11

Geopolitics
Sanjay Chaturvedi

g
Geopoliticshas now becomean anchor of the realist and its jargon of 'heartland' and rim-
land' is supposedto throw light on the mystery of national growth and decay. Originctir,g in
England (or was it Scotland), it became the guiding light of the Nazis, fed their dreams and
ambitions of domination and led to disaster ... And now even the United States of America cre

told by Profösor Spykrnan, in his last testament, that they are in danger of encirclement, that
they should ally with a 'rimland' nation, that in any event they should not prevent
the 'heartland' (which means now the USSR) from uniting with the Rimlcnd„
.44.
Nehru 1981: 539

Introduction

In co try life India, which has an ancient tradition of geography as well as his-
tory, the appearsto be less than miniscule in terms of
its overall acad&frfc intellectual visibility in social sciences in generals and
international relatioGJV3parggulAR+.,Theconcise and critical reflection by Jawaharlal
Nehru on 'geopolitics' inuhe%5igraph underscores the fact that 'despite the
ing usage Of geopolitics in analysis and in popular media. critics ef
traditional practice have connectéd%gqdpoliticsco che taints of various partisans and
ideologies, from German fascism to Cold War "power politics" co great power 'hesee
mony, charges that 'hold some credibility' (Kelly2006:
However, what we have been witnessing over the past decade or so is an interna•
tional 'renaissance' of geopolitics (Hepple 1986; Dodds 2000). To quote DavidNew-
man (199C; 2), 'New texts, emphasizing both classic and contemporary approaches
to the study and definition of geopolitics, and the launching Ofa journal under the
sole name of "Geopolitics"(under the imprint of Roudedge) are clear indications
returned
Of the geopolitical renaissance% post-Soviet Russia. 'the geopolitics has
Cold War
with a vengeance' (Erickson 1999; 242)9 which is in sharp contrast to the
bourgeois in
era when Moscow condemned it as a pseudo-science deployed by the
 i 50
Sanjay Chaturvedi Geopolitics ISI

pursuit of imperial domination. It is not only in contemporary

Russia that we find a Mackinder and the Heartland Theory—Visualizing
remarkable resonance of geopolitics' (Bassin and Aksenov 2006: 100).
A number of
post-Soviet, resource-rich Central Asian states are also rediscovering
geo-politicians
'Natural Seats of Power' in Eurasia
1he past, especially British geographer Halford J. Mackinder, of
as they re-orient them- Halford J. Mackinder is widely known as the leading proponent of classical geopoli-
selves away from Moscow, in hitherto unexplored directions
(Sengupta 2009). tics, although he shied away from using the term 'geopolitics' in his writings and
Having noted that, the term geopolitics continues to be understood
and used in perhaps disliked it. In a lecture delivered to the Royal Geographical Society, London
variety of ways. Political geographers typically...invokethe term
with reference to in January 1904, Mackinder persuasively argued before his audience that the Colum-
O geographicalassumptionsand understandingS'thå[Link]
into the diversefrarningsof bian epoch (1500—1900), characterizedby the dominance of sea power was now
world politics. What makes geopolitics so •édåeewe, terms of its appeal to both coming to a close due to a tectonic shift in the 'natural seats of power', in favour of
'intellectual' and 'institutions of statecraft' (O 66-67) of the major land power. Consequently:
powers or hegemonic states, is precisely the redueti01i$smifi:hemt in
grand geopo-
litical schemes and meta-narratives that come to their fés<åe The oversettingof the balance of power in favor of the pivot state, resulting in its expansion
to mind—
Z boggling complexities of a globalizing world.
Depending u•poHth.e'Q.9Cific over the marginal lands of Euro-Asia, would permit the use of vast continental resourcesfor
version of
C geopolitics that may be operational at a given point
in time the imagined
fleet-building,and the empire of the world would then be in sight. This might happen if
O geographies of space-power interface (e.g. 'land power', 'sea Germany were to ally herself with Russia.
etc.)compete with one another to claim a super-vision on Mackinder 1904: 432
complex
could be wisely used by the policy makers. The 'geo' in geopolitics
is It was the latterscenario that alarmed Mackinder the most. While mapping out
t-rj in the sense that it is the manifestation of a complex interplay between the 'facts'<ån$' what he saw as opportunities and threats before the declining British empire at the
features of material-physical geographies (location, topography, resources, etc.) and dawn of the twentieth century, Mackinder pinpointed three regions with varying
the myths and mental maps of symbolic-imagined
geographies. power potential on the face of the globe; the geographical pivot or the 'gigantic natu-
fortress (re-designated as 'the Heartland Y in a later work); the inner crescent; and
Classical Geopolitics Origins and Evolution ,4the outer or [Link] a book written soon afterthe FirstWorld War, titled
and Reality(Mackinder 1919), largely with the intention of influenc-
The colonial-imperial origins and
the state-centricfocus of classicalfoundations [Link] Peace negotiations, Mackinder (renarrüng what he called Euro—Asia
C ) of the early the • the 'pivot a,rea'the 'Heartland') offered his well-knoM. rn geo-
scholarship on geopolitics are well documented (see Agnew 1998;
Ö Tuathail 1996). It was the Swedish political scientist at Uppsala politicaldfStum+'Wfio rules East Europe commands the Heartland, Who rules the
University, Rudolf
Kjellen (1864—1922) who coined the term 'geopolitics'
in an article
he wrote in Heartland coffifn$ds the yorld-lsland•, Who rules the World-Island commands the
F 1 899 on the boundaries of Sweden. He defined Geopolitik as 'the study of the state as world' (Ibid.:
a geographical organism or a phenomenon in space' (cited in Ö Tuathail 1996: 45). Mackinder's also been criticized by a number of analysts
Kjellen embraced Social Darwinism, underlined the importance as overtly simplistic, dimensional.
of autarky (national According to Tuathail:
self-sufficiency) and argued that states as power-political entities were 'a biological Underpinningthis [Mackinder@Yar uestiond ethnocentrism, an ethnocen-
revelation, a living being' (cited in Herwig 1999: 220) and therefore, could not be
held together simply by the force of constitution and law. In other words, for of the world political map were
blank, undiscovered,and unoccupiedand is' •
Kjellen, a staunch SQfdfming the world political map a close
Germanophile behaviour of states, especially the vigorous ones,
system of space, settled, occupied, and named. The baric chaos of unknown space has bem
— was essentiallydictated and driven by the 'categoricalimperative of expanding theii • fri I-UNDU -e.
replacedby the civilizational certaintiö of the scientifically unveiled, one and only true geog-
Space by colonization,amalgamation, or conquest' (Herwig 1999). CCLLECE
Kjellen was inspired by the writings of German political geographer FriedrichJ raphy of the planet. What Mackinderdoe not anticipate ... is that the British, European,
Ratzel (1844—1904), whose book Politische
Geographie
(1897) introduced certain laws and more generally, Western domination of global geopolitical
space would be challenged
of spatial growth to explain the behaviour of states as living organisms, constantly
profoundly in the new catury. The struggle over geography
had only begun.
competing with one another to grow and develop, Ratzel introduced the concept of Tuathail 1996: 27
lebensraum (living space) in support of his argument that 'stronger states should expand Mackinder's Heartland thesis has its supporters and admirers too (Blouet 2005).
into areas that were not exploited efficiently by their current resideuts' Colin S. Gray, wriång 'in defense of the heartland' (2005) , would argue that 'Maddnder's
(Painter and Jeffrey 2009: 199).
geopolitics is a superior example of
grand theory' and it 'may have been born out of his
 152
Sanjay Chaturvedi Geopolitics 153

anxiety for the security and prosperity of the BritishEmpire,

but if anyone early in the 'Mahan's theories helped to shape America's growing international interests at the
twentieth century wrote in a definitively global context, it was he'.
For Gray: turn of the century and deeply influenced Presidents William McKinley and Theodore
The Pivot-Heartland theory rested upon geographical realities.
Such is the arrangement of the Roosevelt' (Russell2006: 126).
continents that potentially lethal menacesto the security of the West The influence of Mahan on China's quest for sea power has been commented upon
plausibly could come
only from the Eurasian landmass. Some critkal theoristsmay disagree,but by some analysts—'ln the ideal, many Chinese strategists would prefer to pursue
Mackinder'scon-
cepts were hewn out of bedrock. The coneep! the more bellicose dimensions of Mahaniansea power, which envision titanic naval
Pivot-Heartland is of course a constructed
one, but it reflectedmaterial facts
engagements leading to maritime supremacy far from the nation's coasts' (Holmes
and Yoshihara 2005: 42). Others would argue, 'it is too facile to suggest that China
Gray 2005: 30 is acquiring naval power strictly as a means to the end of regional or perhapö global
The classical geopolitical tradition of a hötiStf•eexamhiåt@n of the nature of the hegemony' (Kaplan 2010: 279). India's Maritime Military Strategy also talks about
world, viewed essentially from a dynamic geopohügal pérspeetwe, as introduced by the importance of harnessing to full, the elements ofsea power as outlined by Mahan.
Mackinder, has not only been kept alive but also beeå:iiven 06+efhgets and insights
The sea power of a nation is agult of a number of principal conditions. Mahan enunciated
by the political geographer Saul Bernard Cohen (Cohen I *€4, 20@5).As Geoffrey
Parker puts it: these as: Geographical Position, Size of Population, Physical Conformation and Character of
theGovemment. Today we string thern under one umbrella term; geopolitics. These factors
while Cohen's ideas have evolvedin many ways since 1964, the basic theme •has are worthy of close attention while painting the backdrop of a maritime stmtegy in the Indian
clearly identifiable: the conviction that order is inhermt, but that greater order is not attain- Ocean region.
able in the form of a static situation. It is instead a processof change motivated by the Government of India 2007: 28
for a more satisfactory order through the attainments of new levels of equilibrium. consensus among strategicthinkers and analysts
There appears to be a growing
Parker 1998: 19'" of sea power and maritime security, that the Indian Ocean is no longer a 'neglected

In his latest work (2009), Cohen begins mapping the geopolitical structure of the 4%: ocean' and will remain the key theare of world geopolitics for the entire twenty-first

twenty-first century on the premise that the 'end of geography' thesis is highly flawed S;ceg±ury (see Bouchard and Crumplin 2010; Kaplan 2010; Berlin 2010). 'map-

and that geography 'still counts in a strategic and tacticalmilitary sense. a political , Saul B. Cohen would argue that:

sense, and a culturally defined territorial sense, and it counts in terms of the spatial of India's becomingQ full member of the Great Power 'club', a new Indian
disn•ibution of resources, peoples and physical systems' (Ibid.: 2). " OceaÅ%ealmg:ljkgly to emerge. The relative weakeningof Pakistan would enablc India to
In Cohen 's assessment of the 'inter-relationship between geopolitical forces (which focffSmore off:ä.tsanomic and political energieson the Indian OceanBasin. This realm
promote geopolitical equilibrium on a global scale but might cause political instabil-
would embrace the coa4tfåh•Lof East Africa on the western side of the Indian Ocean Basin and
ity in certain national and regional spaces) and their human and physical geographical
Myanmar on tTiéB$inSBafofr:Bengal-Andamcn Sea easternside. It could act as counter-
settings' (Cohen 2009: 42 1), 'global stability is dependent upon the policies of the Rim and have c strong influenceupon the
balance to Chinese
world's Great Powers—the United States, the European Union, Russia. China, Japan
Rim and East and South Africa.
and India, and on. key regional powers such as [Link],Vietnam, Iran,South
Cohen 2009: 424
Africa, and Venezuela' (Ibid.: 421). In Cohen's view, 'the most unstable parts of the
world are the two geo-strategically located. Shatter belts—the Middle East and sub- However, Robert D. Kaplan (20 13) is of the view that the artificialdivisive
Saharan Africa, which are geographically joined at the Horn of Africa' (Ibid.). cartographic representation of Asia, which dichotomy
also 'forced an artificial on area

studies in which the Middle East, the Indian Subcontinent, and the PacificRim were
Alfred Thayer Mahan and the 'Sea Power': separate entities', has become outdated due to the fact that:
Growing Focus on the Indian Ocean . as India and China become more integrally connectedwith both Southeast Asia and the
of
on the centrality Middle East through the trade, energy and security agreements, the map of Asia is reemerging
About the same time as Ratzel and Kjellen were commenting
as a single organic unit, just as it was during earlier epochs in history—manifested now by
an
a realist
spatial factors in world affairs, Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan of the US navy,
the impe- Indian Ocean map. Such a map, in which artificial regions dissolve, includes even landlocked
par excellence, widely known as the 'philosopher of sea power' defended
rialproject and argued that sea power was the key to not only acquiring an edge over Central Asia.
global strategicadvantage. Kaplan 2010: 13
others in commerce and economic competition, but also
 154
Sanjay Chaturvcdi
Geopolitics

What is important here is to note how Kaplan's

analysis of the Indian Ocean space is in line with the geopoliticalunderstanding and pock •markedsen"). ustralia andNewZealand, South Africa,and the ABCofsou thAsi$—
in which 'one studies history and geography, classicalversion of geopolitics,
particularly as tied to diplomacy and Argentina, Brazil and Chile, whereas 'the Gap' consists of the following regions—the
strategy, to formulate theories about the impact of Caribbean, Central America (south of Mexico), South America (except for Brazil,
geographical factors upon foreign Uruguay. Argentina and Chile), Africa (except South Africa), the Middle East (inchÄ
X policies and actions' (Kelly 2006: 41), and how in
the process certain places are geo-
politically framed and fixed on a strategic map. We will ing Turkey), the Balkans, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova. Armenia, the Central AsiaR
return to the Indian Ocean republics, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Kashmir, Nepal, Bangladesh. the Muslim provinces
O theme in the concluding section of this chapter..
Of Western China, and all of Southeast ASia.
What holds the key to both peace and prosperity, according to Barnett, is connec-

Critical Geopolitics—Expanding. tivity to US-led globalization projects. Those stilldisconnected are prone to violence,
live under a variety Of authoritarian regimes and act in some ways as either the source
of Knowledge-Poweff%tétplaf or the facilitator of various traditional and non-traditional threats to securi%', whereas
those who live in the functioning core are blessed with much better living conditions
No doubt the term 'geopolitics' went into some kind e$iddisrepute and ample freedom to follow one's own course in [Link] quote Barnett:
C among politicalgeographers afterthe Second World War,
•due to iwlong-
O standing association with imperial-colonial projects and abuse by•e
tfie Show me where globalizationis thick with neoyork cornectivity, emcicl tæsactions, lib-
the interwar period. This did not however mean that geopolitical ideas eral media flows, and collectivesecurity, and I will show you regions featuring stable govern-
jshed into the thin year or lost their appeal among policy making [Link] ments, rising standards of living, and more deaths by suicide than murder. But show me where
only the 'language of geopolitics' that was 'still
deployed by powerful states' globalization is thinning or just plain absent, and I will show you regions plcgud by politi-
and Jeffrey 2009: 205), the containment policy of the USA,of which GeorgeW. cally repressive regimes, widespread poverty and disease, routine mass murder, and—most
Kennan was the chief architect, was very much inspired by the geopolitical theories important, the chronic conflicts Ghatincubate the next generation of terrorists. These parts of
of both Mackinder and Spykman.
h the world I call the Non-Integraång Gap, or Gap.
What emerged during the 1 980s, within the sub-discipline of politicalgeography, Barnett 2003: 2
O was a new approach called 'criticalgeopolitics' with the overall objective of liberating
geographical knowledge(s) from the old and the new imperial geopoliticsof domi- Accordilfk [Link], the 'old Pentagon' is outdated and ill-equipped to meet the

nation. In the words of one of the leading proponents approaches,

of critical wars, which are already upon the Americans. Instead of relying

upon outdatid the Pentagon should follow the new maps trulyreflect-
The focus of critical geopolitics is on exposing the plays of power involved in grand geopoliti- ing a paradiÅH±tCé (Barnett 2004).
o
cal schemes . .. Fundamental to this process is the power of certain national security elites to The thag underpin 'Pentagon's New Map' evoke and justify
represent the nature and dilernmas of intemational politics in particular ways ... Theserepre- the deployment of AnieÄéan in order to get rid of the isolated politi-

sentational practices of national security intellectuals generateparticular 'scripts' intemational cal regimes in the Bamett, 'ifwe CUS troops in their new roles as
shrinkers of the gap] draw a Lite..arousd the majority of those mlita-ry interventions,
politics conceming places, peoples and issues. Such scripts then becomepart of the means by
we have basically mapped the N01Äntqrat±æg proudly proclaims further:
vvhich hegemony [by the great powers] is exercised in the international system.
Tuathail 1989: 439
. security is this country's [America's] most ixeti •public-sectorexport ... show mea
In the pursuit of a geopolitics of domination, 'imaginative geographies' play an part of the world that is secure in is peace and I you strong and growing ties between
important role. According to Derek Gregory (2004: 1 7), 'Imaginative geographies' local militaries and the U.S. military. Show me regionswhere major war is inconceivableand
cultures and
imply, 'Representations of other places——of peoples and landscapes, I will show you permanatt U.S. military bcss and long-tem security alliancö.
the
'natures —that articulate the desires, fantasies and fears of their authors and Barnett2003: 2—3
de-
grids of power between them and their "Others"', One of the most dramatic
Barnett's thesis has its criticstoo. Susan Roberts, Anna Secor and Matthew Sparke
of Thomas Bar-
ployments of imaginative geographies can be found in the writings
titled, (2003: 886) have forcefully argued that Barnett's work represents 'a more widespread
nett. a Pentagon adviser and the author of a widely cited and discussed book
form of neoliberal implicated in the war-making'.
geopolitics What we find in this geo-
Barnett divided the globe into 'functionipg
The Pentagon'sNew Map (Barnett 2004).
political world vision is the 'neoliberal idealism about the virtues of free markets,
corelånd •non-integrated gap'. The former COmprises North America, Europe both
openness. and global economic integration'linked to 'an extreme form of American
•new ,-Russia,Japan» China (although the interior is less so), India
'oWånd
 156

Sanjay Chaturvedi
unilateralism' (Ibid.). Geopolitics
Furthermore,
In the neoliberal 157
approach, the geopolitics of
ideas about hanispheric inter-imperial rivalry, identities' (Ibid.: 96). For
cöntrol that the Monroe
doctrine, and the
Butler's era are US
example, through the 2002
almost infinite and interdepadmcy. eclipsedby a new president George
W. Bush could
state ofUnion address,former
In contrastalso to global Of evil'by naming evoke the imaginative
longer imagined as the cold war era, Iran, Iraq and geographies of an 'axis
something that should be dangeris no North Korea in of
at a disconnected ist allies'. The scenarios conjunction with their
alleged.•terror-
a complete counterpoint, distance. Now, by way Of and spectacles
outlined by practical
danger is itself the help ofcertain metaphors
turn, the neoliberal
as disconnection
from the global system. (e.g. •rogue' states, 'dominoes' geopolitics, often with
geopolitical roponse, In explicit or alarmist. The effect), are not always
is." insiston accumulative effect of repetitive
enforcingreconnecdon. to be carefully mapped utterances,however, needs
Roberts,Secorand Sparke2003 because:
Contemporary India is increasingly gubßcted
not without inviting resistance ofneoliberalization, but
The power of practical
geopolitics is in its banality.
in the as to be invisible . The
Geopolitical
ideas often so ordinary
Routledge (1996) has called geographerPaul repetition of geopoliticalideas
within the practical performanceof
'anti-geopolitics'. politics serves to naturalize certain
t&kputledge: OZ categorizations of the world: for
Anti-geopolitics reprcmts as
assertion of permanmt 74 developed,core/ periphery, or simply 'us'
and 'them% Thu phrasa may
example, developed/less
in power, and articulatß indepmdmce seeminnocuous,but
two interrelatedfoms of is they are affirming particular political
counter-hegemÖfic perspectivesand legitimizing foreign
the material strugO. policy decisions.
(economic and military) Painter and Jeffrey 2009:
geopolitical power Ofstates 208
and second, it the representations imposed by political and
the world and its differmt peopE Popular Geopolitics
that are deployedto servetheir
geopoliticalinter6ts.
The ways in which massesare being
Routledge socialized into dor±lant representations
places and peoples (posiäve or of oth&
negaåve) through media, dnema,
cartoons,books
Formal Geopolitics magazines is the subject matter of
popular geopolids. As '—hepolitical
geographer Joanne
Sharp (2000: 3 1) puts it,'hegemony
Included in this category, is constructednot only through politicalideologies
under the gaze of criticalgeopolitics,
are the notions but also, more immediately,
dominantly (pre- through detailed scripdng of some
of t
—he most ordinary and
Western) of 'geopolitical thought' and
'geopoliticaltradition'(see Dodds mundane aspects of everyday life'.Sharp Void.)
and Atkinson 2000), both of which have has sh0'+,-nhow dui-ng the Cold War
been overwhelminglyEurocentric(e.g. % eå, /åipus contributions to the Reader'sDigzt highly exaggerated
the 'red' threat from the
neglecting Asian thinking and space-power traditions) e.'SQ.$å@Ü[Link]
and excessivelyengaged with by the forrner US president Ronald
Reagan the 'enl empire'.
the 'super-visions' offered as
an aid to statecraftby the 'founding fathers' Indiåsciffema, being immensely
of geopoli- popular throughout South Asia, continues to be
tics, such as Mackinder.[As Ö Tuathail puts it so aptly,
'critical geopolitics ... seeksto a major for and circulation of popular images of the 'Self and
recover the geography and geopolitics of "geopoliticalthought" while the 'Othér'. ItPfay.s
opposing any role in influencing the tone and tenor of India's rela-
glib celebration of the so-called "tirnelessinsights" of certaingeopolitical tions yhth its
masters' and with Pakistan in particular.
Sheena Malhotra
(6 Tuathail 1999: 1 1 1) Criticallyapproached, Mackinder's and Tavishi Si)[Link] shovm
arguments would appear how, •the productions of Indian iden-
'too sweeping, his interpretation of human tityin domestic moved remarkabl
history too simplistic and geographically
deterministic, and his claims about the importance of mobility in the developmentof construction of a mono i a
power one-sided' (Ö Tuathail 2006: 20—21). conservative patriarch) In post-partition Soutb Asia in gengal, and
India-Pakistan relations in particul&.é role played by the Bollywood-induced cin-
ematic geopolitics in reinforcing mental borders remains [Link] box-office hit
Practical Geopolitics films like Border(J. P. Dutta 1997) and L.O.C.(J. P. Dutta 2003) are just a few exam-
fhe&ey concern here is with the narratives constructed and used by policy makeB ples of how, as pointed out by Virdi (2003), •cinematic imaginations' of the 'Other'
and politicians in pursuit of their so-callede'nationalinterests' and related-foref@ proliferate in popular culture.

folic*diplomatic agenda'. These can be found in the speeches delivered and/or

statements made by the politicians, including, for example, those posted as a matter Gender in Geopolitics
of routine on the official websites of the ministries of 'foreign' or 'external'affairs. The overall gender-blindness of the theory and practices of geopolitics have starte
The key challenge here is to discern and deconstruct the 'practical geopolitical reason- receiving the long due and well-deserved critique. The gendered nature of imagine
'
ing' in a foreign policy discourse (Ö Tuathail and Agnew 1992), . reasoning by
éationhood, especially in theSouth Asian/Indian context, is better approached an
means of consensual and unremarkable assumptions about places and theirparticular
 understood through the concept of 'Geo-body'. a term coined by cultural wide-ranging ways in which
tims is to see only haJfof the story and thereby overlook
Thongchai Winichakul (1996) to analyse spatial embodiment of the nation and ree from South Asia, she argues
they resist the geopolitics of domination. Citing examples
lated [Link] to Winichakul: women, even in the face of ex-
that it is absolutely crucial to recognize that displaced
to organize and create movements
Geographically speaking, the geo-body of a nation occupies a certain portion of earth's surface treme forms of victimization, resist and make efforts
I O) has a valuable point to make when
which cap be objectively identified. It seems to be concrete to the eyes and having a long history to seek justice (Ibid.). Jennifer Hyndman (2003:
war on 'global' terrorism:
as if it were natural, and independent from technology or any cultural and social construction. she argues that in the context of the continuing
o Unfortunately, that is not the case ... the is merely the effectof modern binaries of either/or, here/ there, us/
Female geopoliticsrepresentsa third space, beyond the
o geographical knowledgeand as technology a map. The geo-body, the perspectiveit doz not promote an oppo-
them. As an ethnographic,rather than a strategic,
territoriality of a nation as well as its attributes such as sovac/gnty and boundary, are not or acts. Rather, as an [Link], it
sitional stance in relation to particular political principlß
only political but also cultural constructs. position(s) and undo thze by invoking
attemptsto map the silencesof dominant geopolitical
'h Wiughakul 1996: 70 Scrutinizing the prevailing nation-state-
multiple scales of inquiry and knowledgeproduction.
One finds that in many nationalisms and their the globe, recognizing the international cod global
centereddiscourseof the war on terrorism is critical in
C the territorial-geopoliticalcomponent is associatedwith, or the terror invokedon
dimensionsof the terror perpetratedon SeptemberI I and in suing
O female body, often a mother or a motherly figure (Parker et al. 1992). pfen
Afghan civilians, in the name of justice.
tend to empty out and de-socialize the territory they represent. But in *the c$é Hyndman 2003: 10
India, as shown by Sumathi Ramaswami (2001 : 97), one alternate
remains integral to the realization of a
In short, a feminist counter-geopolitics
of mapping territory' wheælndiannatiomis imagined as the fundarnental principle of a
criticalshift from domination to non-domination,
des'. One of the most evocative imaginations of the 'geo-body' of Indian nation is
and just governance at all levels of the scale.
the posters/ paintings where the sacred image of Mother Goddess is implanted on the more humane

physical landscape of the sub-continent; an image widely used by various Hindu na-
tionalistgroups and parties across India. WhacSumaphiBamasvyami (2010: 169) has
Classical-Critical Interface in Geopolitics—Emerging
described as:syg-sæbedBharat Mata' seemingly tranyceendfthe pelitical bounda-
Frontiers of Enquiry
ries (madé ostensibly il#isible), whügoskjl@[Link].-informed
cultural sen9@bé[Link]%[Link] BharatMataMandir(Mother
titled. 'A Critique of Critical Geopolitics', published in
India Temple) in the sacred holy city of Varanasi is yet another example of how the In a seminO'0ZtYibution

O Indian nation is discursively transformed into motherland. Phil Félly (2006) raised some interesting issues in the light of
the journal Geopolitfs,
Geopolitical reasoning, as rightly pointed out by Anna J. Secor (2001), often tends which it might be Qfyf to of the emerging frontiers of geopolitical
to privilege the global scale as the locus of spatialized power relations. The hegemony enquiry, in which a [Link] argues that. whereas the two major
00 of the 'global' scale, according to her, can only be questioned through a 'feminist versions of geopolitics. name} will continue
'critical' to compete with

counter-geopolitics' (Ibid.) that critiques, at the same time, prevalent representa- one another, it is worthwhile t «miat'ölly between
connections
enriching
tions of women in constructs of 'family', 'community' and 'honour'. One of the key the two. Doing so will facilitate not N advancement of both these
intentions here is to map out everyday concerns and experiences of individuals and versions (with the classicalversion off ad•hse to statecraft and foreign policy
communities that remain on the margins. The scale of their criticalenquiry too is establishments. and the critical version ghepower-knowledge nexusbehind
— shifted from the global and national to that of the community, home and body. The such 'aid' to statecraft), but also strengthen geopolitics as a whole. Kelly
argument then becomes that: recommendsthe continued study of traditional impact of geography on for-
women's bofre$arejnherndy caught up in international relations, but ofta t) at mundane*@r eign the continued étudy of critical geopolitics—-theexploration of contexture
everyday levels and so are not writta into the text of thepolitical [Link]'s place and emancipation with foreign policy decision making. The critical analysis of geopolitics is
ih åhie*matiohdpolitics tend not to be those of decision makers, but of intemational labouré@ adightening and it makö a significant contribution. But in the case of the much-maligned
é$inigiånt$/@Simagesin internationaladvertisingand as 'victims' to protectedby inteb classical. might it be better to attempt perfecting the 'baby' than to throw the baby and 'bath
hatioqaJpeacekéepers.' water' away?
Dowler and Sharp 2001: 168 Kelly 2006: 49
 160
Sanjay Chaturvedi
Geopolitics
161
Geopolitics of Outer Space
In October 2008, India successfully O Space, along with conventional
systems, has the potential to benefit humankind and
launched
Chandrayaan-l to the moon for remote sensing the polar orbiting satellite called
provides
security in regard to food, water,
of the lunar surface. poverty allotiation, health and education, as well
as for
by the spacefaring nations as an emerging Acknowledged national defence. This comprehensive
view of security will, and needs to, be a guiding
space power, India has a vital spirit in
peaceful uses of outer space and cannot remain stake in the any global strategic thinking, planning and
[Link] ned to preservea peaceful
in the critically important frontier. It iåhtruism indifferent to the emerging trends S - space for ourselvesand for our future generations.
that this 'commons space' is getting
increasingly territorialized Moorthi 2004: 268
one of the
key drivers behind this
trend is the growing military The 1967 Outer Space Treaty did lay d0'.•m, in a far-sighted
over a number of issues,includ- manner, the foundation
ing space debris and satellite slots. The of common security architecture in outer space against the
by China in January 2007 1 backdrop of Cold War ideo-
(knocking down one of its weather logical geopolitics (Agnew 1998). In view of the enormous financialinvestments made
argue that this 'was the harbinger of a future»arÄh' Americanscholarsto over the years by various seafaring nations, including India, in space science and infra-
technology-dependent
could cripple a structure, the common
United States military' (Foräéfi that nearly
security concern of international community ought to be that
90 percent of all military satellites and outer space remains free of any kind of militarization, in the best interest of humankind.
60 percent of all are owned
by the USA, many in the US have expressed fear over a possible
Harbor' Geopolitics of Climate Change—Territorialization
(Oppenheimer 2003: 82). As one American strategic expert and Securitization

2008), a doctrine for warfare in space is being developedby the In the Oventy-first century, global geopolitical agenda of complex and compelling
Liberation Army (PLA) , based on the geopoliticalassumption that mastery aporqi&hs 'global' problems, such as 'climate change' is steadily acquiring greater salience
of outer space is a natural extension of other forn-rs of territorial Gi+&å• that and visibility. There appears to be a growing 'consensus' that the science of climate
the USA is the most dominant power in space, China's strategicexperts perceive the" change is now 'settled'and thus irrefutable. Scientistsas well as policy makers seem
USA as the most likely opponent in that new frontier of warfare. to be in agreement that in case the Earth exceeds an avenge temperature rise of two
Everett C. Dolman in his Astropolitik:
ClassicalGeopolitics
in the SpaceAge (Dolman 2001) degrees centigrade (the so called 'tipping point'), catastrophic consequences would

argues that the principles of classical geopolitics, especially those propounded folhw, especially for the poor and marginalized in the Global South. According to the
by
Eh'AMnment and Forests Minister of India, 'There is zo county the world that is as
Mackinder and Mahan, are most relevant to the new strategicdomain of outer space.
to climate change as India' (Government of India 201 Oa: 9).
In his view:
as well as popular discourses. climate change is often framed as a

the vast resourcc of Solar Space represnt the heartland of the [Link] 'global beyond borders. This allegedly global character of global

discussion within international rela-

Space, like Eastern Europe in Mackinder's design, is the most critical arena for Astropolitics. warming [Link]*næge issue to broader

tions and about the contemporary role of territoryand political

Control of Earth Space not only guaranteeslong-tem controlof the outerreachesof space,it
boundaries (Doyle 2010). A number o? studies draw our attentionto
provides a near term advantage on the terrestrial battlefield. climatechange remain state-centric
Dolman 1999: 93 how various
(Barnett 2007), neglect justice issues (Doyle 2008), tend to territo-
flows despite the-i?détemwrialized representations by climate science
Furthermore, rializecarbon
a climate of fear (Hulme 2008; Chaturvedi
(Lovbrand and Stripple 2006)
would not stop commercein
Mahan recognized that control of the world's major chokepoints
and Doyle 2010).
around' to avoid them—but increasingly being turned
the ninetmth catury-—-traders could simply 'sail the long way Climate change (regardless of its scientific evidence) is
undaiable [Link] can projecta deployed to divide, discipline
in so doing the chokepoint controller would gain an into a post-industrial discourse in the North, which is and Doyle
locationsmay not denyanother's access complexes' (Chaturvedi
parallel capacity; Control of thæ critical outer space and contain 'Asia' in terms of various (in)security imagined in and
time. new alignments and alliancesare being
completely, but it will make accßs extremely cost-efficimt. 1999:104
2010: 96). At the same
security establishments, largely on the
Dolman by the northern countries, especially the national degradation,
basis of hypothetical modelling of connections between environmental
of a critical geopolitics,it is crucialto in the 'majority worlds' of [Link]
Having noted that, from the standpoint into outer space, thus threaten- climate change and destabilizationhappening the
of terrestrial geopolitical
conflict
•threat multiplier' is ably supportgd by
'avoid the migration
(Moorthi 2004: 267). Furthermore, alarmist framing of climate change as a
belonging to allmankind'
ing the space assets
 162
Sanjay Chaturvedi
Geopolitics
geographical imaginations of rising 163
ocean water levels.
'ruined' national economies. climate droughts. 'violent' weather,
processes and metaphors borrowed refugees and vague assumptions of automatic Looking ahead, tndia•gforeign policy today is hkely
to be guided by both
from other fields such as unprecedentedpragmatism g well [Link] The
etc. such alarmist framings •spillover', 'eontagion% pragmatismis rather
not only produce climate visible in the growing realization that g rising power
2009) but also 'give rise to cartographic of fear (Hulme Asia and beyond. India's
anxieties about safeguarding world view and self-imageare due for a thorough [Link]
"our" identity and prosperity ("our way normauvethrust
O ening flows and forces (including
of living") in the wake of boundaries of relates to a critical reassessmentof a country's geopolitical location
on the globe. in
migrations)
allegedlythreat- the light of unfolding age of both resource garcity and climate change.
climate change' (Chaturvedi and Doyle 201 allegedly unleashed by the unfolding with regard to the Indian Ocean region facing Antarctica.
especially
The address delivered by the Indian As the 'Asian Century' unfolds, there is no deÜth of classical geopohticalvis•ons
lease of India's National Action Plan on Manmohan Singh, on the re- in
Climate ChangeOAPCC) on 30 And about'rising India' that tend to privilege conflict confrontation over cooperation
reveals the tension between the: June 2008. and dialogue. The 'new' imaginative geographies 'Greate and 'New
Great Games' seem to be [Link] pace. recycling the •old*themesof
de-terntohal/g;obal and nouonal/territorial logics
deployedin a faced 'containment' and •encirclement' in order to encounter the •new'threatsEd dangers.
on us middle class•a class Delicately poised at the centre of such imaginative geographiesaxenot
that
as a rising Asian power on the one hand, and, at the la's stays only the future prospects of Sino—Indiarelations. But the
same time, can be håå•dSänost n- Asa the
sible/accountcble in terms of per capita emissiomsto the
'global' atmosphere.
Ocean region geopolitics at large. rne following except from recentspeechdelivered
by the then Indian foreign secretary. Ninpama Roy. entitled •India as a [Link]
Doyle and Chaturve 20, O
Stakeholder in the Indian Ocean: Policy Contours', on 20 t O. however.
Dr Manmohan Singh said:
seems to suggest that alternative geopolitical visualization of the Oceut region.
Climate Change is a global challenge. It canonlybesuccessfully
overcome
through
and India's location and role in [Link] both feasbie and desarabie

c global, collaborative and cooperativeeffort. India is preparedto play its role as a responsible It is now a widely acceptedtruism that the ppoiitxs •i Goa
member of the international community and make its own [Link] citizen of cosm of global geopoliticaltrends ... A popularthane •henedia s to ?TYCt
this planet must have an equal share of the planetary amospheric space. %å.hcs the new theatreof big powerconflict. A *tidy z:aiyst (ze .•eiztzre
Long term convergenceof per capta emissions is, therefore,the only equitablebasis for a global Roberaa has also publisheda book oa the poke •i
compact on clirnate change. pyot state supreme•in the so called tussle •ae Scats ax.
Government of India 2008 (emphasis given) Whileihis is dattenng. we do make •a the •i
Thereis of'ndict. India news the netpg mtn
Conclusion sustainable a cmpemuveZifcrt regmalcoetns
the one buid urd all of the the :ncm pwer the
Geopolitics will continue to derive its vibrancy from the intriguing interfacebetween regioa we have a Vital stake *the scurity

its classical and critical versions. These two versions will continue to influence the and
Govemmezt of India1010b
theory and practices of international relations and diplomacyin a globalizingworld
in theirown ways. Geopolitics. in both its classical ud critical coaaaue to pose intellectu-

This author has argued elsewhere that whereas there is: al-academic as well as policy before India.

a long lineage of ppoliticaJ thought and theorising on the Indian sub-continent, It is difficult
to idmtify an csmtial, irnmirmt core of contmt of Indian [Link] References
jn 'na-
imaginations are fouJd groundedin both the traditional domainsof statecraftand
of other discourse. London: Routledge.
WocldPolitics.
tionalist' encounters with the British, whjJe drawing upon g whole range Agnew, J. 1998. Gopliucs:
in South
South Asia'. In InternalDisplacernent
assumptions and beliefs that are speific to religious-culturalmoorings
and manifestationsof Baneriee, P, ZOOS.'Resisting Erasure; Women ID?s in
eds Baneriee. S. B. R. Chaudhury and S. K Das.
&ig: Tbe Gudiq
Indian civilization.
Chaturvedi 2005; 277 New Delhi: sage.
Chmate Change'. GagraphyCompass Vol. I (6): 1361—75.
Barneg, J. 2007. 'The Geopobucs of
explored,
Various facets of this lineage also need to be further