Between Geopolitics and Anti-Geopolitics: Czech Political Thought

In: Geopolitics, Band 11, Heft 3, S. 420-438

Abstract

This article examines the role of geopolitics in modern Czech political thinking. It draws on the distinction between geopolitics & anti-geopolitics to argue that the dominant tradition of Czech political thinking is anti-geopolitical. This anti-geopolitics is presented by a review of four central figures of Czech political thought since the nineteenth century (Palacky, Masaryk, Nejedly & Havel). However, it also shows that geopolitics represents an important undercurrent in Czech political thinking which tends to dominate for brief periods of turmoil. Three such periods are addressed: the early 1920s, the late 1930s & the early 1990s. Tables. Adapted from the source document.