Reviews for Geopolitics and Empire: The Legacy of Halford Mackinder

The average rating for Geopolitics and Empire: The Legacy of Halford Mackinder based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-04-03 00:00:00 Glen Barber Kearns provacative and deeply naive world view is a reminder of how disconnected the ivory tower is from the reality of human nature. This book is a must read, to understand how deeply misguided the so-called "progressive" left is.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-08-16 00:00:00 Jeremy Disbrow This book is so much more than 'the defining account' of the British Geographer and geopolitical thinker Halford Mackinder (as it has been described in a recent review I read). Kearns brilliantly shows how Mackinders worldview -- or geopolitical vision -- has both 'echoes' and 'legacies' in the present. Various statements by neoconservatives and rightwing hawks, for example, show that Mackinder's writings are being resurrected with a view to directing U.S. foreign policy. This 'legacy' is best illustrated in the strategic planning of the war on terror and is explored at some length in the book. Mackinder's ideas 'echo' less directly, however, in the way the force and economic might are privileged above co-operation and democratic values. Kearns asks if there is a way out of this geopolitical vision and concludes that there is. His vision of 'progressive geopolitics' is a brave and ambitious attempt to map out an alternative form of international relations. This is a brilliant account and a must read.