Cultural Geopolitics and Cultured Geopoliticians

Abstract

Zygmunt Bauman’s analysis of Central European intellectuals and Le Figaro’s interview with one of them—Estonia’s two-term President Lennart Meri—illustrate the key role of intellectuals in the geopolitical scripting of Central Europe. Bauman stresses the role of cultural and intellectual capital in Central European politics, and Le Figaro illustrates the effectiveness of that capital in putting Central Europe onto Western mental maps.