Geopolitics

Prophecy is often wrong, and when it is dire, we are thankful for the mistake.  But sometimes prophecy becomes pertinent again when we displace it from its original context to a new one. Almost sixty years ago, the noted sociologist Wright Mills wrote about the causes of World War Three in a context that eventually proved him wrong.  Alas, his alarms seem more appropriate today.

The word Geopolitics is an association of these two terms that are in conflict today: the planet and the system of social relations. This conflict is more evident everyday and demands more political soundness, because Geo’s response, that is mother earth’s, could be terrible and undisputable

It is curious and sad to witness the transformation of an imperial republic into a banana republic.  When the first world power succumbs to this degradation, the central contradiction of the economic system accelerates and intensifies. The official scandal conceals the deep-rooted scandal.

Sic transit gloria mundi (Thus passes the glory of the world). With dizzying speed the world’s geopolitical board is rearranged. American hegemonic power is reduced while new initiatives are presented by other powers as well as by states and regions within the United States.

The following theses are developed and explained in my forthcoming book After Pax Americana.  Social Origins of Geopolitical Disarray.