Sloan on Geopolitics, Geography, and Strategy History in Geopolitics

Geopolitical literature is experiencing a renaissance and scholars representing classical and critical perspectives in this field bring multifaceted assessments to historical and current international political and security issues. Sloan’s Geopolitics, Geography and Strategic History, which is part of Routledge’s Geopolitical Theory Series, examines connections between geography, strategy, and history and is the subject of this review and analysis. Three thesis questions examined by the author include why the geographical scope of political objectives and following strategies of nation states change, how do these changes occur, and over what time period do these changes occur. Sloan examines why the geopolitical theories of Halford Mackinder and Nicholas Spykman remain relevant today by aspiring to produce an enhanced understanding of the relationships between geography, history, and strategy, British foreign policy and the Heartland, the role of these concepts involving Britain and the Battle of the Atlantic, the emergence of geopolitics in the U.S. during World War II, geopolitical analysis of Cold War containment, and emerging geopolitical aspects involving China and the U.S.’ Pacific Pivot. This assessment examines whether Sloan has succeeded in his objectives