Geopolitics of multipolarity (Beijing lecture)

Distributed heartland

Radical dualism as main theoretical ground for Geopolitics

• Sir Halford John Mackinder (1861 –1947)  [英]麦金德 founder of Geopolitics
• "The Geographical Pivot of History” (历史的地理枢纽 ) an article of 1904
• Opposition between two global Powers: Land Power (Heartland) vs Sea Power
• Sea Power in history: Athens, Carthage, Venice, Dutch, Great Britain
• Land Power in history: Sparta, Rome, Austria, Germany, Russia
• Sea Power: trade, liberalism, democracy, progress, technical innovation, oligarchy, science, adventures, entrepreneur’s spirit
• Land Power: force, conservatism, hierarchy, order, ascetics, aristocracy, religion, ethics, stability

地缘政治术语
(main geopolitical terms)

• Sea Power  - 海权
• Land Power –陆权
• Rimland  - 边 or  周边 边缘地带
• Inner Crescent - 边缘新月地带
• Outer Crescent - 海岛新月地带
• Heartland - 心脏地带
• World Island - 世界岛

Mackinder’s Law

Who controls Eastern Europe controls Heartland, who controls Heartland rule the World.
谁控制东欧，谁就统治心脏地带；谁控制心脏地带，谁就统治世界

Rimland concept emphasizes the inner crescent

Spykman’s (1893 – 1943) correction

Anglo-Saxon vision

• Sea Power is subject (主体)
• Land Power is object (客体)
• Main goal: to surround Heartland by the control of Rimland, preventing Heartland to get the access to the warm Seas and to break through coastal blockade
• Rule the world controlling the Eurasia from the Sea

Anglo-Saxon vision

• Sea Power is subject (主体)
• Land Power is object (客体)

Main goal: to surround Heartland by the control of Rimland, preventing Heartland to get the access to the warm Seas and to break through coastal blockade
Rule the world controlling the Eurasia from the Sea

XX century: USA as main Sea Power

• Future decline of Great Britain and rise of USA was predicted already in the end of XIX century
• The idea to transmit Imperial mission to USA was present in British imperialist leader Sir Cecil Rhodes (1853 –1902)  and his Round Table
• Admiral Mahan considered USA Sea Power
• After Wilsonian involvement in the WWI there began the shift of center of Sea Power from Great Britain to USA
• Las article of Mackinder was published in American journal Foreign Affairs (published by Counsel on Foreign Relations)
• After WWII USA was Sea Power par excellence

Foundation of Russian geopolitical (Eurasianist) school – historic momentum

• The collapse of communist system on Russia disarmed Moscow ideologically
• Foreign policy and military strategy of USSR were based on the concept of confrontation between socialist camp (the East) and capitalist camp (the West)
• After 1991 that basic vision was lost. Russia disarmed herself in unilateral way pretending to become as capitalist, democratic and liberal as the West. So no reason to continue opposition.
• But the West continued to expand NATO to the East swallowing East Europe and threating Russia. That created cognitive dissonance.
• Precisely in that moment – beginning of 90-s – geopolitics was discovered: in Military Academy of General Staff and elsewhere.
• From that moment geopolitics became the parallel ideology of Russia or main frame of strategy for Russian Deep State.

Russian geopolitics as Land Power and Heartland

Main principles

• Acceptance of relevance of classical Anglo-Saxon geopolitics and the basic dualism of Mackinder
• Affirmation of Heartland as subject (主体). Behemot becomes conscious
• Identification of USA and NATO as antagonist force, but recognized as subject (主体) too. Chess as two players game.
• Taking into account German continental tradition (ambivalent in Haushofer and with new metaphysical depth in Carl Schmitt)
• Discovery of first Russian Eurasianists of 20-s (XX century) with their intuition of dualism Russia-Eurasia against the West
• Program text Foundations of Geopolitics was published in 1997. Parts earlier – from 1991 as articles and shorter books (Great War of Continents 1991)

Multipolar Project

• In order to effectively oppose Sea Power Heartland has to restructure the Rimland zone.
• USSR being strong and powerful wasn’t capable to do that alone. Reduced Russia obviously couldn’t afford it at all. So the idea of conquest by forced was immediately abandoned.
• The only way to achieve the goal was the politics of alliances directly or indirectly against Sea Power. Rimland can not be Russian. Well, it shouldn’t be American (or West European). That’s the fundamental.
• At that moment Russian geopolitical school has discovered the concept of Big Spaces (Grossraum), accepted plurality of civilizations that have reappeared after the end of bipolar era and started to develop Theory of Multipolar World.

Necessity of Distribute heartland to other Poles is the main new feature of geopolitics of Multipolar world

Land Power and Sea Power become thus inner choices of each civilization