DEMOCRACY AND SECURITY in Southeastern Europe, No 1

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Ke arns thi nks that Ma cki nde r’s ge opo li ti cal idea ma de
a pe rma ne nt ma rk on inte rna ti onal affa irs, altho ugh
his ide as on pro te cti oni st and bi olo gi cal impe ri ali sm,
pre ve nti on of and alli ance be twe en Ru ssia and Ge rma -
ny, and the idea of a tra de war to pre se rve the impe -
ri al po si ti on of Gre at Bri ta in did not si gni fi ca ntly
influ ence the fo re ign po li cy do ctri ne of the UK. (O’Ta -
utha il, Da lby, Ro utle dge, 2007)
Sti ll, acco rdi ng to the co nfe ssi on of Ka rl Ha usho fer, au -
thor of Ge rman ge opo li ti cs, Ma cki nde r’s ge opo li ti cal
po stu la tes had a si gni fi ca nt impa ct on the de ve lo pme -
nt of key pri nci ples of Ge rman Na zi ge opo li ti cs, pri -
ma ri ly, the pri nci ple of adva nta ge of gro und fo rces in
re la ti on to na val fo rces (p. 16). Also, acco rdi ng to Ke -
arns, in the pe ri od after the Se co nd Wo rld War, when
ge opo li ti cs be ca me ta boo and di scre di ted as a pse udo -
sci ence, the ide as of Ha lfo rd Ma cki nder co nti nu ed to
sha pe the fo re ign po li cy of the gre at po we rs, and espe -
ci ally of the Uni ted Sta tes.
The cre ato rs of US inte rna ti onal po li cy in the pe ri od of
Co ld War, Ge orge Ke nnan, Co lin Gray and othe rs, de -
ve lo ped a stra te gy of co nta inme nt of the So vi et Uni on on
the po stu la tes of Ni cho las Spykman ba sed on Ma cki nde -
r’s te achi ng, and the Bri ti sh impe ri ali st was pro cla imed
“the gre ate st the ore ti ci an of ge opo li ti cs“ ( pp.24 – 25).
Ne ither did the end of the Co ld War epoch pre ve nt
the spi rit of Ma cki nde ri sm to pe rsi st wi thin di sco urse
fo rma ti ons of the new wo rld order pro mo ted by co -
nse rva ti ve ge opo li ti cal ci rcles. Ke arns thi nks that the
Ma cki nde r’s ge opo li ti cal di sco urse is a fo rma ti onal di -
sco urse of US ge opo li ti cs of the 21 st ce ntu ry, as we ll as
of Ru ssi an na ti ona li stic ge opo li ti cs wi th co nti ne ntal ambi
ti ons (p. 16).
The ide as co nne cti ng Ma cki nder and re ce nt co nsi de ra -
ti ons of ge opo li ti cs wi thin the co nse rva ti ve inte lle ctu al
eli te of the Uni ted Sta tes are fo und by Ke arns in the
wo rks of Zbi gni ew Brze zi nski, Tho mas Fri edma nn, Be -
rna rd Le wis, Sa mu el Hu nti ngton, Fra ncis Fu ku ya ma,
Ro be rt Ka gan, Phi lip Bo bbi tt, Tho mas Ba rne tt, Ri cha -
rd Ka plan, Jo hn Me arshe imer and othe rs. Acco rdi ng to
the au tho r’s opi ni on, they inte rpret and co nstru ct re -
ali ty in ca te go ri es of pe rma ne nt co nfli ct be twe en the
We st and the othe rs, the da nger of a clo sed wo rld, the
ne ed for incre asi ng po wer as a pri ma ry ta sk of inte rna -
ti onal affa irs su bje cts, as we ll as the he ge mo nic be ne -
vo le nce of the USA which sho uld ju sti fy a “New Gre at
Ga me” sha ped in the fo rm of a “glo bal war on te rro -
ri sm” as a “new ro und of co lo ni al impe ri ali sm thro ugh
which the Uni ted Sta tes are tryi ng to ensu re access to
che ap oil for the ne xt few de ca des“ (p. 256)
As an alte rna ti ve to such co nse rva ti ve co nsi de ra ti on of
ge opo li ti cs in te rms of fo rce and po wer, Ke arns offe rs
pro gre ssi ve ge opo li ti cs which re je ct co erci on as a “na -
tu ral” way of spre adi ng ca pi ta li sm. This fo rm of ge opo -
li ti cs, in the au tho r’s opi ni on, re co gni zes “... that the
mo st effe cti ve wa ys of so lvi ng glo bal pro ble ms wi tho ut
usi ng fo rce lie wi thin mu lti la te ral insti tu ti ons ...“(p.266),
be ca use “... le ga li ty and ne go ti ati on (...) are ava ila ble in
mo re ca ses than often ackno wle dged“ (p. 280). Ke arns
thi nks that pro gre ssi ve ge opo li ti cs sho uld offer an alte -
rna ti ve to adva nci ng “sho ck do ctri nes” of ne oli be ral,
eco no mic and co lo ni al impe ri ali sm co nsi de ri ng “occu -
pa ti on as accu mu la ti on of ca pi tal” (pp. 285 – 288). The
so lu ti on is, the au thor co nclu des, that in glo bal po li ti -
cal sta te re la ti ons, also non-sta te acto rs ta ke re spo nsi -
bi li ty and arti cu la te the va lue of no nvi ole nce as a
fra me wo rk for cre ati ng be tter wo rld. (p. 295).
Ke arns’ bo ok „Ge opo li ti cs and Empi re. The Le ga cy of
Ha lfo rd Ma cki nder“, acco rdi ng to its me tho do lo gi cal
stru ctu re, be lo ngs to the do ma in of so-ca lled cri ti cal
ge opo li ti cal li te ra tu re which, by usi ng its di sco urse appro
ach, re co nsi de rs and de co nstru cts co nse rva ti ve ge -
opo li ti cal ide as. In this co nte xt, thro ugh
de co nstru cti ng the Eu ra si an stra te gy of Ha lfo rd Ma -
cki nder and by re mo vi ng the la ye rs from his impe ri al
ge opo li ti cs, the au thor sho ws wi th bri lli ant si mpli ci ty
that the pra cti ce of impe ri ali sm sti ll exi sts in the ge -
ostra te gic age ndas of gre at po we rs. Re adi ng of this
bo ok wi th the su bco nsci ous qu esti on ’is it sma rt to be
ge opo li ti ca l’ wi ll de fi ni te ly le ad you to acce pt the answer
of Kla us Do dds that it is ’not only sma rt, but it is
also impo rta nt to be ge opo li ti cal.’ n