The origins and evolution of geopolitics

Abstract

2 Some geographers will, perhaps, object to the term as used in this paper. Indeed, what is called is often cultural environment (cultural landscape). But, again, cultural landscape is all too often a misnomer, too; it frequently has nothing to do with culture. Culture implies something cultivated (more or less), that is, the result of a known, and presumably desired, causal relationship. Yet many of the changes caused by man in the natural environment-and among them probably almost all of those most enduring -are an incidental, unknown at the time, or even unwanted result of man's activity. Then we should remember that nature always tries to heal its man-made wounds, and it is debatable whether this second-growth naturethis new skin which covers old scars-is less natural than the primordial one was. For a critique of the concept of see Hartshome (41, pp. 65-71). tioned. It is only on rare occasions that our foot (or shoe) touches mother earth, and, whenever the outdoor temperature seems to us at variance with the optimum of our preferences, we are able not only to cover 90 per cent of our bodies with warming or cooling clothes but to reduce our contact with the natural elements to the few min-