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/lit/ - Literature

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13793901 No.13793901 [Reply] [Original]

What should I read to understand modern geopolitics?

>> No.13793944

>>13793901

Thucydides.

>> No.13793990

Cosmopolitics

>> No.13794005
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13794005

There’s a lot of backstory to it all. But Chomsky is a good start

>> No.13794017

Is that pic from Legend of the Galactic Heroes? Where do I start with that? This playlist has two movies first and then goes to episode three. Is it missing two episodes or are those movies prequels or what?
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngyRGSBvhaXG3SDosT4ZK80pl8bgi94P

>> No.13794027

>>13793901
You should watch based Shirvan's youtube channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/CaspianReport

>> No.13794033

>>13793901
Geopolitics is just one theory, trying to explain international relations with geographical factors. Sometimes it generates interesting insights, but it also fails to explain a lot of things.

>> No.13794041

>>13794017
those movies ARE the first 2 episodes

>> No.13794055

>>13794041
Ok, I wasn't sure. Thanks.

>> No.13794089

The Revenge of Geography by Kaplan is pretty good.

>> No.13794094

Depends on what you mean by geopolitics exactly. The term gets thrown around a lot.

Can’t go wrong with Thucy. I’d also add Waltz, Gilpin (W&P), and maaaybe Mearsheimer (probably more geopolitical than the other too but his theory is a bit meh). To get a bit more of the geography bit, read Diamond (GGS).

Not to sure on anything super modern, but to get a good feel on geopolitics and it’s general logic, that should be a decent start.

Also: read Caesar’s Gallic War commentary. And I think there was a book published by routledge in Mughal warfare that was (supposedly) very good.

>> No.13794102

>>13794033
+1

Too much geo in geopolitics and you get something dumb like Mearsheimer aka everyone wants to conquer everyone else

>> No.13794109

>>13794102
Edit, I guess that’s not as much geography and geographical factors and is instead this notion of geographical proximity.

Just read Gilpin

>> No.13794116

You can't really explain international relations with a book, if that was possible, the world would be far different today, reading history should incrementally help you understand relations better though

>> No.13794222

>>13794033
Developing on this >>13794033
OP maybe wants to say that he wants to understand modern international politics in general.

In that case, there are two possible answers defended by two conflicting schools in the academia.

A political scientist (or a social science person in general) would say that you need to look into IR (international relations) theory, as it arguably gives you a decent understanding of how things work between states.

A historian would say that IR theory is crap because it has almost no predictive power (no major IR theorist predicted the collapse of the USSR), and because the factors influencing IR are too diverse. So the best way to tackle it would be to start reading about contemporary history, with emphasis on diplomatic history, but also not forgetting about economic, domestic-political, and even cultural stuff.

I personally belong to the latter camp.

t. PhD in contemporary history

>> No.13794233

>>13793901
the talmud

>> No.13794234

This >>13794222 was meant as reply to >>13794102

>> No.13794635

Twitter.

>> No.13794708

>>13794017
Basically the first two episode have very bad animation quality so they rebooted them as movies and threw in some prequel shit to buff them up. You can do Well watching the movies directly.

>> No.13794718

>>13794708
Thank you for clearing that up. It's the second anime I'll be watching. First I watched NGE which was amazing.

>> No.13794786

>>13794718
LoGH is a timeless kino. Enjoy it mate.

>> No.13794816
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13794816

I have a degree in the subject. Halford MacKinder's "The Geographical Pivot of History" is a good place to start. It is short, has been very influential in the past hundred years, and explains a lot of the geopolitical decisions that have been made in that time. It's also the answer of that old entry-level question, "Why does anybody give a shit about Afghanistan?" Following that...
>"Influence of Sea Power upon History" by McMahon
>"Decline of the West" by Spengler
>"Man and Technics" by Spengler
>anything by Haushofer
>anything by Carl Ritter
>anything by Rudolf Kjellen
>anything by Friedrich Ratzel
Why so many Germans and students of Germans? Because geopolitics as we know it in the West, much like pedology, comes from the 19th and early 20th century Germans. As such, it is full of autistic Teutonic fart-huffing and stuff that isn't exactly socially acceptable to say in public in these days. This may or may not be off-putting to you. Once you have this base, you can move on to alternate theories and geopolitics-adjacent thinking like the Marxists (stuff like Gramsci), Dugin, and Kitsikis.

PS friend--you should be ready to become well-read on philosophy, theology, history, geography, and environmentally and agriculturally important sciences like pedology. You will need them to understand things properly, because sometimes decisions are made because of faith, ideology, topography, or what flavor of dirt a particular place has.

>> No.13794824

>>13794005
No, fuck that obtuse weirdo.

>> No.13794913

>>13793901
Mearsheimer's offensive realism has everything figured out pretty much. Just watch his lectures.
https://youtu.be/ESwIVY2oimI

>> No.13794924

>>13794005
Outside of linguistics Chomsky isn't worth listening to.

>> No.13796728
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13796728

>>13793901
>geopolitics

>> No.13796734

>>13794786
I just watched the first movie and a bit of the second. Fucking kino like you said. Thanks again

>> No.13796738
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13796738

>>13794005
No. Also, Chomsky is not a book. You seem to have a habit of confusing books with people.

>> No.13796766

Geopolitics imply that geography matters when actually it doesn't. It's an outdated social science, very passe

>> No.13796780

>>13793901
Currently reading prisoners of geography it's a good starting point imo.

From my study of politics thus far I think you can broadly divide politics in the relationship between independent states, between governments inside the same country (local/national/federalism etc.) and between governments and people. Geopolitics would be about the interactions between independent states.

>> No.13796794

>>13794824
>>13794924
>>13796738
NO. Noam Chomsky is an excellent source of information pertaining to modern geopolitics.

THE OP SAID “MODERN” and here we have this guy recommending Thucydides. GTFO

>>13796766
GTFO

>> No.13796797

>>13793901
Trump's twitter

>> No.13796805

>>13794005
I hate you, you little neoliberal bitch.

>> No.13796806

>>13796797
>Be friends with trump
>Trump tells me what he is about to tweet
>Buy and sell stocks accordingly
>profit

>> No.13796886

>>13796794
I cannot read Noam Chomsky. I can read works by Noam Chomsky, but I cannot read Noam Chomsky. Again, you are confusing people with books. Also, please don't mass reply, you look like a massive faggot.

>> No.13797307

>>13793901
Watch this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6s_vMqEPK0

>> No.13797570

>>13794027
This is pretty good, hes bias towards his country in regional affairs, which is mostly amusing more than misinformation. He really never challenges basic geopolitical assumptions though so sometimes things aren't very nuanced and come off as post-hoc justification but that more of a problem with it being ideology not science.

>>13794816
This guy sounds correct. Post Marx critique Dugin, and Xi are where it starts to get interesting.

To 'understand geopolitics' I would get a foundation and then study the meta.

>> No.13797696

Definitely not what /pol/ suggests.

>> No.13797700

>>13796766
What matters then?
>inb4 RACEEE IS ALL FUCK YOU JIDF SHILL AAAAAHHHHHH

>> No.13798153

>>13797700
Can we all agree that race/biology, geography, culture/history and "imponderable" stuff (things and happenings that apparently happen by chance) all contribute to the condition of a people, country or continent or must we have another shitty dualist debate on how Jared Diamond is a genius/brainlet?

>> No.13798215
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13798215

>>13793901
Pic related.

>> No.13798541

>>13794233

This, but more informative;
Protocols of the elders of zion

>>13793901

>> No.13798546

>>13793901
Machiavelli

>> No.13798849
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13798849

>>13796805
>Chomsky
>neoliberal

>>13793901

>> No.13798854

>>13793901
Zbigniew Brzezinski.

>> No.13798887

>>13796886
>being this pedantic and off topic
Geopolitics appears to not be the only thing you have a hard time grappling with, my guy.

>> No.13798894

>>13793901
Power Rangers TV show scripts, Everybody Poops

>> No.13798923

>>13798887
No, I've made multiple threads specifically asking for works to read and this cunt just names authors basically every time.

>> No.13798963

>>13794005
Chomsky is a decent critic of American imperialism, but his denial of power and agency to non-American actors makes him a shitty guide to modern geopolitics.

Just learn Portuguese and read Moniz Bandeira.

>> No.13798989

>>13794816
>can't find the translation for more than half of this stuff
I imagine that the time to learn german has finally come.

>> No.13799167

If you're good at sniffing out what's real and what's Neoliberal ideology, Foreign Policy's backlogs are worth a read.

>> No.13799186

>>13793944
I bought his book and that shit is dusty as fuck.
>>13793901
seconding Chomsky, also if you want modern politics to a T then you should consider Baudrillard's 'The Gulf War Didn't Happen'

>> No.13799193

>>13794816
Halford MacKinder is excellent
I learned about him because of Ian Morris
Heartland, Inner Rim and World Island

>> No.13799243

>>13793901
Theorizing Medieval Geopolitics: War and World Order in the Age of the Crusades by Andrew A. Latham

>> No.13799492

>>13793901
Unironically read Moldbug

>> No.13799496

Why has no one translated Foundations of Geopolitics to English?

>> No.13799654

>>13793901
Carrol Quigley and Brzezinski

>> No.13799678

Tragedy and Hope.

>> No.13799726

>>13799496
(((Who knows)))

>> No.13799771

>>13798923
Maybe because it's an actual good recommendations

>> No.13799806

>>13799771
I cannot read authors.

>> No.13799810

>>13799806
Please shut the fuck up

>> No.13799871

>>13799810
I literally cannot read authors. I can read books though.

>> No.13799878

>>13799810
This particular anon just got FUCKED by OP. Brutal takedown, I'm loving it

>> No.13800833
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13800833

https://youtu.be/W4c9MlzcpAE

>> No.13801562

Bump

>> No.13801568

>>13798215
it amuses me that neonazis and the left are in agreement about israel. is there anything else they agree on? maybe worker programs or something

>> No.13802479
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13802479

>>13793901
The Tragedy of Great Power Politics, John Mearsheimer
The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives, Zbigniew Brzezinski
The Absent Superpower, Peter Zeihan
War by Other Means, Blackwill and Harris

>>13794005
Piss off you dumb bitch.

>> No.13802503

>>13802479 forgot:
World Order, Henry Kissinger

>> No.13802505 [DELETED] 

>>13794816
Isn't Diving and not even taken serious in Russia beyond some few ultranationalist cranks?

>> No.13802528

>>13802479
>Brzezinski
>Kissinger
You’re the dumb bitch

>> No.13802539
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13802539

>>13794005
Chomsky is a great starting point for understanding modern politics.
He strips away ideological bullshit to demonstrate how modern geopolitics is all about the elites jockeying for power and money. But he also puts major emphasis on the power of ordinary people acting in solidarity with one another. There is nobody like him, both in terms of his cogent analysis, but also in how he calls on the global masses to transcend the amoral “great game” of power politics to create a world we’d actually want to live in.

>> No.13802552

>>13802528
>Learning geopolitics from people that actually ran geopolitics is bad
You're an actual autistic retard. Probably some pathetic fat neet, thats why you have the time to post on here all day.

>> No.13802561

>>13794816
Isn't Dugin not even taken serious within Russia beyond some few ultranationalist cranks?

>> No.13802590

>>13802539
Thank you

>> No.13802603

Read an introduction to economics and to politics then just start reading the news.

>> No.13802838
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13802838

>>13802539
>He strips away ideological bullshit

>> No.13802844

>>13801568
Most things since they are both marxists de facto.

>> No.13802848

>>13793901
Dugin.

>> No.13803337

>>13793901

Hikari no Hashi wo Koete...

>> No.13803434
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13803434

>>13802844
>nazis are marxists

>> No.13803446

>>13794222
schmitt predicted the collapse of the ussr when he published nomos of the earth in 1945

>> No.13803493

>>13793901
The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy by John Mearsheimer and Culture of Critique by Kevin MacDonald

>> No.13803774

>>13802844
Is that you, TIK?

>> No.13803845

>>13803434
They are. Calling your oppressor group "the jews" instead of "the Rich Jews and other capitalists" doesn't not lead to completelly different ideologies.
>>13803774
No

>> No.13804381

>>13803446
Mises correctly predicted the collapse of the USSR in the 1920s And nobody gave a fuck.

>> No.13805016

>>13803845
You have no idea what you are talking about. Marxian analyses will be based on historic-economic grounds and the inter-class struggle for wealth, power and resources.
Nazi analyses are ultimately based on the competition between “races”.
Even though both analyses have economic dimensions, they are based on two completely different axiomatic assumptions.

>> No.13805050

>>13793901
Get drunk enough to stumble when you walk then read angry tweets about Trump with a couple nine volt batteries in your mouth. That's pretty much modern politics in a nutshell.

>> No.13805051

>>13803845
Marxism isn't about some retarded opressor/opressed dynamic, brainlet

>> No.13805401

>>13805051
It absolutely is retard. Nothing works without it.
>>13805016
>muh marxian analiseeees
All based on

>> No.13805410

>>13805401
...searching an oppressor and a victim.

>> No.13805616

>>13805401
Yes, both Marxian analyses and Nazism and it’s offshoots will deal with the issue of oppressors and victims, but again, they will grapple with the issue from fundamentally different and irreconcilable axioms: for Marxian thinkers, conflict arises between classes; for Nazis and their intellectual heirs (including those who believe in the “Great Replacement “), conflict arises between the life and death struggle between races. These are not compatible strains of thought, even if there is some overlap between then.

>> No.13806316

Bump

>> No.13806387
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13806387

Mostly anything by Douglas Valentine. Zeihan is a scummy fuck but he's good as well for surface analysis of the US and its future standing in the 21st century.

>> No.13806650

>>13798849
>im not neoliberal because i call myself communist but actions and policies help neoliberals have more power.

the first thing that comes to my mind is the oper-border policies that all Commies support because they want brown people and make racist mad. Indirectly this helps the bourgeoisie to exploit those people and maintain the minimum wage low.

>> No.13806656

Tragedy & Hope if you're serious about the topic.

>> No.13806700

>>13793901
Peter Zeihan. He's a geopolitical analyst whose job isn't really pushing ideas or ideology, but rather analyzing history from a sort of Geographic Determinism that precludes banalities like morality, ideology, culture and race, and instead focuses entirely on geography and basic national incentives.

Some of it is a bit pandering to Agricultural interests but his assessment of the economic success of certain countries by geography is outstanding. I'm Brazilian, and his rundown on Brazil's doomed economic state is so spot on I added subtitles to it so that I could show it at university.

>> No.13806705

read foreign policy, the magazine. Their website is foriegnpolicy dot com. Go into your browser and disable scripts on the site to access everything for free. Excellent FP articles updated daily.

>> No.13807326

>>13805051
>Marxism isn't about some retarded opressor/opressed dynamic
Wait, what? Are you implying thet Marxism is a study of economy and society? Then you're confusing Marxism as apolitical ideology and Marxism as an intellelctual tradition founded by Carl Marx.

>> No.13808140

Bump