The Genesis of Geopolitics and Friedrich Ratzel

This book discusses the influence of Friedrich Ratzel's ideas in more contemporary geopolitical analytical systems and the geodeterminism commonly attributed to him. The author thoroughly analyzes the structural components of Ratzel's thought. The research is inspired by the numerous contradictory approaches in the secondary literature, presenting Ratzel as both humanist and racist, geo-determinist and multidimensional analyst, organicist and social scientist, precursor of Geopolitics and opponent to the same idea. In this work, more particular issues are approached: the establishment of a scientific Political Geography; the methodological approach of his multidisciplinary work; the redefinition of his geopolitical period; his notion of state and the evaluation of sociological and cultural parameters as factors of state power; the biogeographical content of the notion of Lebensraum; his attitude towards the racist theories as well as towards the Darwinian theories; his overall worldview and the confrontation with cosmopolitism; his contribution to an interdisciplinary, positivist and scientific approach in analyzing social and international affairs; his thoughts on the architecture of Europe. The book will be useful for researchers and students in many scientific fields, such as International Relations, Geopolitics, Geography and History of Geography.

Autorentext

Dr. Alexandros Stogiannos received his PhD in Geopolitics at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (UoA), (Faculty of Turkish & Modern Asian Studies / School of Economics and Political Sciences), where Geopolitics is taught on both an undergraduate and a postgraduate level.
He has authored multiple individual articles on the German geographer Friedrich Ratzel and his ideas, published in international journals in Germany and Greece. His research interests focus primarily on Systemic Geopolitical Analysis, as well as on the Theory and History of Geopolitics. In his published case studies he emphasises on the implementation of Machine Learning methods, such as Data Mining.
Dr. Alexandros Stogiannos is a Senior Researcher at the Laboratory of Geocultural Analyses of the Greater Middle East and Turkey (Faculty of Turkish & Modern Asian Studies), and a Lecturer at the MSc degree programme Geostrategic Synthesis and Defence Studies and International Security of the same Faculty.
Aside from his academic career, Dr. Stogiannos has also established the ERASMOS Language School (Corfu) were he is still co-manager and head of the German department. He is also a former political reporter and editor.

Inhalt

Foreword

1. Friedrich Ratzel and Geopolitics

1.1. Geopolitics as an analysis tool of power redistribution

1.1.1. Systemic Geopolitical Analysis and Critical Geopolitics

1.1.2. The Greek Geopolitical Systemic School (research programme)

1.1.2.1. Methodology of Systemic Geopolitical Analysis

1.2. Ratzel: The father of Geopolitics?

1.3. Ratzel's scientific Political Geography

1.3.1. About the scientific nature of Political Geography

1.3.2. Epistemological approach and definition of Political Geography

1.3.2.1. Land equals power?

1.3.2.2. Physiographical and human geographical aspects in the political evaluation

1.3.3. Ratzel and modern Geopolitics

1.4. A Methodological approach to Ratzel's Work

1.5. Determining F. Ratzel's geopolitical period

1.6. Conclusions of Chapter 1

2. F. Ratzel's State as a social organism

2.1. The predominant State perceptions at F. Ratzel's age (1789 1900).

2.2. The German national edifice: specificities and disputes

2.2.1. The German national unity as a starting point of the ideological propensity to social

darwinist and racist theories.

2.3. In-between two eras: Ratzel's perception of the State

2.4. The myth of Ratzel's organistic and metaphysical perception of the state

2.4.1. Review of Ratzel's article The state as an organism

2.5. Conclusions of Chapter 2

3. Living space (Lebensraum): Bio-geographical signifier with political-geographical signified?

3.1. Living space (Lebensraum): a bio-geographical term

3.2. The driving forces of the organisms

3.3. A definition of living space: its material characteristics

3.4. The importance of space for development of the species

3.5. Bio-geography as the field for the implementation Migrationstheorie (theory of migration)

3.6. Conclusions of Chapter 3

4. Social / cultural aspects as factors of power contibutors in Ratzel's state analysis and the issue of racism

4.1. The position of the nature-oriented people (Naturvölker) within humanity

4.2. People evaluation 4.2.1. Family &am...