International relations and geopolitics are not synonymous… at least, not the way we understand them at Geopolitical Futures. ‘International relations’ is a descriptive phrase that encompasses all the ways countries behave toward one another. ‘Geopolitics’ is the supposition that all international relationships are based on the interaction between geography and power.
Our brand of geopolitics takes this a step further and asserts that a deep understanding of geography and power enables you to do two things. First, it helps you comprehend the forces that will shape international politics and how they will do so. Second, it allows you to identify what is important and what isn’t.
This makes maps an extremely important part of our work. Writing can be an ideal medium for explaining power, but even the best writer is limited by language when it comes to describing geography. So this week, we have decided to showcase some of the best maps our graphics team (TJ Lensing and Jay Dowd) made in 2016… not just because these four maps are cool (though they are), but because we think they go a long way in explaining the foundations of what will be the most important geopolitical developments of 2017.
This post was published at Mauldin Economics on JANUARY 16, 2017.
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