GEOG 4712 Political GeographyLecture 5: US Cold War Geopoliticsoutline1) Context(s)2) Constructions3) Classical4) Formal5) Practical6) Popular7) Shatterbelts8) ChokepointsContext…Who caused the Cold War?1) Orthodox School: USSR2) Revisionist School: USA3) Post-Revisionist School: USA + USSR4) World-Systems School: unequal exchangeGeopolitical constructionshttp://strangemaps.wordpress.com/2008/06/06/286-the-new-world-moral-map/Heartland vs. RimlandClassic Views…Five Phases of the Cold War1) First Cold War (ʻ47-ʼ53)2) Oscillatory Antagonism (ʻ53-ʼ67)3) First Détente (ʻ67-ʼ 79)4) Second Cold War (ʻ80-ʼ86)5) Second Détente (ʻ86-ʼ89)…of containmentKennanʼs Policy Prescriptions1) Rebuild war-torn economies (Europe/Japan)2) Use local troops3) Donʼt fuel Soviet paranoia4) Selective containment (W. Europe/E.Asia/Mid-East5) Divide international communism6) Not monolithic strategy; adapt to local contextKennanʼs Strategy for USA1) Reduce Soviet capacity to project external influencea) Via selective containmentb) Encourage splits in global communism2) Restore European balance of powera) Encourage self-confidence against USSR expansionb) Marshall Plan3) Modify USSR conception of IRa) From confrontation to negotiationKremlin designsStrategic Soviet Objectives According to NSC in 19501) Secure Communist regime and USSR2) Maintain E.Europe + China in Soviet Bloc3) Eliminate American Influence from Eurasia; isolate USA4) Expand Communist power throughout Russia5) Eliminate USA as competing power6) Spread Communism worldwide as “fanatical faith”Formal CodesAmerican Geopolitical Codes1) Truman Doctrine (ʻ47-ʼ49):Kennanʼs regional containment2) NSC-68 (ʻ50-ʼ53): Globalistcontainment3) Eisenhower-Dulles (ʻ53-ʼ60): NewLook4) Kennedy-Johnson (ʻ61-ʼ66):Flexible Response5) Nixon-Ford-Carter (ʻ69-ʼ79):Détente6) Reagan Cold War II (ʻ80-ʼ87):Rollback(a) Kennan vs. (b) NSC-681) Geopolitical Strategya) Deny USSR key areasb) Do not give an inch2) USSR as threata) Only if balance upsetb) Constant threat3) How to fight Communisma) Economicb) military4) USA capabilitiesa) Limitedb) Unlimited5) Role of diplomacya) importantb) not important6) Role of strength perceptionsa) Not importantb) important7) Goals of US policy vs. USSRa) Act to maintain equilibriumb) ʻfrustrate Kremlin designʼ8) Local vs American troopsa) locals w/US supportb) commit Americaspop culture as prismReaganCentral Arguments in Reaganʼs Geopolitical Analysis1) Form all-oceans alliance vs. USSR; focus on seapower/chokepoints2) Ally with regionally strong states (South Africa; Brazil)3) Soviet threat is geostrategic + ideological4) Conception of power based on objective (population; economy; military) +subjective factors (national strategy; national will)Chokepoints1) Cape Horn2) Panama Canal3) Cape of Good Hope4) Suez Canal5) GIUK Gap6) English Channel7) Baltic Straits8) Strait of Gibraltar9) Bosporus/Dardanelles10) Bab El Mandeb11) Strait of Hormuz12) Malaccan StraitsShatterbelt regions1) Complex ethnic/cultural mosaic2) Location of global resource (oil)3) History of local conflicts4) Attracts interests of world powers5) Global-local alliances6) Potential for major extra-regional conflictOrdering the Crush ZoneResearching the Term PaperUseful Journals in Geography1) Political Geography2) Geopolitics3) Nationalities Papers4) Annals of the Association of American Geographers5) Antipode6) Environment and Planning A7) Environment and Planning D8) Eurasian Geography and Economics9) Economic Geography10) Journal of Economic Geography11) Urban
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