ENDORSEMENT

“This book offers a refreshing and ambitious re-examination of the nature of statecraft and geopolitics and contains a number of relevant concepts that can be translated into brand-new research and ambitious policy goals. Building on a number of his previous concepts, the author continues a remarkable endeavour aimed at updating and adapting traditional geopolitical perceptions. Step by step, brick after brick, the author is clearly building a major comprehensive contribution to strategic thinking and diplomacy.”
- Professor François Géré, Director of Research at Paris 3 Sorbonne Nouvelle and President of the French Institute for Strategic Analysis (IFAS), Paris, France. -

“This book provides a carefully crafted description of how the international system is being transformed and defines the challenges facing contemporary statecraft in handling that transformation. Nayef Al-Rodhan has undertaken this enormous task by defining the concept of meta-geopolitics and addressing potential future problems while making full use of the analytical tools that he has developed. It is a unique and intellectually courageous undertaking that will help us gain deeper insights into the many dimensions of current and future security challenges.”
- Ambassador Rolf Ekéus, Chairman of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Stockholm, Sweden. -

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction

1. Structure of the Book

2. Traditional Statecraft and Neo-statecraft

1. Hard and Soft Power
2. Diplomacy
3. Challenges to Traditional Statecraft

3. Geopolitics

1. Traditional Concepts of Geopolitics
2. Contemporary Critiques of the Geopolitical Approach
3. Critical Geopolitics
4. Strategic Geography
5. The Continued Relevance of Geopolitics

4. The Concept of Meta-geopolitics and the 7 Dimensions of State Power

1. Social and Health Issues
2. Domestic Politics
3. Economics
4. Environment
5. Science and Human Potential
6. Military and Security Issues
7. International Diplomacy
8. The 7 Capacities

5. The Concept of a Tripwire Pivotal Corridor and Its Geopolitical Significance

1. Geographic Location of the Corridor
2. Demographic Factors of Instability
3. Ethnic and Religious Tensions
4. Water Scarcity
5. Antarctica’s Contribution to Rising Sea Levels
6. Oil and Gas Resources
7. Zones of Instability and Conflict
8. ‘Pivotal States’ within the TPC
9. Great-Power Rivalries for Influence over TPC Territory
10. Promoting Stability in the TPC

6. The Concept of Sustainable National Security

1. Threats to National Security in a Transnational World
2. Multi-sum Security
3. Symbiotic Realism
4. Transcultural Synergy

7. The Concept of Just Power

1. Realism and Over-reliance on Hard Power
2. The Concept of Smart Power
3. Making Justice an Integral Part of Foreign Policy
4. The Concept of Just Power
5. Just Wars
6. Just Power and Humanitarian Intervention
7. Occupations and Jus Post Bellum
8. Just Economic Power
9. Multi-sum Security: Applying Justice to All 5 Global Security Dimensions
10. Comparing the Concepts of Smart and Just Power
11. Justice in a Transnational World

8. The Future of Geopolitics in a Transnational World

1. The Rise of the BRIC Countries
2. Food and Water Security
3. Climate Change and Geopolitics
4. The Melting of the Arctic Ice Cap and Its Geopolitical Implications
5. The Coming Demographic Revolution
6. The End of Unipolarity
7. The International Impact of Non-State Actors
8. Science and Technology – A Geopolitical Force

9. The Concept of Reconciliation Statecraft

1. Individual Interests
2. Group Interests
3. National Interests
4. Regional Interests
5. Cultural Interests
6. Global Interests
7. Planetary Interests
8. Moral Interests
9. The Necessity of Reconciling the 8 Interests

10. Case Studies: The Geopolitical Realities and Dilemmas of 20 Selected States

11. Case Studies: The Geostrategic Imperatives and Future Trajectories of 20 Selected 
States

12. Neo-statecraft: A Conclusion