Ivo Pilar and Contemporary Croatian Geopolitics

Na temelju djela Ive Pilara, autor iznosi glavne smjernice njegovih geopolitičkih razmišljanja glede Hrvatske i "hrvatskih zemalja". Podsjeća također na noviji razvoj političkih prilika koje bitno mijenjaju geopolitičke postavke. Na kraju ukazuje na bitne geopolitičke sastavnice kojima bi se trebala voditi suvremena hrvatska politika.Ivo Pilar researched geopolitics on the eve of and during World War I, when the fate of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy was uncertain, including the fate of the “Croatian states”. He analysed the geographical position of the three individual Croatian states: Slavonia, Dalmatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, pointing out the reasons that conditioned their separation. He also commented on the significance of neighbouring countries in the history of Croatians and their policies. He devoted much attention to the Serbians, the Serbian Orthodox Church and their Great Serbia project. Furthermore, he paid due attention to the Italians and their collaboration with Serbia against Croatian interests. Pilar attempted to indicate to the political circles of the Monarchy that it is necessary to constitute a Croatian state on its South, a state that would unite the traditional Croatian states, although he never advocated full sovereignty of this new political component. In other words, he believed in the wisdom of Croatian politicians throughout history, who always made good use of their stronger neighbours to protect their own interests. Pilar wanted to point out the necessity of such a political development if the Monarchy was to be preserved. Some of Pilar’s analyses are useful even today, although many were conditioned by his ideological beliefs or the surrounding historical circumstances, thus rendering the same inapplicable today. Nevertheless, Pilar can be considered the father of geopolitical studies in Croatia, at least to the extent that he was the first to analyse the political significance of the status of the Croatian states and their neighbouring countries