ABSTRACT
In the trajectory of Sir Halford Mackinder's career his greatest adventure was the relatively short period when he held the post of British High Commissioner to South Russia. He would be in a position to directly shape and influence British foreign policy. One of Karl Haushofer's key geopolitical concepts was a further development of the Heartland Theory. Mackinder also understood the interaction between immediate geographical conditions and the challenges and opportunities presented by geography at the strategic level. To illustrate how the geographical scope of policy and subsequent strategy is subject to a number of diverse influences that impact on how geography is interpreted and used. The shifting sands of military operations in Russia were compounded by a lack of consensus with respect to British policy towards Russia. In December 1918, just before Democratic Ideals and Reality was published, Mackinder was involved in his penultimate General Election campaign in the city of Glasgow.
