ABSTRACT
Combining practical and popular geopolitics, author will briefly discuss, first, how critical geopolitics has developed a revisionist historiography of certain prominent geopolitical figures and the 'geopolitical tradition', second, its critical analysis of practical and popular geopolitical reasoning in foreign policy and, third, its analysis of the contemporary geopolitical condition. It argues that orthodox geopolitical utilizations of classic geopolitical figures often neglect the context within which they lived, ignore the incoherences in their works. The power and significance of practical geopolitical reasoning can be illustrated by considering the power of 'Balkanism' in conditioning American foreign policy ambivalence towards the breakup of Yugoslavia and the Bosnian War, the section of the ABC News website devoted to the Balkans begins with the following observation: There are countless explanations for the volatility of the 'Balkan Powderkeg'. Historians variously blame disputes over resources, ancient hatreds or meddling by Great Powers intent on keeping the region unstable.
