Political geography and geopolitics

Political geography is a kind of economic and social geography that borders on political science. As an independent scientific direction, it emerged relatively recently: in the late 19th - early 20th century. Its founder is the German geographer Friedrich Ratzel, who in 1897 published a book under the same name. His book was initially criticized, because it sounded the conclusion that the seizure by a strong state of the weakened and neighboring is justified. She was most severely persecuted when the Nazis used the provisions of it for the practical purposes of the Reich. It was on the ideas of F. Ratzel that geopolitics was formed, which in the USSR was regarded as an instrument for the conquest of territories.

As for 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 area of knowledge practically did not develop.

To date, this concept is treated as a science about the territorial difference in political phenomena and processes.

Thus, political geography studies:

1. Creation of a world and regional political map.
2. Territorial change of political boundaries.
3. Specifics of the state system.
4. Political blocs, groups and parties.
5. Electoral companies in terms of their territorial plans.

All these categories can be studied at both global and local levels.

A wide interest for researchers is the assessment of the geopolitical situation of individual states, i.e. Specificity of their situation with respect to allies and neighbors. Political geography has the property of changing over time, because it is considered a historical category.

Let us note that this science has several main directions:

1. Geopolitics, which is the responsibility of the global system.
2. Geographical government.
3. Regional political science.
4. Regional elites.

Political geography and geopolitics as its structural element are always under the close attention of researchers who are engaged in the analysis of domestic and foreign policy. The matter is that geopolitics expresses the line of conduct of the country with respect to state borders. She considers the interaction of the country with the rest of the powers, in particular, with the 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 interference in the arrangement of other countries. In a sense, modern geopolitics also has a similar orientation, 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. Tendencies of establishing order with the help of military forces begin to prevail, and the opinion of the world community and its representative body - the UN - is not taken into account. As a response to these actions there are anti-globalization movements that quickly become aggressive.

At the present time, political geography is developing along with social geography. However, this entails the appearance of criminal organizations, extremism, feminism and religions. Also, geography of culture and services is very interesting from the point of view of the nature of origin.

Let us note that the political map of the world fully reflects the era and the changes taking place in it. However, it has undergone the greatest changes in the 20th century, as the researchers note.