Beyond the 'Outer Crescent': the Mackinder century in New Zealand geopolitics

This paper proposes that, although Mackinder never mentions New Zealand in his influential 1904 paper and despite the absence of a formal Kiwi geopolitical tradition, 'The geographical pivot of history' provides a useful framework with which to approach New Zealand geopolitics. The argumen...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Geographical journal 2004-12, Vol.170 (4), p.368-376
Main Author: MAYELL, PETER
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cold wars
Defence policy
Foreign policy
Foreign relations
Geography
Geopolitics
Government
Historical analysis
Historiography
International cooperation
International relations
Mackinder
Mackinder, Halford
Military alliances
National security
New Zealand
New Zealand geopolitics
Paradoxes
Political geography
Political security
Politics
Prime ministers
Terrorism
The geographical pivot of history
War
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:This paper proposes that, although Mackinder never mentions New Zealand in his influential 1904 paper and despite the absence of a formal Kiwi geopolitical tradition, 'The geographical pivot of history' provides a useful framework with which to approach New Zealand geopolitics. The argument uses two Mackinderian ideas to suggest three phases in New Zealand's security relationships during the Mackinder century. First, New Zealand's commitment to Mackinder's 'pivot area' notion of 'imperial defence' and 'collective security' characterized its dependent security phase. Between 1973 and 1990/91 there was a transitional security phase towards Mackinder's second 'global interconnectedness' idea. Third, this shift led to a current interdependent security phase which is characterized by the recognition that New Zealand's security relationships, despite its geographic isolation, are mutually dependent on political, economic, and military events around the world. The impact of 11 September 2001 and the consequent 'war on terror' are also considered. The paper concludes by suggesting that New Zealand's post-conflict reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq point to the continuing relevance of Mackinder's 'The geographical pivot of history' to New Zealand geopolitics.
ISSN:0016-7398
1475-4959
DOI:10.1111/j.0016-7398.2004.00138.x