In these pieces, the authors seem to be living as unapologetically on the page as they do in life.

Tucked among the essays, readers will be delighted to also discover poems and even a conversation between two disabled people of color about redefining intimacy for themselves, ableism and what they refuse to call intimacy. It’s a refreshing and effective shakeup of the anthology form. It’s also a lot to take in.

I had to reread certain sections as some of the points got lost along the way, and sometimes I found myself mentally rearranging the book because entries felt misplaced. Although many of the pieces could have been shorter, none should have been left out. Might the cause have been better served with these many entries divided between two volumes? This could have encouraged the reader to sit with the thoughts and feelings that come up rather than rushing onward.

There is often a lot of pressure placed on books of this kind that amplify marginalized voices or tackle taboo topics, but remember: Sometimes a book does the world a service not because it is encyclopedic or full of answers but simply because it raises questions and starts conversations.

In the end, what we readers ask of ourselves is what counts. Whom do we allow ourselves to desire, and why? Toward whose stories do we gravitate, and whom do we leave in the margins? How will we expand our own worldview?

Keah Brown , a journalist, activist, actor and screenwriter, is the author of “ The Pretty One ” and “ The Secret Summer Promise .”

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NPR editor Uri Berliner resigns after essay accusing outlet of liberal bias

A senior business editor at National Public Radio has resigned after writing an essay for an online news site published last week accusing the outlet of a liberal bias in its coverage.

In a Wednesday post on X , Uri Berliner included a statement in what he said was his resignation letter to NPR President and CEO Katherine Maher.

"I am resigning from NPR, a great American institution where I have worked for 25 years," Berliner wrote in the post. "I don't support calls to defund NPR. I respect the integrity of my colleagues and wish for NPR to thrive and do important journalism. But I cannot work in a newsroom where I am disparaged by a new CEO whose divisive views confirm the very problems at NPR I cite in my Free Press essay."

On Friday, Berliner was suspended for five days without pay, NPR confirmed Tuesday , a week after his essay in the Free Press, an online news publication, where he argued the network had "lost America's trust" and allowed a "liberal bent" to influence its coverage, causing the outlet to steadily lose credibility with audiences.

Berliner's essay also angered many of his colleagues and exposed Maher, who started as NPR's CEO in March, to a string of attacks from conservatives over her past social media posts.

Dig deeper: NPR suspends senior editor Uri Berliner after essay accusing outlet of liberal bias

NPR reported that the essay reignited the criticism that many prominent conservatives have long leveled against NPR and prompted newsroom leadership to implement monthly internal reviews of the network's coverage.

Neither NPR nor Maher have not yet publicly responded to Berliner's resignation, but Maher refuted his claims in a statement Monday to NPR.

"In America everyone is entitled to free speech as a private citizen," Maher said. "What matters is NPR's work and my commitment as its CEO: public service, editorial independence, and the mission to serve all of the American public. NPR is independent, beholden to no party, and without commercial interests."

Contributing: Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY.