--- title: Geopolitics description: This subject analyzes how geographical factors, such as location, resources, and climate, influence international politics and foreign policy. Learners will understand territorial disputes, global power dynamics, and the strategic importance of borders. category: humanities subcategory: geography difficulty: beginner, intermediate, advanced url: /subject/geopolitics --- # Geopolitics This subject analyzes how geographical factors, such as location, resources, and climate, influence international politics and foreign policy. Learners will understand territorial disputes, global power dynamics, and the strategic importance of borders. ## Where to start Start with Tim Marshall's Prisoners of Geography, whose ten map-based chapters show how mountains, rivers and coastlines constrain the foreign policy of Russia, China, the United States and others. If you only use one resource, make it Robert D. Kaplan's The Revenge of Geography, which applies classical thinkers such as Mackinder, Spykman and Mahan to Russia, China and Iran. For current analysis, follow cfr.org from the Council on Foreign Relations. ## Available Resources 5 Books • 2 Courses • 3 Websites ## Books ### 1. AI Superpowers **Author:** Kai-Fu Lee A rigorous geopolitical and economic analysis of the race for AI dominance and its structural impact on global labor markets. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/s?k=132854639X&tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** artificial-intelligence, china, us-china-relations, technology-policy, economics ### 2. Prisoners of Geography **Author:** Tim Marshall Ten maps-based chapters explaining how mountains, rivers, and coastlines constrain the foreign policy of Russia, China, the United States, and others. Readers gain a geographic lens for interpreting territorial disputes and great-power behaviour. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1783962437?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, humanities-social-sciences, geography ### 3. The Revenge of Geography **Author:** Robert D. Kaplan Revisits classical geopolitical thinkers such as Mackinder, Spykman, and Mahan, then applies their ideas to Russia, China, Iran, and the Indian subcontinent. Argues that terrain and location still bound what states can do. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/1400069831?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** books, humanities-social-sciences, geography ### 4. Against Empire **Author:** Michael Parenti Michael Parenti's 1995 polemic on US foreign policy, arguing that interventions abroad serve corporate and financial interests. It equips readers with a structural critique of empire and case examples from Latin America and beyond. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0872862984?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** imperialism, us-foreign-policy, political-economy, capitalism, intervention ### 5. The Economic Weapon: The Rise of Sanctions as a Tool of Modern War **Author:** Nicholas Mulder A history of economic sanctions from the First World War blockade through the League of Nations era and the 1930s, showing how the tool emerged as an instrument of liberal internationalism and how target states responded by pursuing autarky and rearmament. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Paid **Link:** https://www.amazon.com/dp/0300270488?tag=edmonddante07-20 **Tags:** economic-sanctions, economic-history, economic-warfare, league-of-nations, interwar-period ## Websites ### 1. The Diplomat A current-affairs magazine covering Asia-Pacific politics, security, and economics, with reporting and analysis from regional correspondents and academics. Useful for following China, India, Southeast Asia, and Pacific island developments as they unfold week to week. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://thediplomat.com **Tags:** asia-pacific, international-relations, current-affairs, security, china ### 2. cfr.org cfr.org is the online home of the Council on Foreign Relations, a leading nonprofit think tank focused on U.S. foreign policy and global affairs. It provides expert analysis, policy briefs, reports, backgrounders, data, and multimedia on geopolitics, along with events and interactive features. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://cfr.org **Tags:** websites, humanities-social-sciences, geography ### 3. worldpoliticsreview.com World Politics Review is an independent analysis site offering in-depth coverage of global politics and international security, with expert articles, country profiles, and issue briefs. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://worldpoliticsreview.com **Tags:** websites, humanities-social-sciences, geography ## Podcasts ### 1. The Red Line **Author:** The Red Line Three experts, one Story. Each fortnight we host a panel of international experts diving into the biggest geopolitical stories shaping the news both here and overseas. Hosted by Michael Hilliard **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** en | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.theredlinepodcast.com **Tags:** geopolitics, international-relations, conflict-analysis, foreign-policy, security ### 2. The World Next Week **Author:** Council on Foreign Relations The World Next Week brings a journalist’s perspective to the critical and intriguing stories developing around the globe—from Kyiv, to Pyongyang, to Capitol Hill, to Cannes. TWNW’s hosts have years of experience covering international and Washington news. Before joining CFR, Robert McMahon, managing editor of digital content, reported for the Associated Press and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Carla Anne Robbins, a senior fellow and director of the MIA Program at Baruch College’s Marxe School, was deputy editorial page editor at the New York Times and chief diplomatic correspondent at the Wall Street Journal. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** en | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.cfr.org/podcasts/world-next-week **Tags:** geopolitics, foreign-policy, current-affairs, international-relations, news-analysis ### 3. The Globalist **Author:** Monocle Monocle's weekday morning news programme, broadcast from London and Zürich, running through the day's main international affairs and business stories with correspondents and editors, plus a review of European front pages. Useful for tracking how global stories are framed differently across countries. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** en-US | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://monocle.com/radio/shows/the-globalist **Tags:** current-affairs, international-news, global-business, daily-podcast, european-media ### 4. The CEPA Podcast **Author:** Alina Polyakova Interview podcast from the Center for European Policy Analysis, hosted by its president Alina Polyakova, featuring diplomats, military leaders, officials and technologists on transatlantic security, European defense, the war in Ukraine and technology policy. Listeners gain context on current US-European foreign policy debates. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** en-us | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.buzzsprout.com/2455633 **Tags:** transatlantic-relations, european-security, foreign-policy, geopolitics, defense-policy ## Courses ### 1. Geopolitics Four-module introductory course from Università di Napoli Federico II on world order, the society of states, military hegemony, global governance, and cosmopolitan democracy. Ends with students able to discuss how international institutions shape state sovereignty. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.coursera.org/learn/global-politics **Tags:** courses, humanities-social-sciences, geography ### 2. The North Awakens **Author:** Mark C. Serreze University of Colorado Boulder course on the Arctic's rising economic and strategic importance: governance, Indigenous northern communities, shipping routes, oil, gas, and mining, so you can read Arctic policy debates critically. **Difficulty:** Beginner | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-north-awakens **Tags:** arctic-geopolitics, arctic-governance, northern-sea-route, arctic-resources, indigenous-peoples ## Youtubes ### 1. David Woo Unbound **Author:** David Woo YouTube channel of David Woo, former head of global rates and FX research at Bank of America, analysing macroeconomics, markets and geopolitics through game theory. Viewers learn to connect political events and policy choices to rates, currencies and asset prices. **Difficulty:** Intermediate | **Language:** English | **Price:** Free **Link:** https://www.youtube.com/@DavidWooUnbound **Tags:** macroeconomics, geopolitics, game-theory, currencies, interest-rates --- *This content is part of Dantes.io - Your Treasure Map to Knowledge* *Curated by humans at Dantes.io. Personal study use welcome; republishing this curation requires permission (team@dantes.io).* View this page online: https://dantes.io/subject/geopolitics