Rediscovering Spykman the Rimland, Geography of Peace

and Foreign Policy

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Article by: Federico Bordonaro PhD (May 2009) Link to html page
Bio of Federico Bordonaro

Dr. Federico Bordonaro is associate professor of geopolitics at the Center of Excellence for
Stability Police Units (COESPU, Italy) and lecturer at Romes university La Sapienza. He is
senior analyst with the Power and Interest News Report and Equilibri.net, two organizations that
collect open sources to provide conflict analysis. Mr Bordonaro is currently writing an essay on
the origins and evolution of Anglo-American geopolitical thought.
Since the 1980s, both the academic world and the analytical community in the field of
international relations and political theory have shown a renewed interest for classical
geopolitics. On one hand, leading scholars in strategic studies, such as Colin S. Gray and
Geoffrey Sloan in Britain, Mackubin T. Owen and Francis Sempa in the U.S., have promoted a much needed
rediscovering of classical authors. The above mentioned analysts have attempted to demonstrate that classical
geopolitical thinking is still a valuable tool to read post-Cold War power relations, and that geography remains the
most important factor in international relations, because it is the most permanent and ultimately inescapable,
notwithstanding the crucial changes in the relationship between man and the earth thanks to new military,
transportation, and communication technologies.
On the other hand, critical geopolitics has produced a number of in-depth studies which, together with accurate
biographical works, have helped scholars to better understand the cultural origins, biases, and theoretical limitations
of classical geopolitics.
However, both neo-classical and critical thinkers have concentrated their efforts mostly on the works of Sir
Halford J. Mackinder (Blouet 1987, 2004; Gray and Sloan 1999; Loughlin 1994; O Tuathail 1996), and to a lesser
extent on the previously largely overlooked geopolitical thinking of Alfred T. Mahan (Sumida 1997, 1999). As a result,
the theoretical and analytical work of Dutch-born American scholar Nicholas J. Spykman has been less accurately
and less deeply reconsidered.
Although Spykman has traditionally been recognised as one of the most important and influential geopolitical
thinkers, at the same time he has very often been reduced to being the author of the Rimland thesis, as opposed
to Mackinder, who put emphasis on the strategic prize and role of the Heartland. In addition, most of the articles
and essays on classical geopolitics have in fact considered Spykman in light of Mackinders seminal work. In this
brief paper, this author would like to highlight the richness of Spykmans thought, its originality and prescience.
Moreover, I will attempt to show, albeit very succinctly, that Spykmans in-depth analysis of geographys politicalstrategic significance constitutes an excellent introduction to the methodology of geopolitics.

The other Spykman

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The Rimland thesis

Because of the goals of this paper, I shall not emphasise the importance of the Rimland thesis in Spykmans
intellectual work. While it would be incorrect to overlook the impact of that thesis on the U.S., and western, strategic
thinking in the second half of the 20th century, the reader can refer to Spykmans well-known posthumous work The
Geography of the Peace and to a series of studies on classical geopolitics to judge the soundness of the authors
best known geopolitical and strategic hypothesis. Moreover, students of geopolitics can refer to Michael Geraces
groundbreaking article on the real and presumed influence of Mackinders and Spykmans thinking on U.S.
containment strategy during the Cold War (Gerace 1991).

Spykmans earlier works on geopolitics

In this paper, this author will look instead to Spykmans earlier works on geopolitics, and in particular to two lengthy
articles that he wrote in 1938 and 1939, respectively on Geography and Foreign Policy and Geographic Objectives
in Foreign Policy. In these two essays, the Dutch-American professor appears to be aiming at formulating a
response to Friedrich Ratzels geographic-political analysis of the conditions of states power and greatness. More
generally, Spykmans two seminal articles may be considered as an Anglo-Saxon, insular response to German
Geopolitik, in the sense that the author engaged in the analysis of Kleingeopolitik (Wilkinson 1985) before
committing himself to global geostrategic considerations (Grossgeopolitik), as he will do in 1942 with Americas
Strategy and World Politics).

An urgent task for American scholars

Anglo-American geopolitics, and in particular Halford Mackinder, had focused mainly on global geopolitics, as
Mackinders The Geographical Pivot of History epitomised. Kleingeopolitik was the micro-level analysis of the
geographical bases of states power (Parker 1998); in other words, the state was taken as the analytical unit. In the
late 1930s, German geopolitical science was flourishing, especially because of the Munich School and its widely
read journal Die Zeitschrift fuer Geopolitik. Spykman felt that the Anglo-American scientific community needed to
respond to the German authors who were unduly influenced by the Nazi ideology, and that improving the
understanding of political-geographic factors affecting power and international relations was an urgent task for
American scholars.

Geographical bases of power

While quoting various works on geopolitics published in Germany, Spykmans theoretical framework in Geography
and Foreign Policy owed much to Alfred T. Mahans geopolitical thought. In 1890, Mahan wrote about The Influence
of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783, and he argued that geographical position, extent of territory, topography,
number of population, together with the character of the people and the character of government heavily
conditioned the sea power potential of states. Writing in 1938, Spykman echoed Mahans theory about the
geographical bases of power as he stated that The factors that condition the policy of states are many; they are
permanent and temporary, obvious and hidden; they include, apart from the geographic factor, population density,
the economic structure of the country, the ethnic composition of the people, the form of government, and the
complexes and pet prejudices of foreign ministers (Spykman 1938:28).

Not a geographical determinist

As it is clear from the above passage, Spykman was certainly not a geographical determinist; he deemed
geography the most important, but not the only important factor of international politics and power relations. He
clarified (Spykman 1938:30) that The geography of a country is rather the material for, than the cause of, its policy,

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and to admit that the garment must ultimately be cut to fit the cloth is not to say that the cloth determines either the
garments style or its adequacy. But the geography of a state cannot be ignored by men who formulate its policy.
The nature of the territorial base has influenced them in that formulation in the past and will continue to do so in the
future.

History
Sharing a characteristic that is proper of all serious geopolitical analysts, Spykman founded his method in history,
and most importantly, in long-run history. All of the examples that Spykman introduced in his 1938 and 1939 articles
were taken from history, instead than from mere theories. Just like Mahan before him, Spykman devoted a
considerable part of his theoretical introduction to geopolitics to the effects of size of territory and location upon a
states political and strategic history. The Dutch-American authors recognised that size is not strength but potential
strength, since geopolitics is a multi-factorial method of analysis (a fact widely accepted by modern authors such as
Randall Collins or Franois Thual). Size is strength insofar as it is equivalent to arable land and therefore to man
power, and, reasoning from this premise, most land powers have in the past followed a policy of territorial
expansion. Since the Industrial Revolution, however, strength has become more and more identified with industrial
strength. Raw material resources and industrial organization have therefore become the prerequisites of power
whether by land or by sea. But size is still operative in the sense that the larger the area the greater the chances
that it contains varying climatic ranges and varying topography, and therefore varied resources and economic
possibilities (Spykman 1938:32).

Shape and topography of territory

Size could be exploited fully only if effective centralized control could be exerted, thanks primarily to an effective
system of communication from the center to the periphery and to the absence or the successful counterbalancing
of centrifugal forces of separatism. But especially in order to establish a modern and articulated system of
communication, Spykman explained, geography again played a crucial role, since the shape and topography of
territory heavily conditioned such an enterprise. Examples of strategies implemented to overcome natural barriers
and to exploit territorial potential were found by Spykman in ancient, medieval, and modern history, in European as
well as in American or Asian history (Spykman 1938:36). From a military-strategic point of view, Spykman pointed
out that Size is of primary importance as an element of defense, particularly if the vital centers of a country are far
removed from the border, quoting Russias defence of her territory against Napoleon and other examples
(Spykman 1938:32).

Two superpowers
The decades that followed Spykmans writings confirmed his views. In the industrial-technological era of the Cold
War, the two superpowers were very large states: U.S. and USSR, while China was rapidly emerging as a new
power. On the other hand, comparatively small countries with large industrial bases could still rank among the
medium-sized powers, like Germany, Japan, France, the UK, or Israel, but they could certainly not compete with the
giants for world domination. Therefore, what geopolitical analysis discovered to be true for the agrarian states turned
out to be still theoretically valid for 20th centurys politics the necessary changes having been made. Moreover,
the extent, shape, and topography of Soviet territory proved once again a provider of strategic depth and defensive
strength during the Second World War, as it frustrated the Third Reichs offensive under the Barbarossa Plan. He
then speculated how territorial size and resources, when coupled with technological strength, would project a state
or an alliance of states to the status of great power, and he predicted in 1938 that in fifty years, a confederation of
European states might have joined the likely quadrumvirate of world powers formed by the U.S., the U.S.S.R.,
China, and India. He was, in this respect, strikingly prescient, and well ahead of his time.

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Significance of location
Probably, the most interesting part of Spykmans theoretical geopolitics is the one devoted to the significance of
location for a states power potential. The location of a state may be described from the point of view of worldlocation, that is, with reference to the land masses and oceans of the world as a whole, or from the point of view of
regional location, that is, with reference to the territory of other states and immediate surroundings. The former
description will be in terms of latitude, longitude, altitude, and distance from the sea; the latter will be in terms of
relations to surroundings areas, distances, lines of communication, and the nature of border territory (Spykman
1938:40).

Geopolitical change
He then highlighted the crucial importance of geopolitical change, as history had changed the salience of certain
areas and resources. Spykman noticed that A complete description of the geographic location of a state will include
[] an analysis of the meaning of the facts of location, since while the latter do not change, the significance of such
facts changes with every shift in the means of communication, in routes of communication, in the technique of war,
and in the centers of world power, and the full meaning of a given location can be obtained only by considering the
specific area in relation to two systems of reference: a geographic system of reference from which we derive the
facts of location, and a historical system of reference by which we evaluate those facts.
The importance of such an insightful consideration could be hardly overstated. It demonstrates how much off the
mark are the frequent charges of determinism and obsolescence against classical geopolitical thinking, while at the
same time it helps rediscovering the other Spykman, i.e., the analyst of the geographical bases of power, who was
writing on geopolitics years before his Rimland thesis became known.

North Atlantic basin

Spykmans analysis of great powers relative location took him to the conclusion, in 1938, that The northern Atlantic
is today the most desirable body of water on which a state can be located. Contrary to Mackinder, he believed that
geography gave the U.S., not Russia, a decisive strategic and economic advantage. Although Mackinders
Heartland thesis (Mackinder 1904, 1919) remains a masterpiece of geopolitical thinking, and albeit the rise of
Moscow to the status of superpower can be considered to have been, at least in part, forecast by Mackinder, the
British geographer had apparently underestimated the power potential of the United States and the growing
importance of the North Atlantic basin, at least until 1943 (Mackinder 1943). Presciently, Spykman also foresaw the
irresistible rise of the Pacific Ocean as a key route for world trade. He believed that although it would have taken a
long time before the Pacific basin could compete with the Atlantic, the relative position of the two oceans was
shifting in favour of the former (Spykman 1938:42).

Spykmans predictions
As a proof of Spykmans forecasting ability, one can quote the episodes reported by David Wilkinson, one of the few
scholars to have devoted attention to Spykmans early works and biography. In 1942, during some of the hardest
times in WWII, he almost caused a scandal as he publicly expressed his unconventional views about the desirable
post-war American diplomacy. He was convinced that, once Germany and Japan had been defeated, they should
had both been included into an anti-Soviet alliance, due to the fact that Moscow would be left in a too favourable
position in Eurasia. He thus anticipated the end of the Soviet-Western alliance and the formation of a Western
alliance against Moscow axed on the North-Atlantic. Such views were expressed by Spykman when the antiJapanese and anti-German propaganda was at its heights in America and Washington was allied with the Soviets
against the Tripartite Pact (Williamson 1985:83-86). Of course, not all of Spykmans predictions turned out to be true.

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In 1942, he incorrectly forecast that Britain would be a third force between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. after WWII,
and he thought that Germany would survive as a great power instead of France (Williamson 1985:85). However, his
track record remains impressive.

Territorial resource and geo-positional advantages

It is remarkable that Randall Collins, the American sociologist who built a brilliant geopolitical theory in the late
1970s in order to predict the Cold Wars outcome, as well included territorial size and resources and geographic
location among his theoretical principles (Collins 1981, 1986). While Collins never quoted Spykmans 1938 article,
he acknowledged the importance of classical geopolitics as he introduced the bases of geopolitical method. For
Collins, territorial resource and geo-positional advantages were the two fundamental geopolitical advantages of
world power, and they worked cumulatively over time. In his early formulation of the theory (see Collins 1981), the
American sociologist devoted the introductory part to the examination of the facts of extent, shape, topography, and
location of the world heartlands, in a way that resembles Spykmans 1938 investigation.

Rediscovered geography
Spykman also anticipated most of the themes of the so-called offensive realism, a branch of neo-realism in IR
theory that emphasises the great powers lust for territorial expansion and power maximisation as a means to
security maximisation (see Mearsheimer 2001). Spykmans focus on geography as the most conditioning factor of
world politics decisively separates his work from the body of IR theory. However, in the last decade, IR theory, and
particularly offensive realism and neo-classical realism, seems to have rediscovered geography (Mearsheimer
2001; Mouritzen and Wivel 2005). The implications of the geographical and ecological settings for human
aggressiveness and expansionism have been also analysed by Bradley Thayer in his groundbreaking work on
evolutionism and international relations (Thayer 2004). As a result, Spykmans works, and especially Americas
Strategy and World Power may be seen as a precursor of todays new theoretical evolutions of realism.

Conclusion
The aim of this short paper has been to stimulate a fresh reading of Spykmans early writings on geopolitics, and
especially of his 1938-1939 articles. Since geopolitics has been rediscovered in the West in the 1970s, Spykman
has been almost always identified as the author of the Rimland thesis. However, his contribution to geopolitical
analysis has certainly not been limited to that. His intellectual relationship with Mackinder, Mahan, and German
Geopolitiker is a fascinating and complex one, as it is his cultural formation as a conflict sociologist who specialised
in Georg Simmels work.
At a time when the world geopolitical struggle continues to unfold mainly in the Rimland (the Middle East, south
Asia, and with less intensity in north-east Asia), Spykmans geopolitical writings deserve a careful reading also
beyond the Rimland question.

Literature
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Blouet, Brian (ed) (2004), Global Geostrategy: Mackinder and the Defence of the West
Collins, Randall (1982), Sociology since Midcentury,
Collins, Randall (1986), Weberian Sociological Theory
Gerace, Michael P. (1991), Between Mackinder and Spykman: Geopolitics, Containment, and After, in
Comparative Strategy, vol 10, pp. 347-364

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