ABSTRACT
If one looks upon geopolitics as both a methodological tool for the study of international affairs and a political philosophy, then one has to distinguish between its customary use in Western society and its status in Central Europe or Russia. Two major factors explain the difference: first, the powerful influence of geopolitical thought in Germany, especially in the period 1933-1945, and second, the revolutionary changes experienced by the European states during 1989-1990. By contrast, Western tradition, especially in the United States and Great Britain, has since the nineteenth century consistently awarded geopolitics a status both in political studies and in practice.
