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Geopolitics and the Politicisation of Geography

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Guicciardini, Geopolitics and Geohistory

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Abstract

This chapter traces the origin of the term geopolitics as an imperial tool, how it went out of fashion and was then re-introduced. It considers how geography has been politicised and points out that geopolitics is a mainstay of political realism/power politics. The result is that it tends to sweep the human factor under the carpet, since it is concerned with the acquiring of resources, such as oil, which has included the drawing up of ‘business borders’ according to the interests of large powers, rather than natural borders. The Sykes-Picot agreement is used as an example.

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Mallinson, W. (2021). Geopolitics and the Politicisation of Geography. In: Guicciardini, Geopolitics and Geohistory . Palgrave Studies in International Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76537-8_4

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