Week 2: Geopolitics and the Cold War Flashcards
(25 cards)
What is traditional geopolitics?
It’s a state-focused approach to international politics that emphasizes territorial control and sees geography as a key driver of power. Based on ideas like natural borders and geographical determinism, it treats expansion and security as strategic necessities.
What is critical geopolitics?
A post-structural approach that studies how political and media discourses create ideas about geography, enemies, and threats. It focuses on how power uses language and maps to shape global politics (Toal, Dodds).
How does critical geopolitics differ from traditional geopolitics?
It critiques the neutrality of geopolitical claims, focusing on representation and power, while traditional geopolitics treats geographical strategy as objective and apolitical.
What is the Heartland Theory?
Halford Mackinder’s theory that control of Eastern Europe leads to control of the ‘Heartland,’ which in turn leads to global dominance.
What does Lebensraum mean and who proposed it?
‘Living space’; Friedrich Ratzel’s idea that states, like organisms, need space to grow—used to justify colonial and fascist expansion.
How did Friedrich Ratzel influence geopolitical thought?
He framed the state as a living organism whose expansion was natural and necessary, laying a scientific veneer for German imperialism.
What did Mackinder mean by a ‘closed political system’?
He meant that after global exploration and colonization, the world was fully interconnected and politically claimed. This global closure meant future shocks would impact all states, so powers had to focus on internal efficiency and global management rather than expansion.
How does Foucault relate knowledge to power?
Knowledge is never neutral; it is embedded in power relations and used to sustain and reproduce authority (Society Must Be Defended, 1975).
What is geographical determinism?
The belief that physical geography shapes human actions and history in coercive ways, often used to justify imperial strategies.
What was George Kennan’s 1948 position on warfare?
He advocated for the U.S. to apply Clausewitz’s logic in peace—political warfare should continue the aims of war covertly.
What was the Marshall Plan’s geopolitical function?
To counter communism by alleviating poverty and stabilizing capitalist democracies in postwar Europe.
Who were the Dulles brothers and what was their Cold War role?
John Foster Dulles (Secretary of State) and Allen Dulles (CIA Director) engineered U.S. covert operations in Iran, Guatemala, and beyond.
What happened in Guatemala in 1954?
The CIA orchestrated a coup against democratically-elected Jacobo Arbenz to protect U.S. business interests and halt communism.
What was the Shah of Iran’s rise associated with?
A CIA-backed coup in 1953 replaced a democratic leader with the Shah to secure Western oil interests and counter Soviet influence.
What is counterinsurgency (COIN)?
A military strategy combining combat, propaganda, and civic action to suppress insurgency and win civilian support.
How was Vietnam a testing ground for COIN?
The U.S. used it to implement hearts and minds tactics, combining psychological warfare with military force.
Why was the Vietnam War significant for critical geopolitics?
It revealed how U.S. foreign policy was guided by ideological narratives like the domino theory, showing that geopolitical decisions were shaped by fear and discourse — not just facts. Media and political rhetoric helped construct a simplified view of global conflict.
What is popular geopolitics?
The circulation of geopolitical ideas through film, television, literature, and news, shaping public understanding of world politics.
How does ‘Dr. Strangelove’ relate to geopolitics?
The film satirizes Cold War nuclear policies like Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), exposing the absurd logic, paranoia, and ideological rigidity of U.S. geopolitical strategy during the Cold War.
What did Sharp (1993) argue about The Reader’s Digest?
That it helped publish a simplified, mythic American identity aligned with Cold War ideology.
What role do geographical imaginaries play in geopolitics?
They shape how we view places and people—e.g., civilized/savage—supporting moral justifications for intervention.
What are examples of popular geopolitical narratives today?
News framing of terrorism, superhero films, video games, and social media content about global threats and nationalism.
What does Foucault’s ‘boomerang effect’ describe?
How colonial methods of control return to be used domestically in the West, turning external empire into internal governance.
What is the significance of power/knowledge in Cold War geopolitics?
Geopolitical discourses are a form of power—they construct threats, justify policy, and normalize war as peace.
