Geography and Strategy

My IWP

This eight-week seminar (two credits) demonstrates the importance of geography to international politics, economics, national security, and strategy. It introduces students to the geographic and geopolitical factors that have shaped the field of world politics. It is required for all M.A. degree candidates.*

The course explores how geography has helped influence aspects of world history and how it is likely to do so in the future. After discussing the relationship between physical geography and strategy, the course covers physical geography, maritime geography and the geography of space. It concludes by examining geopolitics - the analytical method that stresses the importance of geography and in determining national interests and international relations.

Students should have read a strategic atlas, such as the one on the required reading list, prior to the start of class.

^{*Students with a proficiency in geography may test out of the course.}

Required Texts

Battling the Elements: Weather and Terrain in the Conduct of War, Harold Winters
Essential Atlas of The World, Dorling Kindersley Publishing
Class Reader: "Geography & Strategy"

Semester Available

Fall Semester
Spring Semester

Principal Professor

Marek Jan Chodakiewicz

Professor of History, The Kościuszko Chair in Polish Studies {read more}

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FEATURED FACULTY

Marek Jan Chodakiewicz

Professor of History, The Kosciuszko Chair in Polish Studies

Twentieth Century Politics and Diplomacy: Case Studies in War and Peace

This course examines the most significant developments which have made the 20th century the most violent and revolutionary era in world history. It analyzes the causes and circumstances of each of the major wars of the 20th century: World Wars I and II, and the Cold War.

Principal Professor

John J. Tierney, Jr.