Federico Bordonaro, Ph.D.
Beyond Neoclassical and Critical Geopolitics © 2024 by Federico Bordonaro is licensed under CC BY-ND 4.0
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to succinctly demonstrate the shortcomings of conventional geopolitical theories and to highlight the need for a more all-encompassing strategy that goes beyond critical and classical viewpoints. Jeremy Black’s approach shows promise; in addition to territorial and strategic conflicts, he suggests studying geopolitics as a politically influential intellectual tradition that aids in understanding the crystallization of national security traditions. Several historians in the last few decades proved that geopolitical concepts from the classical school are useful in explaining great powers’ grand strategy, its successes and its failures. The paper also discusses the contributions of historical sociology to geopolitical theory, with a special focus on State power and predicting the outcome of international conflicts. The article acknowledges the predictive value of Collins’s geopolitical theory in understanding the dynamics of the Cold War and subsequent political-strategic frameworks. A critique of critical geopolitics is also offered, centred on the shortcomings of a logo-centric, postmodernist, and subjectivist approach.