JEOPOLİTİK STRATEJİ

According to Montevideo Convention which sets out the parameters of a state spells out four aspects for a political entity to be properly called a state: defined territory, permanent people, centralized authority and sovereignty.

Among other things, the natural resources, proximity or remoteness to conflict areas, the climatic characteristics, neighborhood with prosperous or politically stable (or unstable) nations are all factors that contribute to the geopolitical inventory. Some of these factors might be controllable or changeable through implementation of certain policies, especially by use of innovative tools in this age of information and globalization whereas some others remain as constant and unchangeable. Innovative strategies, for instance, might be devised to make better use of natural resources which could be made an integral part of a coherent policy of industrialization and development. On the other hand, geopolitical disadvantages associated with being located in a fairly precarious area might be addressed by a constructive policy vis-à-vis the neighboring states.

The nation state played a central role in international politics throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.

During the Cold War period, the term has been associated with the military strategies and redefined in reference to military objectives which had to bear significance in terms of geopolitical significance.

The traditional definitions and interpretations of geopolitics have been replaced by more comprehensive and integrated approaches which included cultural, religious, economic and social elements as tools of geopolitical discussions. In a sense, such approaches meant distancing from the geography as an analytical tool.

There has been no change in the physical geography of the states in the aftermath of the Cold War which brings about a wave of transformations in many areas. Political geography remained unchanged whereas significant alterations have been observed in modes of international cooperation, agreements and power relations that have great impact upon the geographical status and geopolitical position. In other words, the efficiency of power circles and regional powers changed.

Geopolitics as a discipline has enriched the debates in this new era. Attention has been diverted to discussions on the usefulness of the ideologies simply because the Cold War era was seen as a clear outcome of ideological clashes. In this environment and climate, geopolitics has a lot to offer since ideology is considered irrelevant in most cases.

The classical geopolitics places emphasis upon the deterministic nature of geography and supports that the field focuses on space, land, water and outer space because these are the vital elements for the political supremacy in the world.

The term human security holds a political connotation and reference to human beings which should be taken into consideration as subjects of a political framework. In other words, the term itself stresses that human beings have become a geopolitical concern and that the community of states have taken measures to address this concern by offering strong protections for the individuals in cases where their survival is threatened just because the states have been recognized as sovereign entities in world politics.

Russia pursued a policy in reference to infrastructure from the Soviet era for some countries and under this policy, some countries have been supported and favored whereas some others have been punished. Russia sold natural gas to Armenia, Belarus and Ukraine under Kuchma administration at a subsidized price whereas attempted to use the energy as a means of punishment against Georgia, Moldova, Baltic states and Ukraine under Yuschenko administration.

Because it is different from an ordinary type of land, territory appears to be a significant criterion to define the state. For this reason, to make distinction between the modern nation state and the states before the arrival of nation state, the first is also referred to as territorial state. The difference is that in the definition of modern nation state, physical space is attributed to the state as an integral and indispensable element. In other words, only a state has territory which holds a political connotation and implies a monopolistic political control. In other words, a state, by definition and out of legal necessity, has to have a territory; and it is not possible to speak of a state without a defined territory. The answer is A.

The literature spells out different aspects and dimensions of globalization. A substantial number of scholarly accounts are focused on economic globalization. First used in 1986, it is fairly difficult to define the term globalization. In defining this term, some scholars place emphasis upon multinational enterprises and information technology as driving forces of the process, as well as their global impacts. Market economy plays a determinative role in economic globalization: “[t]he market economy has conquered all over the world. Ten years ago, less than 1 billion people were living in market economies. Now that number is 5 billion. This is the phenomenon called globalization.”. This definition focuses on the economic dimension of globalization only. However, in another definition, “globalization refers to links tying nations of the world together”. The answer is B.

There is a strong linkage between the study of political geography and the IR discipline as an attempt at understanding interstate politics and the practices of the political stage including warfare, conflict, power struggle, development and cooperation. Thus, it is no surprise to observe the development of geopolitics
as a concept and as a discipline in tandem with the study of international relations. Students of the IR and of geopolitics have produced significant accounts in the interwar period during which pursuit of lasting peace among nations has been the main engagement. The answer is E.

In response to the criticisms that globalization process undermined the significance of geography in the study of world politics, proponents suggested that the advances in technology helped people and relevant actors to rely on premises of culture to mobilize like-minded people in different parts of the world. In other words, geopolitics has become even more relevant in this age of information and mobilization. This argument can be confirmed by the recent popular uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region where unconnected masses were organized through social media and initiated a process called the Arab Spring. The answer is A.

Unilateral use of force as well as territorial acquisitions by coercion is strictly prohibited in international law; and as such, states no longer attempt to change their legally recognized borders. Any action that violates this cardinal rule is often sanctioned and punished through collective measures. The international action taken against Saddam Hussein who invaded Kuwait is a prime illustrative example. The answer is C.

Samuel Huntington (1996) argued that a potential clash between major civilizations replaced the ideological rivalry during the Cold War. Huntington’s famous clash of civilizations argument suggests that ideology is no longer the source of conflicts and disputes in interstate politics which would be from now on characterized by the disagreements associated with desires for domination by different civilizations. Like Fukuyama, Huntington also agrees that the Cold War ended with the indisputable victory of the Western liberal democracy but further recalls that rivalry will not be replaced by permanent and lasting peace just because of that victory. In other words, the clash of civilizations approach underlines that there might be even a fiercer rivalry which, however, will now take place due to intercivilizational disputes and ambitions. The answer is B.

Diversification and complexity in the international affairs further led to specialization and compartmentalization in the definitions and the contents of other relevant areas and disciplines, including geopolitics. By nature, geopolitics is already associated with a number of relevant fields; but this connection and association became stronger in the era of globalization. While this could be an asset for the discipline itself, divisions have also emerged among analysts studying different aspects of geopolitics. For instance, who study the classical geopolitics, placing emphasis upon the deterministic nature of geography, are of the view that the field focuses on space, land, water and outer space because these are the vital elements for the political supremacy in the world (Cohen, 1964). For others, geopolitics is a research field that pays particular attention to not only geography but also dynamics leading up to clashes and rivalries between great powers. In fact, this is how particular strands of geopolitics came into life: the geopolitics of oil (Klare, 2009), the geopolitics of religion (Dijkink, 2006), the geopolitics of water (Selby, 2005), the geopolitics of propaganda and the geopolitics of internet (Hlihor, 2014). The answer is E.

Interdependence is a term referring to the intricate ties and bonds between the states and intergovernmental organizations that cannot be possibly ignored in the analysis of world politics. The theory of interdependence basically suggests that due to the inevitable engagement between states in political, military and economic realms, international cooperation is a must and a wise
move for the overall betterment of all states and of the international system. The answer is B.

Association between geopolitics and globalization can be maintained in three different levels in the era of globalization. The first is the geopolitics of globalization. There is a need to focus on globalization as a term that can be analyzed from a geopolitical perspective. The second takes place at the national level where geopolitics develops with reference to the difference between states and can be called geopolitics of development. The third is an increasingly complex system governed by globalization which can be called “low geopolitics.” This is the type of geopolitics without consideration of military strategies but with real impacts on everyday life of the people. The answer is A.

Globalization has its own unique geopolitics because without geopolitical backing, the system it has created is doomed to fail. This is particularly the case for the leading actors that seek to use the globalization process as a governing framework of international politics. This is why Thomas Friedman recalls that the globalization system requires a firm and activist American foreign policy. The geopolitics of development is focused on the efforts and acts of the states. Because globalization better works through governmental institutions, it is only a myth that globalization leads to the end of the nation-state. The answer is  D.