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Globalisation

“the widening, deepening, and acceleration of worldwide connectivity or interconnectedness”

Characteristics of globalisation

* Integration of the world economy
* Declining role of the state
* Instant communication and fast travel • Free flow and exchange of ideas and technology
* Deterritorialization ; growth transnational actors
* Time space compression: local effects of global or far away developments

Criticism of the globalisation paradigm - Is the concept of globalisation new?

* The first transnational corporations are much older
* British East India Company (EIC), Dutch East India Company (VOC)

Globalisation is just a variant of …?

Modernisation theory (side-effect of industrialisation)

What is modernisation theory?

A sociological and developmental theory that posits societies progress through stages of development from traditional to modern forms, driven by factors such as technological advancements, economic growth, and cultural change.

To what does Marshall McLuhan’s concept of the “global village” refer to?

It refers to the idea that advancements in communication technologies would create a globally interconnected and interdependent society where information and media are shared rapidly and effortlessly, shrinking the world into a unified community.

What is Hedley Bull’s (1977) concept of “__new medievalism__”?

It describes a modern phenomenon where traditional centralized authority is perceived to be declining, leading to fragmented and localized governance structures that resemble the governance patterns of the medieval era.

What is meant by John Burton’s “cobweb model of politics” (1972)?

It refers to a theoretical framework that describes how conflicts and interactions between actors in political systems can create complex, interconnected, and often unpredictable patterns of behaviour similar to a tangled cobweb. Therefore, the role of transnational actors in world politics become increasingly important.

What did John W. Meyer mean by the “world society”/”world polity theory”?

It posits that there is a global system of interrelated institutions, norms, and actors that shape and influence the behavior and structure of nation-states and societies around the world, leading to increasing global interconnectedness and convergence of practices and values. Therefore, it can be concluded that nation states are only “stage actors” in a global institutional, cultural, and normative environment.

What are the 4 ways to see geopolitics?

* A conceptual term or theory
* An academic field of study
* A political doctrine
* A mindset or mode of analysis

The paradigm of geopolitics as a **conceptual term** or **theory**

* Coined by the Swedish political scientist Rudolph Kjellén in 1899
* A “theory of the state as a geographical organism or phenomenon in space”

The paradigm of geopolitics as an **academic field of study**

* Examining impact of geographical factors (opportunities, constraints) on international relations
* Similar to political geography

The paradigm of geopolitics as a **political doctrine**

* Considering the “spatial determinism of all political processes”
* Prioritising geographical foreign policy objectives

The paradigm of geopolitics as a **mindset** or **mode of analysis**

* Emphasis on long term perspectives, international chain reactions, spatial relationships, natural resources
* In military affairs: geostrategy

The theory of Navalism was conceived by…?

Alfred Thayer Mahan

What is the main point of Navalism?

The road to global dominance is sea power thalassocracies vs. tellurocracies

Navalism - What is required to become a sea power?

* Geographic position (serviceable coastlines)
* A sizable population (maintaining a navy)
* Naval bases and refueling stations
* Control over choke points and stepping stones

What are some key assumptions of Navalism?

* A successful naval blockade can break or contain any land based enemy
* The critical zone of global contest is in the northern hemisphere between the 30 th and 40 th parallel

Navalism - What are “**choke points**”?

Narrow, strategic passages or channels in the seas that are of vital importance for international trade and military operations. They often serve as critical transit points for maritime shipping routes, through which a large portion of global trade passes

Navalism - What are “**stepping stones**”?

These are islands or coastal territories that can serve as strategic bases or platforms for projecting power and influence in the maritime domain. They can be used for military purposes, such as naval bases, airfields, or surveillance stations, or for economic purposes, such as offshore resource exploitation or control of sea lanes. Maritime stepping stones are strategically located along maritime routes and can provide states with increased presence, access, and control in key maritime areas.

Navalism - Examples of typical maritime choke points:

* Bab el Mandeb Passage
* Bering Strait
* Bosporus
* Cape of Good Hope
* Danish Straits
* Dardanelles
* Gibraltar Strait
* GIUK Gap
* Hormuz Strait
* Magellan Strait
* Panama Canal
* Suez Canal
* Strait of Dover
* Strait of Malacca
* Strait of Tartary

Navalism - Examples of typical maritime stepping stones:

* Aleuitian Islands
* Azores
* Cape Verdes
* Comores
* Cuba
* Falklands
* French and Southern Antarctic Lands
* Guam
* Grenadines
* Hawai
* Iceland
* Kuril Islands
* Maldives
* Philippines
* Puerto Rico
* Seychelles

Spheres of influence - the American **Monroe Doctrine** (1823)

Limiting European colonialism in the Americas and U.S. involvement in Europe

Spheres of influence - The **Western Hemispheric Defense** **Zone** (1940)

USA monitoring German ships in the West Atlantic and reporting locations

Spheres of influence - The **Carter Doctrine** (1980)

USA reserves military force to protect oil interests in the Persian Gulf

Spheres of influence - Soviet **strategic glaci**s in Eastern Europe (1945 1991)

Cold War buffer zone of satellite states (Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, etc.)

The **Heartland Theory** was founded by…?

Halfford J. Mackinder (1904)

What was the main principle of the **Heartland** **Theory**?

“Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland . Who rules the Heartland commands the World Island. Who rules the World Island commands the world.”

Other principles of the **Heartland Theory**

* Domination requires access to East European railroads (key importance of railway systems for strategic purposes).
* Control over the pivot area grants land based hegemony over the coastal areas of the Inner or Marginal Crescent.
* The World Island (Eurasia and Africa) contains more than 50% of the world’s natural resources and dominates the Outer or Insular Crescent
* Direct rebuttal of Thayer Mahan’s emphasis of sea power
* Strongly influenced by the 19 th century Great Games

What is the Heatland/Pivot Area?

It encompasses large parts of today’s Russia, from North (Arctic waters), South (deserts, mountains), and East (mountains, uninhabited lands).

What is refered to as the 19th century **Great Game**?

* The confrontation between the British Empire and Czarist Russia over Central Asia over the decline of the Ottoman Empire
* Russia fears British expansion (from footholds in Afghanistan and Persia). Britain fears Russian control over Himalayan passes and threat to India

What is refered to as the new “**Great Games”**?

* The 1990s competition over the resources, pipelines, and strategic base locations in the post Soviet Central Asian republics
* Strategic great power confrontations in Antarctica, the Arctics , or outer space.

What entails the **German School of Geopolitik?**

Biological concept of the state; focus on race, agriculture, and military expansionism.

What are 3 people related to the G**erman School of Geopolitik**?

* Friedrich Ratzel (1844-1904)
* Rudolf Kjellén (1864 1922)
* Karl Haushofer (1869 1946)

What is Friedrich Ratzel’s theory of the German School of Geopolitik?

Races depend on Lebensraum (living space), which expands or shrinks by the laws of Social Darwinism.

What is Rudolf Kjellén’s theory of the German School of Geopolitik?

States are living organisms within geographical space, which fosters or constrains their growth or decline.

What is Karl Haushofer’s theory of German School of Geopolitik?

Hitler’s primary geostrategist ; believed in the concepts of pan regions and resource based autarky; necessity of a lower population density for imperial nations

The **Rimland Theory** was conceived by…?

Dutch American geostrategist Nicholas J. Spykman in 1942 1944

Why is the **Heatland** not “pivotal” according to Spykman?

* It is inhabited by backward agrarian societies
* Many of the world’s powerful civilizations were born west of the Ural Mountains.
* The heartland has virtually no warm water ports.

What is the more important area for control over Eurasia also named (same as the Rimland)?

Mackinder’s “Inner Crescent”

To what strategy contributed the Rimland to the Cold War?

Strategy of containment: denying Russia access to the seas, trapping it inside the Eurasian land mass

What were the implications for German school of Geopolitik?

German-Russian alliance

Cold War Geopolitics - Principal thinkers (USA)

* George F. Kennan (1904 2005)
* Robert Strausz Hupé (1903 2002)
* Henry A. Kissinger (1923 -)
* Zbigniew Brzezinski (1928-)

What is meant with the **Strategy of Containment**?

* Long Telegram (1946) and NSC-68 (1950)
* The Soviet Union is defined as an inherently expansionist power whose ambitions need to be checked
* by nuclear deterrence
* by a network of regional alliances (NATO, SEATO, CENTO)

What is meant with the **Domino Theory** (\~1950-1980)

* Communism spreads like a regional contagion
* Applied to Southeast Asia (China, Korea, and Vietnam)
* Justification for the US intervention in Vietnam

Possible questions for the future of geopolitics

* Is geopolitics (focusing mostly on nation state actors) still an adequate explanatory approach? How does it relate to globalization?
* How will the newcomers to the club of great powers (e.g. the BRIC states ) relate to each
* What are the new Great Games and the new spheres of interest (e.g. South China Sea, Central Asia, the Arctics
* How will the growing world population and the competition for resources like water, strategic metals and fossil fuels affect international relations?