Halford J. Mackinder, Geopolitics, and the Heartland Thesis

Abstract

Around 1900 the young geographer, Halford J. Mackinder, grew concerned with the changing balance of international power. He argued that Russia's vast, central territories were outside of the reach of British sea power, that the vast Eurasian territory possessed an invulnerable ‘Heartland’, and that whoever controlled this Heartland would dominate the world. This idea became a powerful notion in early twentieth-century international politics. This article presents Mackinder's idea in context and traces its impact. First, it follows the evolution of the idea. It then shows how the idea developed during the First World War, buoyed Mackinder's criticisms of the 1919 Paris Peace Conference, and drove him to expand on the nature of two rivalling approaches to questions of war and peace. Finally, it follows the impact of Mackinder's idea on the evolution of the geopolitical tradition: first in Great Britain, where its impact was slight, then in Germany, where its impact was enormous, then finally in the United States, where it provided a framework that helped President Roosevelt prioritise a war in Europe against Germany over a war in Asia against Japan.

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