Practical geopolitical reasoning in American foreign policy

A~STRCT. This paper argues for the re-conceptu~i~t~on of geopolitics using the concept of discourse. Geopolitics is defined as a discursive practice by which inteltectuals of statecraft ‘spatialize’ international politics and represent it as a ‘world characterized by particular types of places, peoples and dramas, Four theses explicating this re-conceptualization are outlined including the distinction between ‘formal’ and ‘practical’ geopolitics. These arguments are illustrated by a general discussion of practical geopolitical reasoning in US foreign policy which includes an analysis of George Kennan’s ‘Long Telegram’ and ‘Mr X’ article representations of the USSR. The irony of such practical geopolitical representations of place is that they necessitate the abrogation of genuine geographical knowledge about the diversity and complexity of places as social entities. Geopolitical reasoning, it is concluded, ironically works by being anti-geographical.