Geopolitics

Geopolitics is the study of how a country's geography (location, terrain, land size, climate, soil and raw materials) affect its foreign, economic, military policy and strategy. The word geopolitics comes from the words "geography" and "politics".^[1]

Examples

Russia is a large country. Its land is mostly flat. This makes defending its borders (where no mountains or natural obstructions exist) a difficult task. It is expensive to build infrastructure in Russia. Its extreme climate makes poorly built roads break more often.
The United Kingdom is a small island with a mild climate and access to warm water ports. It is easy to defend because any foreign country has to cross a body of water to attack. In addition, since it is small and warm the cost of construction is cheaper than in Russia.

World map with the concepts of Heartland and Rimland applied
Sir Halford Mackinder's Heartland concept showing the situation of the "pivot area" established in the Theory of the Heartland. He later revised it to mark Northern Eurasia as a pivot while keeping area marked above as Heartland.
Division of the world according to Haushofer's Pan-Regions Doctrine

↑ Osterud, Oyvind 1988. The uses and abuses of geopolitics. Journal of Peace Research. #2, p. 192.

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