Geo-Political Theories

Heartland Theory

• A geopolitical theory which deals with special relationship among various powers & seeks to understand the contemporary geo-politics with reference to history.
• It is a deterministic & predictable model based on Admiral Mahan's Principle that there is historical conflict between the land power and the sea power. However, Maikinder was opposed to the view of Mahan that sea power is more coercive than land power because Maikender based his theory on the medivial history where Mongol's horse power ruled the world.
• In 1904, Maikinder published a book called "Geographical Pivot of History" which has the proposition of Heartland Theory. He divided the world in a 3-tier system.
• 1. Pivot Area 
     • bounded by Ural in the west, Siberia highlands in the east, Central highland in the south and Arctic ice shell in the North. Thus pivot area is a natural fortress, inaccessible & thus invincible. 
     • It has central location to the known world & Mongols could never enter this zone. They invaded the coastal rims.
     • Moreover, the region has enormous natural resources, which is essential for the growth of the a politico-economic power.
  2. The Marginal Crescent
     • It is the coastal rim including Europe, West-Asia, South-Asia & China.
     • Due to easy accessibility, the land has been invaded constantly and their history has many fluctuation and ifs & flows.
     • It symbolise coastal countries as the sea power.
  3. The Outer Crescent
     • It included the new world, the Africa and the South of Sahara.
     • The outer crescent had no role in the world geopolitics. 
• He also developed the idea of World Island. The world islands included Eurasia & Africa. The whole world geopolitics is centered in world island.
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• In 1909 he published another article, "Democratic idea & reality" where the theory of the Heartland unrevealed. Heartland was a modified form of Pivot Area. 
• Maikinder was overwhelm by the development of the world politics in the last decade. Bolshevik Revoution in 1917 culminated into emergence of USSR as power centre in Europe. Another event of defeat of Germany also propelled him to believe that the heartland has emerged as the new superpower. And thirdly, the construction of trans-syberian railways & greater control of Russia over the syberian resources encouraged him to go further with his geopolitical theory.
• He presented some sensilating political quotations:
• 1. Geographical Causation of History
     • It means history is product of geographical forces operating in time & space.
     • Pulsation in history is caused by climate.
  2. Geography is a coercive force which determines the evolution of geopolitics.
     • eg. accessibility, resource availability, climate and race of people determines the centralisation of political power.
  3. There is a historical conflict between the land power & sea power
     • Where land power is superior because it has easier access to the coastal countries.
• In 1919 he divided the world into a 3 tier system with certain amendments:
• • Tier-I(The Heartland)
  • • Western boundary is Volga basin.
    • Himalaya & Turkish-Iranian mountains in the south.
  • Tier-II(The Marginal Crescent)
  • • Which included Europe, entire Africa & South-Asia, SW Asia, SE Asia but he kept UK and Japan in the outer Crescent.
  • Tier-III(The Outer Crescent)
  • • It included the the continents of N. America, S. America and Australia.
  
• He gave the famous quotation, "Who commands Eastern Europe, rules the Heartland. Who commands the Heartland, rules the world island. Who commands the world islands, rules the world". Thus, heartland is the core area where economic & political forces will centralise and it will evolve as a superpower. heartland has inaccessibility, natural fortification & enormous resources.
• In 1944 before his death he published another article "Round the world & wining of the peace", which published in the foreign affairs.
• The outcome of the 2nd WW was emergence of USA as superpower. Maikinder was quick to revise his Heartland theory. He suggested that there are two superior power: (a)Heartland and (b)The Midland Basin, which consist of New England region(USA) separated by Atlantic which is not a barrier rather a facilitator of trade & strategic relationship.
• The two units have only geopolitical separation but they are similar race with analogous economic & political aspiration and they jointly tends to establish political hegemony in the world. The physiographic, climatic, racial and historical similarity combines them in a united force.

Application of the Heartland Theory

• Pre-WWII
• 1. Emergence of Russian Federation after Bolsheviks revolution.
  2. The Siberian railways & growing control of Russia over resources.
  3. The defeat of Germany at the hand of Russia during WWII.
• The Cold-War period
• 1. He predicted the two superpower and the eastern Europe became bone of contention.
  2. The Cuban missile crisis and the stalemate situation between the 2 superpower.
  3. 1971 Indo-Pak war, USA sends its ships to the Bay of Bangal and Russia sends its ships to Arabian sea.
• Post Cold-War period
• 1. Russian Fedration was dismental and Russia ceased to be an economic power. But their military capability are still superior & it acts as a strategic pole or power centre.
  2. With formation of Shanghai Corporation, Russia is trying to exert its economic & strategic position.
  3. Formation of BRICS bank.
  4. Annexation of Crimea by Russia.
  5. National Missile Defence(NMD) by USA. It manifest the perceived threat from Russia.

Criticism of Heartland Theory

1. Biased view
   • His view was biased because of imperial British interests were central focus of his theory.
2. Overlooked Heartland’s physical and climatological difficulties
   • Heartland is a region of permanent  problems owing to it’s interior location and extremes of climate. He overlooked Man-nature relation.
3. Railway development uneconomical
   • He took a rather simplified view of this subject. In an arid region with sparsely settled Heartland region, which has limited agricultural and mineral base a railway project would be uneconomical.
4. Era of air travel destroys Heartlands invincibility
   • He failed to see that railway era was drawing to an end and that the era of air travel has already began. Example:- German air raids on the cities of USSR during the World War proved his theory wrong.
5. Miscalculation regarding power potential and area
   • He wrongly equated power potential with sheer geographical area, a factor which made him to inflate the resources and power of the inner Heartland.
6. Old data for pivot area concept
   • His pivot area concept came in 1904. His thesis was based don the data available prior to 1904. At that time Russia occupied barely any important place in the world map of politics. This was an inherent weakness in his thesis.
7. Oversimplification of the land and sea power
   • He oversimplified the complex relationship of history rather in a deterministic fashion s a struggle between land and sea power.
8. Science has made surface transportation configuration of earth insignificant
   • Science and technology development has made a global distribution of land and sea insignificant as ballistic missile with nuclear warheads can be fired from any point of the earth’s surface. Example: Inter-continental ballistic missile.
9. Policy of nuclear deterrence by the Western Bloc to counterbalance heartland
   • A nuclear arsanel in the hands of west will deter USSR inspite of it’s advantages to spread communism throughout by controlling the world unchecked. This was probably why USA dropped 2 atom bombs on Japan. However, an arms race was triggered off by this act between the 2 blocs.

Rimland Theory

• Rimland theory is an antithesis to the heartland theory. However, based on the similar premises, it is a critical view on Maikinder than  independent theory.
• It was represented by Spykman in 1943. The theory says that their is power conflict between Land & sea power. It also accepts the 3-tier division of Maikinder, but rejects the idea that land power is superior to sea power.
• It quoted the European history in the post Columbian era when the Europe virtually ruled the whole world.
• The theory suggest that the heartland is a misery & perennial agony because it is inaccessible, resources are dormant, climatic hazards are too great and terrain is difficult. Moreover, the best of all the resources, the human resource, is absent.
• The Marginal Crescent was termed as the Rimland, symbolising the sea power. The sea power has faster movement & mass transportation. Therefore, it is invincible. And strategically the coastal location, indentation, ports are natural advantage to a country.
• He further said, 2/3rd of the world population live in the Rimland area and it has all the vital resources like petroleum, coal, forest resources and human resource. Thus, Rimland is far superior spatial unit than the heartland.
• The famous quotation, "Who controls the Rimland, rules Eurasia. Who rules Eurasia, controls destinies of the world".

Criticism of Rimland Theory

1. Neither Heartland nor Rimland theory has modern application because they neglects:
   1. Air Power
   2. Ballistic missiles
   3. Nuclear warfare
2. Rimland theory was prominent during the cold war when Russia was trying to extend its hegemony over Rimland countries.
3. The domino theory which suggested the USSR trying to extend its communism in the peripheral parts.
4. Finlandisation, Russia establishing proxy govt. and influencing the policy making in Rimland area.
5. These theories are more of historical analysis and they can't be applied in-to-to.