ContemporaryGeopolitics

1. Contemporary geopolitics
Imperialist
geopolitics
Cold war
geopolitics
Contemporary
geopolitics
Moment of
unipolarity

2.  Contemporary geopolitics closer to classical geopolitics
Cold War geopolitics Contemporary geopolitics
International competition bipolar Multipolar (?)
Logic of Competition Centered on one clear
topic – ideological
competition between two
superpowers
Not centered on one clear topic
– competition is determined by
a variety of factors
Centers of power and
competition
• Two superpowers
• Competition in the
whole world (the
worldwide balance of
power)
• Last superpower, rising
powers, revisionist states
• Global geopolitics +
regional geopolitical issues

3. Evolution of geopolitics
Imperialist
geopolitics
Cold war
geopolitics
Contemporary
geopolitics
Traditional
geopolitics
Classical
geopolitics
Classical
geopolitics
Moment of
unipolarity

4. What is contemporary geopolitics?
No universally accepted definition
 The environment within which, and in response to which, the state must
act
 An objective reality, independent of state wishes and interests, that is
determined by routes and centers of resources
All definitions focus on the relationship between politics and geographical
factors

5.  Geography – the physical reality; describes the geological features of the earth
 Geopolitics – the human factor within geography; distribution of centers of
resources and lines of communication, possessing a strategic importance (not
constant)
 Geostrategy – the geographic direction of a state’s foreign policy: where a state
concentrates its efforts by projecting military power and directing diplomatic
activity

6. What is contemporary geopolitics?
 A scientific approach that provides instruments (theories) to study
international relations and recommendations for policy-makers
 Deals with distribution of power, security and strength of states
 In contrast to realism, focuses on geographic characteristics of states and
their power
 Studies redistribution of power, rise of new sources and centers of power,
and how they change the geopolitical picture of the world

7. Geopolitics and Hard Power
 The legacy of Cold War geopolitics
 Balance of power
 Idea of balancing a potential threat
 Security of resource supplies and trade routes
 Main sources of power
 Military security of the state, its territory and borders
 Alliances
 Ability to project power in certain places

9.  What is the source of power in contemporary geopolitics?
 Many scholars believe that in contemporary geopolitics, competition between
states has moved to the economic sphere
 Strong economy is needed
 To ensure technological progress
 To ensure domestic stability
 To attract allies or to pay in different form to the other states for their assistance and/or
international support

10.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9l2yCH5wBk

11. Evolution of geopolitics
Imperialist
geopolitics
Cold war
geopolitics
Contemporary geopolitics
…. and geoeconomics
Traditional
geopolitics
Classical
geopolitics
Classical
geopolitics
Moment of
unipolarity

12. Geopolitics in the economic sphere
 “For some decades now the dominant elites of the
greatest powers have ceased to consider war as a
practical solution for military confrontations
between them, because non-nuclear fighting
would only be inconclusively be interrupted by the
fear of nuclear war, while the latter is self-
inhibiting”
 “The logic of conflict in the grammar of
commerce”
 Competition moves to the economic sphere
Edward Luttwak
(born 1942)
American political
scientist

13. On geoeconomics
 Edward Luttwak
 States remain territorial entities, spatially defined
 They seek to maximize outcomes within their boundaries, restrict advantages to their own residents
and aim for domestically optimal decisions
 “in the geo-economic arena… the instruments of conflict must be economic”
 Geo-economics = geopolitics by economic means
 "Just as in war the artillery conquers territory by fire, which the infantry can then occupy, the aim here
is to conquer industries of the future by achieving technological superiority."
 Samuel Huntington
 “In a world in which military conflict between major states is unlikely, economic power will be
increasingly important”
 Although major powers have common interests in promoting trade, they would clash over benefits
from increasing trade

14. Geo-economic aspects of international
competition
 Is it the same as geopolitics?
 States, even economically successful, do not necessarily struggle for power and act
geopolitically
 State remains the main actor in international relations but goals are also achieved
indirectly (through commercial companies)
 With new actors, policy of a state becomes more limited as it has to find
compromises between its geopolitical goals and commercial interests of private
companies
 Geo-economic influence may work in both directions (creating interdependence
between states)

15. Contemporary issues in geopolitics
 War by Other Means (2016)
 Geo-economics is the use of economic
instruments to promote and defend national
interests, and to produce beneficial
geopolitical results; and the effects of other
nations’ economic actions on a country’s
geopolitical goals

16. Economic security and resources
 Resources are limited and finite
 A state’s economy depends on resources – they are the main tool to produce
power and weapons
 Access to extraction of resources and market is needed
 Geo-economics of inclusion: International trade and development of economic
relations with other states
 Geo-economics of exclusion: sanctions and embargoes