Political geography is a type of economic and social geography that borders on political science. As an independent scientific field, it arose relatively recently: in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its founder is considered the German geographer Friedrich Ratzel, who in 1897 published a book under the same name. His book was initially criticized because it concluded that the capture by a strong state of the weakened and neighboring was justified. She was most persecuted when the Nazis took advantage of the provisions for practical purposes of the Reich. It was on the ideas of F. Ratzel that geopolitics was formed, which in the USSR was considered as a tool for conquering territories.
With regard to this term, it was first introduced by the Swedish scientist R. Cellen. In the Soviet Union, the movement of geopolitical thought was under the strict control of the state, therefore this field of knowledge practically did not develop.
Today, this concept is interpreted as the science of the territorial difference of political phenomena and processes.
Thus, political geography studies:
- Creation of a global and regional political map.
- Territorial change of political borders.
- The specifics of the state system.
- Political blocs, groups and parties.
- Election companies in terms of their territorial plans.
All of these categories can be studied both globally and locally.
Of great interest to researchers is the assessment of the geopolitical position of individual states, i.e. the specifics of their position in relation to allies and neighbors. Political geography tends to change over time, because it is considered a historical category.
Note that this science has several main directions:
- Geopolitics, which is in charge of the global system.
- Geographical state science.
- Regional political science.
- Regional elites.
Political geography and geopolitics as its structural element are always under the scrutiny of researchers who are engaged in the analysis of domestic and foreign policy. The fact is that geopolitics expresses the line of the country's behavior in relation to state borders. She considers the country's interaction with the rest of the powers, in particular, with its neighbors.
If we consider the times of the Second World War and the period of the Cold War, all the concepts of this direction sought to analyze the causes of territorial seizures, the creation of military bases and occupation, as well as military and state interventions in the device of other countries. In a sense, modern geopolitics also has a similar focus, but its specificity is that more attention is already being paid to the principles of international security.
Political geography is currently actively developing as a science. In particular, if we consider its geopolitical features, their manifestation in the modern world is globalization. When the USSR collapsed, the existing equilibrium was destroyed. The tendency to establish order with the help of military forces begins to prevail, and the opinion of the world community and its representative body - the UN - is not taken into account. In response to these actions, anti-globalist movements are emerging that are quickly becoming aggressive.
Currently, political geography is developing along with social. However, this entails the emergence of criminal organizations, extremism, feminism and religions. Also very interesting industries in terms of the nature of occurrence are the geography of culture and the service sector.
Note that the political map of the world fully reflects the era and the changes taking place in it. However, it underwent the greatest changes in the 20th century, as the researchers note.
