ABSTRACT
Geopolitical theory initially emerged – from Aristotle to Baron de Montesquieu and N. Machiavelli – as a result of a naturalist intellectual impulse. J. J. Grygiel maintains that geopolitical theory has three constituent elements: lines of communication and their changing significance due to changes in transport and weapons technology, the location of sources of natural resources and the location of economic power. In terms of logistics, campaign planning and topographical analysis, geography remains fundamental to the art of war, while geopolitics remains an important component of statecraft. R. Aron has maintained that geopolitics 'combines a geographical schematization of diplomatic-strategic relations with a geographic-economic analysis of resources, with an interpretation of diplomatic attitudes as a result of the way of life and of the environment. From the perspective of geopolitics, history should be understood as an appreciation and utilization of temporal frameworks that enable an observer to describe and analyse conflicts that have occurred, and possibly even predict their emergence and resolution.
