MacKinder:Heartland Theory (1904) - Still Relavent TODAY

Halford MacKinder's "Pivot" Theory was relavent in Both WWI and WWII and is STILL relavent in Today's unfolding drama of Middle East upheaval / wars and Geopolitical Strategies.

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The World-Island and the Heartland

According to Mackinder, the Earth's land surface was divisible into:

• The World-Island, comprising the interlinked continents of Europe, Asia, and Africa. This was the largest, most populous, and richest of all possible land combinations.
• The offshore islands, including the British Isles and the islands of Japan.
• The outlying islands, including the continents of North America, South America, and Australia.

The Heartland lay at the centre of the world island, stretching from the Volga to the Yangtze and from the Himalayas to the Arctic. Mackinder's Heartland was the area then ruled by the Russian Empire and after that by the Soviet Union, minus the Kamchatka Peninsula region.

REFERENCES:

References

1. ^ H.J. Mackinder, Democratic Ideals and Reality, , Washington, DC: National Defence University Press, 1996, pp. 175-194

Further reading

• CIA's Analysis of the Soviet Union, 1947-1991 links to a large number of CIA analyses of Soviet economic, technological and military capability (as well as e.g. foreign policy), all in PDF format.
• William R. Keylor, The Twentieth-Century World and Beyond: An International History Since 1900, 2006. ISBN 0-19-516843-7
• Odom, W.E. (1998) "The Collapse of the Soviet Military". Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-08271-1
• Mackinder, H.J. "The Geographical Pivot of History", in Democratic Ideals and Reality, Washington, DC: National Defence University Press, 1996, pp. 175–194.
• Sempa, F.P. (2000) "Mackinder's World" describes the background to Mackinder's thinking, the development of his theory after World War I (with many quotes) and its influence on geo-strategic thinking.
• Venier, Pascal. "The Geographical Pivot of History and Early 20th Century Geopolitical Culture", Geographical Journal, vol. 170, no 4, December 2004, pp. 330–336.

• Christopher, J.F "Sir Halford Mackinder, Geopolitics, and Policymaking in the 21st Century", Parameters, Summer 2000

See also

• Intermediate Region
• The Grand Chessboard
• Land hemisphere
• Rimland

External links

• The Geographical Pivot of History in The Geographical Journal, April 1904.
• Democratic Ideals and Reality, Washington, DC: National Defence University Press, 1996, pp. 175–194]