Senior Research Project on Geopolitics

1. Senior Research Projecton Geopolitics By William Roundtree

2. What is geopolitics? • Geopolitics is defined as the study of the relationship among politics and geography, demography, and economics, especially with respect to the foreign policy of a nation. • Geopolitics consists of examining and predicting the use of political power over a region of land. Foreign policy analysis goal is to understand political behavior as it relates to geographical variables.

3. What is geopolitics? • Some of these variables are: • Geographic Location • The size • Climate of the region • The landscape • Demography • Natural resources available • The technological development

4. Who developed the term geopolitics? • There were four scientists that developed the term Geopolitics: • Rudolf Kjellen • Fredrich Ratzel • Robert Strausz-Hupé • Halford Mackinder

5. Who developed the term geopolitics? • Mr. Rudolf Kjellen was a Swedish political scientist. In 1899 Mr. Kjellen believed that geopolitics was three-dimensional as a land, a territory and a space or a country.

6. Who developed the term geopolitics? • Mr. Kjellen believed that for the country to be strong, the government must demonstrate discipline and integrity when developing laws and policies for it.

7. Who developed the term geopolitics? Mr. Fredrich Ratzel, a German Scientist, developed his organic theory in 1897. Mr. Kjellen thoughts and views were inspired him. His theory defined a state as an entity that is attached to the Earth and that it competes with other states in order to survive.

8. Who developed the term geopolitics? • Robert Strausz-Hupé was born in Australia in 1903. In 1923 he immigrated to the United States. Mr. Strausz-Hupé served as an advisor on foreign investment to American financial institutions. • In 1938, Mr. Strausz-Hupé began writing and lecturing to American audiences on “the coming war”, World War II. He was invited to give a lecture at the University of Pennsylvania which led to him taking a position on the faculty in 1940.

9. Who developed the term geopolitics? • Mr. Strausz-Hupé was one of the first geopoliticians to popularize this term, “geopolitics”. Mr. Strausz-Hupé also, founded the Foreign Policy Research Institute in 1955 and two years later published the first issue of Orbis, the quarterly journal on world affairs, which is still in publication today. • Mr. Strausz-Hupé authored or co-authored many books on international affairs. His first book, Geopolitics: The Struggle for Space and Power, was published only in the United States as we entered into World War II. The book became a bestseller.

10. Who developed the term geopolitics? • One of Mr. Strausz-Hupé most famous quotes from Geopolitics: The Struggle for Space and Power: • "As policy evolves towards several continental systems and technology accentuates the strategic importance of large, contiguous areas. Thus the era of overseas empires and free world trade closes. If this reasoning is pushed to its absolute conclusion, the national state is also a thing of the past, and the future belongs to the giant state. Many nations will be locked in a few vast compartments. But in each of these one people, controlling a strategic area will be master of the others."

11. Who developed the term geopolitics? • Halford Mackinder, in 1904 he developed a theory named the Heartland Theory. Mr. Mackinder’s understood the world historical processes based on the idea that the world inherently divided into the isolated areas each of which had a special function to perform. • The Heartland theory hypothesized the possibility for a huge empire being brought into existence in the Heartland, which wouldn't need to use coastal or transoceanic transport to remain coherent.

12. Who developed the term geopolitics? • The basic notions of Mr. Mackinder's doctrine involve considering the geography of the Earth as being divided into two sections, the World Island or Core, comprising Eurasia and Africa; and the Periphery, including the Americas, the British Isles, and Oceania. Although Halford Mackinder had a pioneering role in the field, he actually never used the term geopolitics himself (Kearns, Gerry. 2009). • These men have shaped the way the world examines itself and address world issues.

13. issues within Geopolitics • As countries struggle to maintain and increase their power and resources, the people are directly impacted by their leaders’ decisions. • Health Care as it relates to Poverty • If you are poor and live in a developing country, you stand a higher risk of dying from avoidable disease. • 36 million deaths each year are caused by non- contagious diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and chronic lung diseases. This is almost two-thirds of the estimated 56 million deaths each year worldwide. Twenty-five percent of these diseases take place before the age of sixty (WHO, 2001).

14. issues within Geopolitics • What can be done to improve the health care issue? • The first thing that needs to be done is the country leaders will need to take action. • For decades now, AIDS has been killing millions in Africa while the leaders stand by and watch. They can start with educating the people about health.

15. issues within Geopolitics • What can be done to improve the health care issue? • The Bible states that people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. It is a known fact that knowledge is power. • There are several non-government organizations that are willing to be of assistance. By partnering with these types of organizations to educate the officials and the people about the health care is a huge step in improving this issue.

16. issues within Geopolitics The graphs below are from the World Health Report, 2002 that shows the effect of the lack of Health Care being provided to the poor in developing countries.

17. issues within Geopolitics

18. issues within Geopolitics

19. Geopolitics Questions?? The End