Table Of ContentGLOBAL GEOSTRATEGY
One hundred years ago Mackinder was more than a century ahead of his
time, which is why we are still talking and writing about what he said
before London’s Royal Geographical Society that snowy winter night in
1904 when he read his paper, ‘The Geographical Pivot of History’. His
geographical assessments of means and motivations in the geostrategic
competition for world domination yielded a debate that continues to this
day. This appropriately timed volume assesses Mackinder’s forecasts in
the light of present-day geopolitics and proves that they have lost none
of their relevance.
H.J. de Blij
Probably no other geographer has had the same impact as that achieved
by Halford Mackinder. For over a hundred years his originality of thought
and immense energy have been fundamental in determining the nature of
the discipline and in influencing those outside it. Mackinder’s ‘Pivot’
paper remains essential reading.
Andrew Goudie
This book examines Mackinder’s global geostrategic view, from the perspective
of geography, diplomatic history, political science, international relations, imperial
history and the space age.
Brian W. Blouet teaches at the College of William and Mary, Virginia. He is the
author of a biography of Mackinder and other books, including Geopolitics and
Globalization (2001).
GEOPOLITICAL THEORY SERIES
General Editors: Geoffrey Sloan and Mackubbin Owens
GLOBAL GEOSTRATEGY
Mackinder and the defence of the West
Brian W. Blouet (ed.)
THE GEOPOLITICS OF GREAT POWER POLITICS
IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
The return of multipolarity
Dale Walton
GEOPOLITICS, STRATEGY AND THE TRANSFORMATION
OF CIVILISATIONS
Leonard Hochberg
GLOBAL GEOSTRATEGY
Mackinder and the defence of the West
Edited by
Brian W. Blouet
FRANK CASS
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 2005
by Frank Cass, an imprint of Taylor & Francis
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Frank Cass
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Frank Cass is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
Transferred to Digital Printing 2005
Selection and editorial matter © 2005 Brian W. Blouet;
individual chapters: the contributors
Typeset in Times by
HWA Text and Data Management, Tunbridge Wells
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
The publisher makes no reprsentation, express or implied, with regard to
the accuracry of the information cntained in this book and cannot accept
any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions that may
be made.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Blouet, Brian W., 1936–
Global geostrategy : Mackinder and the defence of the West /
Brian W. Blouet.
p. cm.
“Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routlegde.”
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Geopolitics. 2. Geopolitics–Europe. 3. World politics–20th century.
4. Mackinder, Halford John, Sir, 1861–1947. I. Title
JC319. B585 2005
327. 1’01–dc22
ISBN 0–7146–5700–X (hardback)
ISBN 0–7146–8575–5 (paperback)
CONTENTS
CONTENTS
List of figures vii
List of contributors ix
Preface xi
1 Halford Mackinder and the Pivotal Heartland 1
BRIAN W. BLOUET
2 In defence of the Heartland: Sir Halford Mackinder and his
critics a hundred years on 17
COLIN S. GRAY
3 The Pivot and imperial defence policy 36
ROBIN A. BUTLIN
4 The diplomatic context: Britain and international relations
in 1904 55
PASCAL VENIER
5 The Heartland in Russian history 64
PAUL COONES
6 Halford Mackinder, the ‘Geographical Pivot’, and British
perceptions of Central Asia 90
SARAH O’HARA, MICHAEL HEFFERNAN AND GEORGINA ENDFIELD
7 Trading states, territorial states, and technology: Mackinder’s
contribution to the discourse on states and polities 107
PETER J. HUGILL
8 Ireland in Britain and the British Seas 125
GEOFFREY R. SLOAN
v
CONTENTS
9 Halford Mackinder and the geographical pivot of history:
A brief assessment 137
KLAUS DODDS
10 The geographical pivot of outer space 142
EVERETT CARL DOLMAN
11 The Heartland – then and now 165
DAVID HOOSON
Select bibliography 173
Index 176
vi
LIST OF FIGURES
FIGURES
Sir Halford Mackinder xii
1.1 Internal and Arctic drainage in the geographical pivot of history 2
1.2 The natural seats of power 2
6.1 Cartoon: ‘Russia advancing upon Afghanistan, England retiring
from it’ 91
8.1 The linguistic frontier between the Teutonic and Romance
peoples 128
8.2 Mackinder’s divisions of Atlantic Britain 130
10.1 Mackinder’s world view 145
10.2 Earth–moon space 145
10.3 Sun–Jovian space showing asteroid belt distribution 151
10.4 Near-Earth space showing radiation and magnetic belts 151
10.5 Earth–moon (cislunar) space showing gravitational terrain 152
10.6 Hohmann transfer orbit 153
10.7 Typical near-Earth orbits 155
10.8 Sun–Earth space libration points 157
10.9 Near solar space 157
10.10 Solar system 159
vii
LIST OF FIGURES
viii
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
Brian W. Blouet is the Huby Professor of Geography and International Education
at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. He is the author of Halford
Mackinder: A Biography (Texas A&M University Press 1987 (still in print)),
Geopolitics and Globalization (Reaktion Books, 2001), and the entry on Sir
Halford Mackinder in the New Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford
University Press, 2004).
Robin A. Butlin, is Emeritus Professor of Geography at the University of Leeds.
His recent publications include: Historical Atlas of North Yorkshire (Westbury
Press, Otley, 2003) and ‘British geographical representations of imperialism and
colonial development in the early and mid-twentieth century, in D. Gilbert et al.
Geographies of British Modernity (Blackwell, 2003). Professor Butlin was
awarded the OBE for services to geography in the 2004 New Year Honour’s List.
Paul Coones is Lecturer in Geography and Fellow of Hertford College, University
of Oxford. His research interests include geopolitics, historical geography,
landscape studies and geographical thought in Britain and Russia; amongst his
publications in the field of Mackinder studies are Mackinder’s ‘Scope and
Methods of Geography’ After a Hundred Years (Oxford, 1987) and ‘The
centenary of the Mackinder Readership at Oxford’, Geographical Journal, 155
(1989), 13–23.
Klaus Dodds is Reader in Geography, and Dean of the Graduate School at Royal
Holloway, University of London. Publications include Pink Ice: Britain and
the South Atlantic Empire (I.B. Tauris, 2003). He is co-editor, with David
Atkinson, of Geopolitical Traditions (Routledge, 2000) and edited, with James
Sidaway, an issue of Geographical Journal (December 2004) on ‘Halford
Mackinder and the Geographical Pivot of History.
Everett Carl Dolman is Associate Professor of Comparative Military Studies at
the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, Air University, Maxwell AFB,
Alabama. His publications include Astropolitik: Classical Geopolitics in
the Space Age (Frank Cass, 2002) and The Warrior State: How Military
Organization Structures Politics (Palgrave Macmillan, 2004).
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