Geopolitical imagination
Geopolitical imaginations are constructed views of the world that reflect the vision of a place's, a country's or a society's role within world politics.[1] Geopolitical imaginations are constituted by shared assumptions and representations of power relations and conflicts in world politics within a certain geographical territory.[2] By critically analyzing how and why these imaginations are constructed, it is possible to reveal underlying power relations and to get a better understanding of various conflicts. Therefore, geopolitical imaginations are closely connected to the academic field of critical geopolitics.[3]
Concept
Geopolitical imaginations are composed of the representation of a country's territorial limits and its geopolitical code which is “[...] a set of strategic assumptions that a government makes about other states”.[4] These so-called geopolitical codes are based on national identity (particularly in ‘them’ and ‘us’ distinctions), emotional attachment to a place as well as national myths.[5] Geopolitical imaginations provide the legitimisation for geopolitical actions or certain positions in foreign and domestic policy.[6] Geopolitical imaginations are reflections of current discourses and therefore they are not fixed but rather vary over time and in different societies. Research has primarily analyzed geopolitical imaginations of European and North American countries, ignoring the fact that in other socio-political contexts there exist different ‘non-western’ geopolitical imaginations.[7]
Hegemonic geopolitical imaginations in history
The view of the world as two polarizing ideological blocs (
See also
References
- ^ Güney, Aylin & Gökcan Fulya, [“Greater Middle East as a ‘Modern’ Geopolitical Imagination in the American Foreign Policy”], Geopolitics, 2010. 15 (1): 22-38.
- ^ Latham, Andrew A., [“China in the Contemporary American Geopolitical Imagination”], Asian Affairs: An American Review., 2001. 28(3): 138-145.
- ^ Toal, Gerard, [“Critical geopolitics: The politics of writing global space. Vol. 6”], University of Minnesota Press, 1996.
- ^ Güney, Aylin & Gökcan Fulya, [“Greater Middle East as a ‘Modern’ Geopolitical Imagination in the American Foreign Policy”], Geopolitics, 2010. 15 (1): 22-38.
- ^ Güney, Aylin & Gökcan Fulya, [“Greater Middle East as a ‘Modern’ Geopolitical Imagination in the American Foreign Policy”], Geopolitics, 2010. 15 (1): 22-38.
- ^ Latham, Andrew A., [“China in the Contemporary American Geopolitical Imagination”], Asian Affairs: An American Review., 2001. 28(3): 138-145.
- ^ Sharp, Joanne, ["”A subaltern critical geopolitics of the war on terror: Postcolonial security in Tanzania”"], Geoforum, 2011. 42: 297–305.
- ^ Reuber, Paul, ["Politische Geographie"], Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöning, 2012.
- ^ Reuber, Paul, ["Politische Geographie"], Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöning, 2012.
- ^ Sharp, Joanne, ["”A subaltern critical geopolitics of the war on terror: Postcolonial security in Tanzania”"], Geoforum, 2011. 42: 297–305.
- ^ Reuber, Paul, ["Politische Geographie"], Paderborn: Ferdinand Schöning, 2012.