What is geopolitics? What makes a power?
Geopolitics looks at how geography (where a country is, its size, climate, coasts, rivers, resources and neighbours) affects its power and its relations with others.
Power is the ability to get others to do what you want. A power (or great power) is a state that can act far beyond its borders. Today its features include:
- Military: armed forces, navy, bases abroad, nuclear weapons.
- Economic: size of the economy, trade, currency, big companies, energy.
- Technological: research, space, computers, AI.
- Diplomatic: seats in international bodies, alliances.
- Cultural (soft): language, films, music, sport, universities.
The first two are hard power (forcing or paying). The cultural kind is soft power (attracting). Using both well is sometimes called smart power.
Soft power and indirect power: language, digital giants and routes
Language: English is the most used language of business, science and the internet, which helps English-speaking countries spread ideas and products. French is spoken across several continents and shared through a group of French-speaking states. A language you share opens doors to trade and influence.
Digital giants: a few huge technology companies run search engines, social media, cloud data and phones used by billions. Their size lets them challenge states on taxes, privacy, free speech and competition; states respond with laws on data and fair markets.
Routes: power comes from controlling the paths of trade. About 80% of world trade by volume goes by sea through a few chokepoints (Strait of Hormuz, Strait of Malacca, Suez Canal, Panama Canal, Bab-el-Mandeb). China's new Silk Roads (Belt and Road Initiative, from 2013) fund ports, railways and roads across Asia, Africa and Europe, linking many economies to China.
Rise and fall of powers: two historical cases
Ottoman Empire: founded around 1300 in Anatolia, it took Constantinople in 1453 and at its height (1500s) ruled lands around the eastern Mediterranean, controlling key trade routes between Europe and Asia. From the 1700s it fell behind in industry and military technology, lost territory, became indebted to European banks and was called "the sick man of Europe". It collapsed after the First World War (ended 1922). Lesson: a power declines when its economy and technology fall behind and rivals grow.
Russia since 1991: the Soviet Union broke up in 1991 into 15 states. Russia went through a deep economic crisis in the 1990s. From the 2000s it rebuilt state power using exports of oil and gas, a renewed military, its nuclear weapons and its seat on the UN Security Council, and sought influence over neighbouring states. Its war in Ukraine from 2022 brought heavy sanctions from many Western countries and closer ties with Asia. Lesson: a power can use energy and arms to rebuild, but conflict and sanctions carry heavy costs.
US power today and its challenges
The United States is often called the leading power since 1991. Its strengths:
- Military: the largest defence budget, bases in many regions, navies in every ocean, many allies (NATO and in Asia).
- Economic: one of the two largest economies; the US dollar is the main currency of world trade; leading companies and universities.
- Cultural: films, music, sport, fast food, social media and the English language spread its ideas worldwide.
Challenges: the rise of China (economy, technology, navy); a more multipolar world with India, the EU and others; high public debt; deep political divisions at home; doubts among allies; and competition in new spaces such as cyberspace and outer space.
Competition for resources and territory, and cooperation
Competition: states compete for oil, gas, water, farmland, fish, minerals and rare metals for electronics. Disputes over rivers, islands, sea areas and borders can cause tension. Trade links countries but can also be used as pressure (tariffs, sanctions). Migration moves people towards jobs and safety and is a big political issue in many countries. States form alliances (military pacts, regional groups like the EU, the African Union or ASEAN, and groups like the G20 and BRICS).
Cooperation at sea: under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982) a coastal state has an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) up to 200 nautical miles (about 370 km) from its coast, where it alone can fish and drill. Beyond lie the high seas, open to all. Overfishing and pollution there led to a High Seas Treaty (agreed 2023) to create marine protected areas and protect biodiversity.
Cooperation in space: the International Space Station (since 1998) is run together by the space agencies of the USA, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada, showing that rivals can still work together.
Try it: map the power of a country (no map needed)
Pick any country. Make three columns: muscles (army), money (economy), magnetism (culture). Give each a score from 0 to 10 with one reason, e.g. "films loved abroad: 8". Then write one geographic advantage (coast, river, resource) and one weakness. Compare with a friend's country. Use the free-play sliders to test your guesses.
Key formulas and definitions
- Geopolitics: how geography shapes power, rivalry and cooperation between states
- Hard power: army and economy (force or payment)
- Soft power: culture, language, values, universities (attraction)
- Chokepoint: narrow passage that much trade must use (e.g. a strait or canal)
- EEZ: sea zone up to 200 nautical miles from the coast (UNCLOS 1982)
- High seas: ocean beyond all EEZs, shared by all states
Worked examples
1. Classify: aircraft carriers, a popular TV series, foreign aid, a world-famous university.
Aircraft carriers: hard (military). Foreign aid: hard (economic, paying). TV series and university: soft power (attraction).
2. Why is the Strait of Malacca important?
It is the shortest sea route between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, so a large share of oil and goods for East Asia passes through it. Blocking it would disrupt world trade.
3. Give two reasons for the decline of the Ottoman Empire.
It fell behind European states in industry and military technology, and it lost territory and money (debts) while rivals grew stronger.
4. An island lies 150 nautical miles from Country X. Who can fish in the waters around it?
If the island belongs to X, the sea around it can be part of X's EEZ, so X controls fishing and drilling there; other ships may still sail through.
5. Why do the USA and Russia still cooperate on the ISS?
Space stations are very costly and complex; sharing costs and skills benefits all partners, so cooperation can continue even when relations on Earth are tense.
Common mistakes
- Thinking power means only the army. Economy, technology and culture count too.
- Thinking soft power is weak. Attraction can win support without any cost of war.
- Thinking the EEZ is the same as territorial waters. Territorial waters go to 12 nautical miles; the EEZ to 200 and gives economic rights only.
- Thinking powers last forever. History shows rise and decline (Ottoman Empire, the Soviet Union).