This document discusses the geopolitics of Myanmar. It begins by defining key geopolitical concepts and theories, such as how geopolitics examines the relationship between geography, politics, and international relations. It then discusses important geopolitical theorists like Halford Mackinder and their theories. Specifically, it outlines Mackinder's Heartland Theory. Next, it analyzes factors that influence a state's power, like size, location, natural resources, and population. It concludes by discussing Myanmar's strategic importance due to its location between China and India and control of key ocean chokepoints.

1. Presented by
Aung Ko Ko Toe
Knowledge Propagation Society
Geopolitics of Myanmar

2. GEOPOLITICS OF MYANMAR
Geopolitics
Strategic
important of
Myanmar
 Concept * Theory

3. Geopolitics
The interplay geography, power, politics & international relation.

4. Geopolitics
Strategic Aspect of Geopolitics
• International Relation Aspect
• Political Aspect
• Economic Aspect
• Military Aspect

5. • Geopolitics
 Branch of Political Geography
• Political geography
 Political geography is a sub discipline of
human geography
 has an evolving relationship with the other
sub disciplines, especially cultural, urban, and
environmental geography.

6. (Difference Factors)
Geopolitics & Political Geography
Difference Factors
Geopolitics Political
Geography
Base on Geography Politics
Focus on Politics Geographical factor
Form Theory Technique
Field Art Science
Subject Political Subject Geography Subject
Space Macro, Broadly Micro, Detail

7. Origin of Geopolitics
Word
 The terms “geopolitics”
was fist coined by
Rudolf Kjellen, a
Swedish political
scientist, in 1899.
 However, it only came
into widespread use in
the 1930.

8. What is Geopolitics?
 Geopolitics is relation between politics and
territory
 geopolitics is the practice of states controlling
and competing for territory.
 2C (control & compete) for territory
 geopolitics links between political power and
geographic space and examines strategic
prescriptions based on the relative importance of
land power and sea power in world history.

9. Meaning of Geopolitics
 Geopolitics is the study of the effect of geographical
factors in politics, national power, foreign policy
etc.
 It also refers to the combination of geographical and
political factors affecting a country or area.
 (Geopolitics = Geographical factors + Political
Factors)
 It may also be used to refer to a policy based on the
interrelation of politics and geography.

10. Geopolitics
(core of meaning)
Studying to decision making a policy for National Power
in international stage to use geographical factors as
related with politics
Geographical factors are studying ingredient of earth that
include the conditions of land and sea.
- location or position
- size
- population (Demography)
- natural resources
- topography
- climate

11. Geopolitics
 Geopolitics is a branch of political geography
 that deals with the strategic aspects of states.
 have implications for military defense, national
security, the protection of national interests, and any
other situation
 that may have an impact on the sovereignty of the
state.
 Important role for decision making on Foreign Policy

12. Three types of Power
Based on Military Armed Force Power
• Land Power
• Sea Power
• Air Power

13. Relation b/t State Power and Geopolitics
• Size
• Location
• Climate
• Topography
• Natural Resources and
Availability of Raw
Materials
• Population
• Human Resources
• Economic Development
• Military Preparedness
• National Character and
National Morale
• Political Structure and
Leadership
• Ideology
• Technology
Development

14. Practical Geopolitics
 State Power related with various factor
 The power based on geography
 Foreign Policy implemented to National power in
international relation field
 Include national interest and security at national
power of states
 Thus, Geopolitics focus on interest and security
 Every geographical factors support national
interest, security and defense

15. • Size
 Small
 Middle
 Wide
»Position
 Open
 Close
 Islands

16. • Shape of States
1. Prorupted Shape
2. Fragmented Shape
3. Perforated Shape
4. Compacted Shape
5. Elongated Shape

17. State Power
 There important Natural sources of
Power are
1. geographical size and position
2. natural resources
3. population

18.  Geographical size and location are the
natural sources of power recognized
first by international relation theorists.
 A large geographic expanse gives a state
automatic power.
 For Example,
• 1. Russia 5. India
2. China 6. Canada
3. USA 7. Brazil
4. Australia

19. Long Borders
 May be weakness
 Must be defended
 An expensive
 Often problem task

20. Natural Resources
- 2nd Source of Natural Power
 Controlling a large geographic expanse is not a
positive ingredient of power unless that expanse
contains natural resources.
 Petroleum-exporting states -
Kuwait, Qatar, UAE
which are geographically small.

21.  States need oil and are ready to pay dearly for it,
and will even go to war when access to it is
denied.
 Since 2006, Russia has used that power
potential, cutting off natural gas supplies to
Ukraine and hence slowing supplies to Europe,
which gets one-quarter of its gas through
Ukraine.
 The absence of natural resources does not mean
that a state has no power potential .
 However, Japan is not rich in natural resources,
but it has parlayed other elements of power so as
to make itself an economic powerhouse.

22. Population
3rd natural source of power
• - China (1.3 Billion)
• - India (1.2 Billion)
• - USA (307 million)
 Automatically give power potential and often great power.
 States with small, highly educated, skilled populations can
fill large Economic Power.
 Such as
- Switzerland
- Norway
- Austria and Singapore.
 States with large but relative poor population, such as
Ethiopia (with 79 million people but GNP of only $800 per
capital), can exercise less power.

23.  Samuel Huntington – Clash of Civilization
 Friedrich Ratzal – Political Geography
 Alfred Thayar Mahan - Sea Power Nation
 Sir Halford Mackinder – Heartland Theory
 Nicholas Spyman – Rimland Theory
The Most Famous Geopolitics Theorist

24. Map of Geopolitics Theory

26. Samuel Huntington – Clash of Civilization

27. Year Theorist Theory Citizen Born date
1890 Alfred Thayer
Mahan
Sea Power
Nation
USA , United
States Navy flag
officer
(September 27,
1840 – December
1, 1914)
1897 Friedich
Ratzal
Political
Geography
- Living Space
German
geographer
(August 30,
1844, – August
9, 1904)
1899 Rudolf
Kjellen
Start
“geopolitics”
Sweden, political
scientist
13 June 1864, –
14 November
1922
1904 Halford
Mackinder
The
Geographical
Pivot of History
UK (15 February
1861 – 6 March
1947)
1942 in late Nicholas John
Spyman
Rimland Dutch-American
geostrategist
(1893–1943)
History of Geopolitical Theory and Theorists

28. .
• Heartland Theory
 Who rules Eastern
Europe commands the
Heartland of Eurasia.
 Who rules the
Heartland commands
the World Island of
Europe, Asia and Africa.
 Who rules the World
Island commands the
World.

29. World Island or Core = Heartland = Eurasia + Africa
Periphery = Americas, the British & Oceania
Heartland (Pivot Area) – Central Europe, Ukraine, Western Russian

31.  Nicholas John Spyman
(1893–1943) was a Dutch-
American geo-strategist.
• Rimland Theory
 Who controls the rimland
rules Eurasia;
 Who rules Eurasia
controls the destinies of
the world.

33. Sea Power Nation
 Alfred Thayer Mahan
who has been called
"the most important
American strategist of
the nineteenth century.“
 His ideas still permeate
the U.S. Navy Doctrine.

34. Sea Power Nation
 His concept of
 "sea power" was based on
the idea that countries with
greater naval power will
have greater worldwide
impact;
 it was most famously
presented in The Influence
of Sea Power Upon History,
1660–1783 (1890).

36. Mahan (Sea Power Nation)
He proposed six conditions required for a nation to have sea
power:
1. Advantageous geographical position;
2. Serviceable coastlines, abundant natural resources, and
favorable climate;
3. Extent of territory
4. Population large enough to defend its territory;
5. Society with an aptitude for the sea and commercial
enterprise; and
6. Government with the influence and inclination to dominate
the sea.

37. Mahan
concentration of naval forces
 Naval power was the key to national power.
 A state that controlled the high seas (as a Britain did at the
time) could dominate international relations.
 The ability to achieve such control, however, was dependent
on
- A large well-armed navy
- Long coastlines
- Adequate port facilities
- capital ships
- well manned with crews thoroughly trained
- operating under the principle that the best defense
is an aggressive offense.

38. isolation policy
 (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) a policy
of nonparticipation in or withdrawal from
international affairs
 US foreign policy before WW II was
“isolation policies”

39.  Russia’s lack of easy access to the sea and its resultant
inability to wield naval power have been viewed as persistent
weaknesses in that country’s power potential.

41.  Living Space
 Analysis on the
importance of
mobility and the
move from sea to rail
transport.
 But he failed to
predict the
revolutionary impact
of air power.
Friedrich Ratzal’s Political Geography

42. Summary
• Differences b/t Geopolitics & Political Geography
• Six Factors of Geographical
• Natural Sources of State Power
• Four Concepts of Geopolitics Theorists

43. Strategic important of Myanmar
• Geostrategic Position
• String of Pearl's Strategy
• Dewei Deep Sea Port
• Sino-Burmese Pipeline
• Blockades Strategy to
China

44. Myanmar China India Bangladesh
Area (sq.km) total: 678,500 s
land: 657,740
water: 20,760
9,561,000 3,287,263 148,393
Population 52.8 Million 1351 Million 1237 Million 154.7 Million
Religion Buddhism Buddhism,
Taoism
Hindu,80.5% Islam, 83%
Government
Types
Communist
State
Federal
Republic
Parliamentary
Democracy
Myanmar’s Geostrategic Position
• Largest independent state in mainland Southeast Asia
• Land boundary touches five different countries

45. Land
boundaries:
total: 5,876 km
border countries:
• China 2,185 km,
• Thailand 1,800 km
• India 1,463 km,
• Laos 235 km,
• Bangladesh 193 km
Coastline: 1,930 km
Population: 42,909,464 (2005 est.)
Age
structure:
0-14 years: 27.2% (male 5,967,487/female 5,717,795)
15-64 years: 67.8% (male 14,448,887/female 14,641,419)
65 years and over: 5% (male 939,092/female 1,194,784)
(2005 est.)

46. Control of Key Oceanic Choke Points
 The Straits of Malacca
 Gibraltar
 Hormuz
 Dardanelles
 The Persian Gulf
 Suez
 Panama Canals
• - is viewed as a positive indicator of Power
potential.

47. Key Choke Point Maps

49. String of Pearl’s Strategy

50. String of Pearl’s Strategy
• To reduce the strategic vulnerabilities that could be imposed by
India and the United States, China pursue a number of options to
mitigate the dependency of oil and try to diversify its sources of
energy imports via new transit routes.
• Among them, the String of Pearls is one of the well-known
emerging maritime strategy.
• The 'String of Pearls' strategy is designed to protect its energy
security, negate the influences of U.S and India in the region and
project power in the Indian Ocean.

51. • The strategy involves establishing a series of nodes of
military and economic power throughout the region.
• Each node represents a pearl in the string
• the string of these pearls extended from
- the coast of mainland China through the littorals of
the South China Sea, the Strait of Malacca, across
the Indian Ocean, and on to the littorals of the
Arabian Sea and Persian Gulf.
String of Pearl’s Strategy

52. Some of the significant pearls include
• the upgraded military facilities on
Hainan Island;
• the upgraded airstrip on Woody
Island, located in the Paracel
archipelago 300 nautical miles
east of Vietnam;
• the construction of a container
shipping facility in Chittagong,
Bangladesh;
• the construction of a deep water
port in Sittwe, Burma and
• the construction of a navy base in
Gwadar, Pakistan, etc.

55. Geopolitical Role of Dewei deep Sea port - 1
 Dawei, located in Southern Myanmar, on the Andaman
coast facing the Indian Ocean – long been a strategic prize
 In Nov 2010, Myanmar Port Authority signed a USD $8.6
billion deal with Italian-Thai Development
 Myanmar’s First Special Economic Zone
 A deep sea port stretching 250 sq km (97 sq mile)
industrial estate including a steel mill, fertilizer plant and a
coal fired power station and oil refinery
 Japanese Nippon Steel – said to be a potential investor in
the Dawei port project including a coal fired power plant,
an industrial center, oil and gas pipelines and an eight-lane
highway.

56.  Gateway to Indo-China and potentially the world biggest
industrial estate
 Sea and land (railway and road) infrastructure links to
Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam
 Myanmar & Thailand – Construction of a 130 km road
from the Dawei port to Thailand – almost complete
 10 year project involving Thailand and Myanmar totaling
US$ 8 billion
 Thailand’s hope to create a more efficient, less congested
route for its exports to Europe and the Middle East
 Dawei port – 10 times the size of Laem Chabang,
Thailand’s largest port on the Gulf of Thailand
Geopolitical Role of Dewei deep Sea port - 2

57.  Dawei Development Project – invigorate the
country’s impoverished economy and
revolutionize regional trade
 Pipelines will transport gas from the coast of
western Rakhine state and oil from the Middle
East and Africa across the country to China
 Dawei – a “short cut” for crude oil coming into
Southeast Asia from the Middle East
 The port project – could create up to 100,000
jobs
Geopolitical Role of Dewei deep Sea port - 3

59. Geostrategic factors of Myanmar’s
Coastline
 Myanmar’s Coastline – 1300 Miles
 Have the Close position from North to India
Ocean
 Best the get of Natural Sunlight on this Ocean
where Growth water organism
 Sufficient for Food Security at Military and
Economy.

61. Sino-Burma pipelines
 Sino-Burma pipelines refers to planned oil and
natural gas pipelines linking Burma's deep-water port
of Kyaukphyu (Sittwe) in the Bay of Bengal with
Kunming in Yunnan province of China.
 In December 2005, Petro China signed a deal with
Burma's Government to purchase natural gas over a
30 year period.
 The oil pipeline will have a capacity of 12 million tons
of crude oil per year. It would diversify China's crude
oil imports routes from the Middle East and Africa,
and avoid traffic through the Strait of Malacca

62.  The second problem
is that 80 % of
China’s imported oil
goes through the
Straits of Malacca
 They fear that the
USA or India in the
future could use that
as a chock point and
cut of China’s
import of Oil.

63. Economic Considerations
• China is a major player in several fields such as hydro-power projects,
Banking and Finance.
• Yunnan Province also seeks 'a direct access route through Myanmar to
sea ports from which it can export products to South Asia, the Middle
East and Europe' that would reduce transport costs and time, and avoid
the Malacca Strait in the event of a conflict in the South China Sea.
• Kyaukphyu gas pipeline would provide an alternative route for China to
get access to the Indian Ocean via Myanmar and is of strategic
importance for Chinese interests in the 21st century.

66. Conflict for Territory in South China Sea

68. 1. First island chain
2. Second island chain

69. Falkland Conflict

70. Cuba Missiles Crisis

71. Blockades Strategy (Case Study)

72. Conclusion
Geopolitical Concepts
Location or position
Size
Population(Demography)
Natural resources
Topography
Climate
Geopolitics Theory
Strategic Important of
Myanmar
 Heartland
 Rimland
Sea Power Nation
 String of Pearl's Strategy
 Sino-Burmese Pipeline
 Dewei Deep Sea Port

73. What taken to National Interest for Myanmar
to use Geopolitics Advantage Between China
and India?

74. Thank You Very Much
For Your Attention.
Any Question.