Economic and Political Geography

Friedrich Ratzel

German geographer who developed the Organic State theory—viewing the state as a living organism needing space (Raum) and Lebensraum to grow. His ideas laid the groundwork for political geography but were later misused by Nazi ideology.

Organic State Theory

Theory by Ratzel that compares the state to a biological organism that needs land and resources to grow and survive. Expansion is natural, and borders are temporary.

Ratzel’s 7 Laws of Spatial Growth

A set of principles explaining how states expand based on culture, economy, annexation, boundary fluidity, external stimuli, and spreading expansion.

Rudolf Kjellén

Swedish political scientist who coined the term ‘geopolitics’. He developed a holistic view of the state as a biological, economic, social, and geographic organism.

Five Pillars of the State (Kjellén)

Geopolitics, Demopolitics, Ecopolitics, Sociopolitics, Cratopolitics—representing territory, population, economy, culture, and power structure.

Panregion Theory

Kjellén’s idea that the world should be divided into large regions led by dominant powers (e.g., U.S. for the Americas, Germany for Europe-Africa, Japan for East Asia).

Alfred Thayer Mahan

U.S. naval officer who argued that sea power was crucial to global influence. His theory emphasized naval dominance, merchant fleets, and overseas bases.

Sea Power Theory

Mahan’s theory that nations achieve greatness through control of sea routes, strong navies, and maritime trade.

Sir Halford Mackinder

British geographer who formulated the Heartland Theory, stating that whoever controls Eastern Europe and Central Asia (the Heartland) controls the world.

Heartland Theory

Mackinder’s theory that land power is dominant; the Heartland (Eurasia) is the geopolitical pivot of history and key to world dominance.

Nicholas Spykman

U.S. strategist who developed the Rimland Theory as a response to Mackinder, emphasizing the importance of coastal regions around Eurasia for controlling global power.

Rimland Theory

Suggests that controlling Eurasia’s coastal edges (Rimland) gives more global influence than the Heartland itself.

Isaiah Bowman

American geographer who advocated peaceful, functional uses of geography. Advised on post-WWI border decisions and opposed imperialism.

Karl Haushofer

German geopolitician who expanded on Ratzel’s ideas and popularized geopolitics in Nazi Germany. Supported Lebensraum and Panregions but was later discredited.

George Renner

Introduced the role of airspace and air power into geopolitical theory, emphasizing the strategic importance of aviation.

Alexander de Seversky

Promoted long-range air power as the key to future geopolitics, emphasizing aviation, missile systems, and space-based capabilities.

Henry Kissinger

U.S. diplomat and scholar known for Realpolitik—pragmatic, power-centered foreign policy focused on national interest and balance of power.

Zbigniew Brzeziński

U.S. national security advisor who promoted U.S. dominance in Eurasia via “pillar states”; author of The Grand Chessboard.

Saul Cohen

Human geographer who proposed micro, meso, and macro scales in geopolitics and critiqued Cold War bipolarity. Focused on fluid regional interactions.

Immanuel Wallerstein

Creator of World-Systems Theory. Argued global capitalism divides the world into core, semi-periphery, and periphery zones.

World-Systems Theory

Wallerstein’s theory that the global economy is an unequal system in which core states exploit peripheral ones.

Edward Said

Introduced postcolonial theory and “Orientalism,” showing how Western discourse framed the East as exotic and inferior to justify colonialism.

Critical Geopolitics

A school of thought that deconstructs dominant geopolitical narratives to expose hidden power agendas and challenge state-centered views.

Feminist Geopolitics

Emphasizes the role of gender, daily life, and marginalized voices in political geography. Rejects top-down, state-only perspectives.

Meta-Geopolitics

Nayef Al-Rodhan’s framework combining classical, critical, and seven functional dimensions (e.g., health, diplomacy, military) for comprehensive state power analysis.

Outer Space Geopolitics

The emerging study of power struggles and cooperation beyond Earth. Focuses on space militarization, resource claims, and technological influence.

Enclave

A territory entirely surrounded by another state. Example: Lesotho (within South Africa); Vatican City (within Rome, Italy).

Exclave

A part of a state separated from its main territory and surrounded by foreign land. Examples: Kaliningrad (Russia); Alaska (USA); Llívia (Spain in France).

Semi-Enclave

A territory mostly surrounded by another but with access to the sea. Example: The Gambia (in Senegal).

Semi-Exclave

A territory cut off from the main state but connected by sea. Example: Alaska (USA), which borders Canada but has sea access.

Internet Infrastructure

Though virtual in use, the internet is physically grounded in data centers, undersea cables, and satellites—all of which are geographically located and politically controlled.

Data Centers

Physical facilities that store, manage, and distribute internet data—often considered critical infrastructure.

Undersea Cables

Fiber-optic cables laid on ocean floors that carry nearly all global internet traffic; vulnerable to surveillance and sabotage.

Internet Satellites

A growing but still secondary system of internet delivery placed in Earth's orbits; adds redundancy but faces congestion.

State

A political-legal entity with defined territory, population, government, and sovereignty—recognized by others under international law.

Nation

A group of people with shared culture, identity, language, or history—may or may not have a state.

Country

Often used interchangeably with ‘state’, but can also mean a cultural or geographic area without full political sovereignty (e.g., Scotland).

Elements of a State

According to the Montevideo Convention: 1) Permanent population, 2) Defined territory, 3) Government, 4) Capacity for international relations.

Sovereignty

The absolute authority of a state to govern itself, both internally (within its territory) and externally (free from foreign control).

Recognition

The act of being acknowledged as a legitimate state by other states—can be de jure (legal) or de facto (practical).

Territory

A delimited geographic space under a state's jurisdiction, including land, airspace, and maritime zones.

Border

The spatial limit of a state's sovereignty—defines where its legal, political, and economic authority ends.

Geometric Border

A straight-line border defined by latitude/longitude, often from colonial agreements (e.g., USA–Canada 49th parallel).

Natural Border

A boundary based on physical features like rivers or mountains (e.g., Rio Grande, Andes).

Cultural Border

A division based on language, ethnicity, or religion (e.g., India–Pakistan).

Political (Artificial) Border

A boundary drawn by treaty or political decision, often regardless of culture or geography.

Relic Border

A border that no longer functions but remains visible in the landscape (e.g., Berlin Wall).

Maritime Border

Ocean boundaries governed by UNCLOS, defining rights in zones like EEZ, Territorial Sea, and High Seas.

Airspace Border

The vertical limit of a state's sovereignty, defined and managed through Flight Information Regions (FIRs).

Imposed Border

A boundary established through external pressure or colonial rule (e.g., DMZ Korea).

Functional Border

A living institution that regulates movement, trade, identity, and defense.

Importance of Borders

Borders define sovereignty, control trade and migration, establish identity, and serve as geopolitical flashpoints or cooperation zones.

Border as a Centripetal Force

A unifying element that creates a shared identity and reinforces internal stability.

Border as a Discursive Battlefield

A space where symbols, narratives, and ideologies compete over legitimacy and meaning (e.g., US–Mexico wall).

Stable Border

Often based on natural features, culturally aligned, and politically respected.

Unstable Border

Ethnically divided, economically neglected, or contested (e.g., Kashmir).

Delimitation

The process of drawing a border on a map during negotiations.

Demarcation

The act of marking a border physically on the land with signs, fences, or barriers.

Cession

The transfer of land from one state to another by agreement (e.g., Alaska from Russia to USA).

Secession

When a region tries to separate from a state to form its own (e.g., Kosovo).

Independence Referendum

A public vote to decide whether a territory should become an independent state.

Compression Zone

A region squeezed between powerful states, often unstable (e.g., Central Asia).

Shatterbelt

A geopolitically fragmented region under external influence and conflict (e.g., the Balkans).

Gateway

A zone of exchange and geopolitical friction (e.g., Suez Canal, Panama).

Convergence Zone

A region where political control overlaps or is unclear (e.g., South China Sea).

Political Geography

A subfield of geography that studies how political processes and structures affect spatial organization and boundaries.

Economic Geography

The study of how economic activities are distributed in space and how location influences trade, industry, and development.

Globalization

The increasing interconnectedness of people, economies, and states through trade, technology, migration, and communication.

Geoeconomics

The strategic use of economic tools (like sanctions, trade policy, and investment) to gain geopolitical influence.

The Map Is Not the Territory

A concept that reminds us maps are representations, not reality, and can distort or manipulate information.

Electoral Geography

The study of how geography influences voting patterns, representation, and the design of electoral districts.

Spatial Turn

A shift in geography that places space and spatial relationships at the center of understanding society and politics.

Cultural Turn

An academic movement that emphasizes meaning, identity, and representation in geographic studies.

Critical Turn

A shift toward questioning power, ideology, and Western dominance in geographic knowledge.

Power Geometry (Massey)

A concept that highlights how different people and places have unequal access to flows of power, capital, and mobility.

Imagined Communities

Benedict Anderson’s idea that nations are socially constructed through shared symbols, stories, and maps.

Twenty-First Century Geography

The study of how modern global processes—like migration, climate, and cyber conflict—affect spatial and political organization.

Core

Wealthy, developed countries with strong institutions, innovation, and global influence. (e.g., USA, Germany)

Semi-Periphery

Countries that are industrializing and act as a buffer between core and periphery. (e.g., Brazil, India)

Periphery

Less developed countries often dependent on core nations. (e.g., Sudan, Haiti)

Exclusion Zone

Countries or regions disconnected from global systems, like North Korea.

First World

Cold War term for capitalist, industrialized countries aligned with the USA.

Second World

Cold War term for socialist states aligned with the Soviet Union.

Third World

Originally non-aligned countries; now often used for developing nations.

Fourth World

Marginalized, stateless, or excluded communities (e.g., indigenous groups).

Brandt Line

A visual division separating the Global North and Global South based on wealth and development.

Global North

Economically developed, politically stable countries, mostly in the northern hemisphere.

Global South

Developing, less industrialized countries, mostly in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

Scale

The level of analysis in geography: body, local, regional, national, global.

Regional Scale

Focus on subnational areas with cultural or ethnic identity (e.g., Basque Country).

Macroregional Scale

Larger areas often composed of multiple states (e.g., Latin America).

Formal Region

A clearly defined area with a shared political or legal identity (e.g., EU).

Functional Region

An area organized around economic or political functions (e.g., trade zone).

Multilateral Organization

A group of states that cooperate based on shared goals rather than geography (e.g., UN, OECD, BRICS).

Postcolonialism

A field that critiques the lasting effects of colonialism on global power structures and geography.

Development Lens

A perspective that views non-Western societies as needing modernization, often used to justify interventions.

Terra Nullius

“No man’s land” – unclaimed or legally uninhabited territory. (e.g., Bir Tawil)

Disputed Territory

A region claimed by two or more states (e.g., Kashmir, Western Sahara).

Internal Waters

Waters inside the baseline of a coastal state; full sovereignty.

Territorial Sea

Extends 12 nautical miles from the coast; state has sovereignty with right of innocent passage.