Central Asia
The vast interior of Eurasia—Mackinder's Heartland—where ancient empires rose and fell, and where modern great powers compete for influence over energy, trade routes, and strategic position.
Regions
Strategic regions where competing great power interests create instability, from the Arctic to the South China Sea.
12 articles
Major Topics
Eastern Europe
The buffer zone between Russia and the West where NATO expansion, historical memory, and great power competition collide. Eastern Europe has become the primary theater of renewed confrontation between Russia and the Western alliance.
Latin America
The vast region south of the Rio Grande where US hegemony faces new challenges from Chinese investment, left-wing resurgence, and commodity politics. Latin America's strategic importance is rising as great power competition intensifies.
South Asia
The densely populated region where two nuclear-armed rivals face each other across a contested border, where China's rise reshapes regional dynamics, and where the legacy of Afghanistan haunts security calculations. South Asia is among the world's most dangerous regions.
South China Sea
The strategic waterway where great power competition, territorial disputes, and resource rivalry converge. The South China Sea has become the focal point of 21st-century geopolitics.
Southeast Asia
The region where China's rise meets American alliance networks, where vital trade routes pass, and where ASEAN attempts to maintain autonomy amid great power competition. Southeast Asia's choices will shape the Indo-Pacific order.
Sub-Saharan Africa
The resource-rich region where China, the West, and emerging powers compete for influence amid governance challenges and demographic transformation. Africa's geopolitical importance is rising as great powers seek commodities, markets, and strategic position.
The Arctic
Climate change is transforming the frozen north into a new arena of great power competition. Shipping routes, resources, and military positioning make the Arctic increasingly central to global geopolitics.
The Balkans
The mountainous peninsula where empires collide, ethnic groups intermingle, and great powers have repeatedly gone to war. The Balkans remain a zone of instability and strategic competition.
The Caucasus
The mountainous region between the Black and Caspian Seas where Russia, Turkey, and Iran compete for influence amid frozen conflicts and energy corridor politics. The Caucasus is a crucible of ethnic complexity and great power rivalry.
The Middle East
The region where three continents meet, where most of the world's oil lies, and where conflicts seem eternal. Understanding the Middle East as a geopolitical system reveals the structural forces driving its persistent instability.
The Pacific Islands
The vast oceanic region where US-China competition, climate vulnerability, and strategic geography intersect. The Pacific Islands have emerged from geopolitical obscurity to become a primary arena of great power rivalry.