Nicholas J. Spykman - Spykman's Geostrategy

Spykman's Geostrategy

N.J. Spykman could be considered as a disciple and critic of both geostrategists Alfred Mahan, of the United States Navy, and Halford Mackinder, the British geographer. His work is based on assumptions similar to Mackinder: the unity of world politics, and the unity of the world sea. He extends this to include the unity of the air. The exploration of the entire world means that the foreign policy of any nation will affect more than its immediate neighbors; it will affect the alignment of nations throughout the world's regions. Maritime mobility opened up the possibility of a new geopolitical structure: the overseas empire.

Spykman adopts Mackinder's divisions of the world, renaming some:

• the Heartland;
• the Rimland (analogous to Mackinder's "inner or marginal crescent"); and
• the Offshore Islands & Continents (Mackinder's "outer or insular crescent").