Geopolitics Theory in Mahan’s and Mackinder’s Views

Mahan’s tenets affecting sea power of nations’ namely geographical position, physical conformation, the extent of territory, number of population, character of the people, and the character of the government, have been modified over time but still retain their relevance in modern geopolitics. Mahan’s basic postulates that protection of shipping in peace and war required strong navy and outlying bases abroad remain unchanged as fundamentals of US Grand strategy to date.

Sir Halford Mackinder propounded the Heartland Theory that posited that the ‘world island’ comprised of Europe, Asia, and Africa and that most of the resources lay centered on the Russian landmass and that whoever controlled the geographical pivot centering on the ‘heartland’ of Eurasia would control the world. The Soviets misread Mackinder in believing that the German loss in WWII was primarily due to a strong Russian ‘heartland force’ that defeated the Germans in their ill-fated Russian campaign and concentrated on becoming a strong continental power, leading to their comprehensive defeat in the Cold War by the US, a sea power.

Thus, American success shows that Mahanian tenets work. However, America has not disregarded MacKinder’s postulates as Brzezinski has observed that the key to control of the Eurasian landmass rested in control over Central Asia that acts as a guard post over American control of the oil is the reason why CENTCOM is based at Bahrain. As per me, a combination of Mahanian Seapower and Mackinderian geopolitical realities is essential for achieving pre-eminence in global geopolitics.