The Perceived Geopolitical Importance of the Countries of the World: An Analytical and Pedagogical Investigation

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine the geopolitical importance of countries of the world as perceived by American college students. During the 1995–96 academic year, students enrolled in undergraduate political geography courses at three American universities were asked to rank the geopolitical importance of the 55 countries in the world with populations of at least 15 million. Analysis of the rankings indicated broad agreement on the importance of Western Europe, Russia, China, and Japan relative to most less developed countries. Rankings were consistent among students in Nebraska, Texas, and Florida despite the substantial socioeconomic and cultural differences between student populations in these three states. In contrast to the students, professional political geographers completing the survey assigned higher levels of importance to larger but relatively less developed countries such as Brazil, Indonesia, Turkey, and Nigeria. The survey and associated writing assignment provide an effective method by which teachers of political geography can reinforce concepts of geopolitics.

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