The 6 geographical factors

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I must admit that there are many different definitions I am yet to review. However, based on the ones that I have read, I have put together this framework for analysis. 

The framework:
  1. Natural resources - impact of the competition for natural resources on the political behaviour of state or non-state actors.
  2. Geographical location - impact the geographical location of a state actor has on the political behaviour of another state or non-state actors.
  3. Size - impact of a state actor on the political behaviour of another state or non-state actor in regards to its physical land area. Size of a non-state actor and its impact on the political behaviour of a state and other non-state actors.
  4. Topography - impact of either man-made and the natural surface feature of land on the political behaviour of state and non-state actors.
  5. Demography - impact of the characteristics of human population on the political behaviour of state and non-state actors.
  6. Climate - impact of the climate on the political behaviour of state and non-state actors.
 The political behaviour component is derived from the definitions I read in Dictionary.com.
  1. the study or the application of the influence of political and economic geography on the politics, national power, foreign policy, etc., of a state.
  2. the combination of geographic and political factors influencing or delineating a country or region.
Key words like national power, foreign policy, influence and factors are all related to political behaviour. For example, a foreign policy is a strategy that a state pursue in order to achieve a particular outcome. A particular state behave as per its foreign policy to achieve a particular outcome which maybe the increase of its national power.

The inclusion of geographical location is based on the definitions given by the Cambridge Dictionary:
 "the study of the way a country's size, position, etc. influence its power and its relationships with other countries ​. Political activity as influenced by the physical features of a country or area of the world"
 
Geographical location comes under position and physical features. Where are country is positioned on the world map is also know as its geographical location.

The other factors were derived from definitions given by Kjellen who coined the concept of geopolitics in 1899 and Haushofer. They both talked about geography and its influence on the political behaviour of states.

The information given by Wikipedia also supports the selection of the 6 factors. Wikipedia labels the various factors as geographical variables:
"At the level of international relations, geopolitics is a method of studying foreign policy to understand, explain and predict international political behavior through geographical variables. These include area studies, climate, topography, demography, natural resources, and applied science of the region being evaluated."

I refer to area studies as geographical location and replaced applied science with size. I believe the physical size of a country and where it is located influence greatly its political behaviour. 

Morgenthau stated that geography, in particular location is a stable factor. We cannot move the island of New Guinea to the Caribbean. He also said the larger the size of a country the more space it has to disperse its industrial and population centers as well as its nuclear installations.

We have witnessed the evolution of non-state actors thanks to globalization. Thus we cannot not talk about geopolitics without mentioning the involvement of non-state actors. The framework is inclusive of non-state actors.   

Like I said in class, this list or framework is not exhaustive. Some of you suggested that culture and religion are possible factors. I leave that to you to add or subtract based on your reading. In the mean time, we will use the 6 geographical factors as a framework for analysis in the unit IR432 Geopolitics in Asia-Pacific.

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