Classical Geopolitics: A summary of key thinkers and theories from the claasical period of geopolitics (original) (raw)

A summary of key thinkers and theories from the claasical period of geopolitics Friedrich Ratzel Friedrich Ratzel (1940) was a German geographer who was responsible for coining the phrase " anthrogeographical, " a term indicating the combination of the disciplines of anthropology, geography, and politics. For Ratzel (1940), nation-states had many of the key characteristics of living organisms. He introduced, according to Haggman (2008), the idea that a state had to grow, to expand, and to establish living frontiers or borders that were dynamic and subject to change. Ratzel (1940) presented a number of key concepts that would be developed further by others in the field of geopolitics. For example, it was Ratzel who gave the earliest and most complete definition of the term raum, or room. Alternatively understood as " space, " this concept relates to Ratzel's (1940) conceptualization of organic state theory and states as spatial organisms that require the room or space in which growth is possible. Borders become insignificant in that a developing state or one that is advancing is likely to require annexation of territories that are controlled by other less powerful states. Cahnman (1944) suggests that Ratzel is the central figure in the development of geographical thought in the late nineteenth century. Though his early work focused on the United States, his conception of the frontier as a zone of transition and a peripheral organ rather than a rigidly defined boundary-line was applied to Europe as well. It is the concept of life-space or lebensraum that is Ratzel's contribution and which directly encompasses his Law of Expansion. Ratzel (1940) asserted that life is an infinite movement that is hemmed in by borders and boundaries of immovable space and, the dominant species, individuals, or groups are those which succeed in enlarging their life-space by incorporating the life-space of defeated individuals, groups, or species. Invariably, Ratzel (1940) was referring to German expansionism and