Joining political and geographic perspectives: Geopolitics and international relations

In the multidisciplinary study of international relations geographical/geopolitical considerations are essential, and must explicitly be brought back into the concepts and theory undergirding international relations research. Based on work of (approximately) the last decade, geographical/geopolitical perspectives, stressing the various dimensions of spatiality, are shown to be vital components of the “contexts” within which international relations and foreign policy operate. It is argued that the incorporation of these perspectives can, and should, be achieved along the lines of Sproutian possibilism, using the opportunity and willingness framework to bring the Sprouts’ “ecological triad” into the analysis of international relations and foreign policy.