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Geopolitics (from Ancient Greek γῆ ( gê )  'earth, land' and πολιτική ( politikḗ )  'politics') is the study of the effects of Earth 's geography on politics and international relations . Geopolitics usually refers to countries and relations between them, it may also focus on two other kinds of states : de facto independent states with limited international recognition and relations between sub-national geopolitical entities , such as the federated states that make up a federation , confederation , or a quasi-federal system.

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151-622: (Redirected from Demarcated ) Geopolitical border, often agreed upon as part of an armistice or ceasefire [REDACTED] This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:   "Demarcation line"  –  news   · newspapers   · books   · scholar   · JSTOR ( January 2008 ) ( Learn how and when to remove this message ) A political demarcation line

302-562: A 363 earthquake destroyed many structures it declined further, eventually being abandoned. The Sasanian Empire in the east became the Byzantines' rivals, and frequent confrontations sometimes led to the Sasanids controlling some parts of the region, including Transjordan. In 629, during the Battle of Mu'tah in what is today Karak Governorate , the Byzantines and their Arab Christian clients ,

453-479: A Mediterranean climate , while the eastern and northeastern areas of the country are arid desert. Although the deserts reach high temperatures, the heat is usually moderated by low humidity and a daytime breeze, while the nights are cool. Summers, lasting from May to September, are hot and dry, with temperatures averaging around 32 °C (90 °F) and sometimes exceeding 40 °C (104 °F) between July and August. The winter, lasting from November to March,

604-644: A 26 kilometres (16 mi) shoreline on the Gulf of Aqaba in the Red Sea but is otherwise landlocked. The Yarmuk River , an eastern tributary of the Jordan, forms part of the boundary between Jordan and Syria (including the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights ) to the north. The other boundaries are formed by several international and local agreements and do not follow well-defined natural features. The highest point

755-538: A basis of Colombian era empire (roughly from 1492 to the 19th century), and predicted the 20th century to be domain of land power. The Heartland theory hypothesized a huge empire being brought into existence in the Heartland—which would not need to use coastal or transoceanic transport to remain coherent. The basic notions of Mackinder's doctrine involve considering the geography of the Earth as being divided into two sections:

906-472: A fixed geography. French geography is focused on the evolution of polymorphic territories being the result of mankind's actions. It also relies on the consideration of long time periods through a refusal to take specific events into account. This method has been theorized by Professor Lacoste according to three principles: Representation ; Diachronie; and Diatopie. In The Spirit of the Laws , Montesquieu outlined

1057-612: A fleet, were conducive to control over the sea. He proposed six conditions required for a nation to have sea power : Mahan distinguished a key region of the world in the Eurasian context, namely, the Central Zone of Asia lying between 30° and 40° north and stretching from Asia Minor to Japan. In this zone independent countries still survived – Turkey, Persia, Afghanistan, China, and Japan. Mahan regarded those countries, located between Britain and Russia, as if between "Scylla and Charybdis". Of

1208-559: A foreign policy vision for Britain with his Eurocentric analysis of historical geography. His formulation of the Heartland Theory was set out in his article entitled " The Geographical Pivot of History ", published in England in 1904. Mackinder's doctrine of geopolitics involved concepts diametrically opposed to the notion of Alfred Thayer Mahan about the significance of navies (he coined the term sea power ) in world conflict. He saw navy as

1359-608: A foundation for the German variant of geopolitics, geopolitik . Influenced by the American geostrategist Alfred Thayer Mahan, Ratzel wrote of aspirations for German naval reach, agreeing that sea power was self-sustaining, as the profit from trade would pay for the merchant marine, unlike land power. The geopolitical theory of Ratzel has been criticized as being too sweeping, and his interpretation of human history and geography being too simple and mechanistic. Critically, he also underestimated

1510-459: A global vision. However, in complete opposition to Ratzel's vision, Reclus considers geography not to be unchanging; it is supposed to evolve commensurately to the development of human society. His marginal political views resulted in his rejection by academia. French geographer and geopolitician Jacques Ancel (1879–1936) is considered to be the first theoretician of geopolitics in France, and gave

1661-410: A grouping would have the capacity to outstrip America economically and, in the end, militarily. That danger would have to be resisted even if the dominant power was apparently benevolent, for if its intentions ever changed, America would find itself with a grossly diminished capacity for effective resistance and a growing inability to shape events." The main interest of the American leaders is maintaining

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1812-500: A high Human Development Index , ranking 99th, and is considered a lower middle income economy. The Jordanian economy , one of the smallest economies in the region, is attractive to foreign investors based upon a skilled workforce. The country is a major tourist destination, also attracting medical tourism with its well-developed health sector . Nonetheless, a lack of natural resources, large flow of refugees, and regional turmoil have hampered economic growth. Jordan takes its name from

1963-707: A large influence within the Russian military, police, and foreign policy elites and it has been used as a textbook in the Academy of the General Staff of the Russian military. Its publication in 1997 was well received in Russia and powerful Russian political figures subsequently took an interest in Dugin. According to Li Lingqun, a major feature of the People's Republic of China 's geopolitics

2114-679: A level of autonomy by forming the Decapolis , a ten-city league. Jerash is one of the best preserved Roman cities in the East; it was even visited by Emperor Hadrian during his journey to Palestine. In 324 AD, the Roman Empire split and the Eastern Roman Empire, later known as the Byzantine Empire , continued to control or influence the region until 636. Christianity had become legal within

2265-687: A line of demarcation in Beirut , Lebanon during the Lebanese Civil War from 1975 to 1990. It separated the mainly Muslim factions in West Beirut from the predominantly Christian East Beirut controlled by the Lebanese Front. South and East Asia [ edit ] The McMahon Line is a line dividing China and India, drawn on a map attached to the Simla Convention , a treaty negotiated between

2416-514: A majority vote of no confidence by the elected House of Representatives. After a bill is proposed by the government, it must be approved by the House of Representatives then the Senate and becomes law after being ratified by the king. A royal veto on legislation can be overridden by a two-thirds vote in a joint session of both houses. The parliament also has the right of interpellation . The 65 members of

2567-528: A national army; and that free trade be maintained between Transjordan and the rest of the region. Abdullah, the second son of Sharif Hussein, arrived from Hejaz by train in Ma'an in southern Transjordan on 21 November 1920 to redeem the Greater Syrian Kingdom his brother had lost. Transjordan then was in disarray, widely considered to be ungovernable with its dysfunctional local governments. Abdullah gained

2718-591: A notable series of lectures at the European Center of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Paris and published Géopolitique in 1936. Like Reclus, Ancel rejects German determinist views on geopolitics (including Haushofer's doctrines). Braudel 's broad view used insights from other social sciences, employed the concept of the longue durée , and downplayed the importance of specific events. This method

2869-452: A number of times since, is the legal framework that governs the monarch, government, bicameral legislature and judiciary. The king retains wide executive and legislative powers from the government and parliament . The king exercises his powers through the government that he appoints for a four-year term, which is responsible before the parliament that is made up of two chambers: the Senate and

3020-612: A period of relative prosperity in the 16th century but were later abandoned. Transjordan was of marginal importance to the Ottoman authorities. As a result, Ottoman presence was virtually absent and reduced to annual tax collection visits. More Arab Bedouin tribes moved into Transjordan from Syria and the Hejaz during the first three centuries of Ottoman rule, including the Adwan , the Bani Sakhr and

3171-758: A perspective grounded in three assumptions: Connected with this stream, and former member of Hérodote editorial board, the French geographer Michel Foucher developed a long term analysis of international borders. He coined various neologism among them: Horogenesis : Neologism that describes the concept of studying the birth of borders , Dyade : border shared by two neighbouring states (for instance US territory has two terrestrial dyades : one with Canada and one with Mexico). The main book of this searcher "Fronts et frontières" (Fronts and borders) first published in 1991, without equivalent remains untranslated in English. Michel Foucher

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3322-735: A possible armistice line between Poland to the west and the Soviet republics to the east during the Polish-Soviet War of 1919–21. The modern Poland–Belarus and Poland–Ukraine borders mostly follow the Curzon line. The Foch Line was a temporary demarcation line between Poland and Lithuania proposed by the Entente in the aftermath of World War I . The demarcation line in France in Vichy France imposed by Nazi Germany from 1940 to 1942, with

3473-456: A threat from German (Teuton), Russian (Slav), and Japanese expansionism: The "fatal" relationship of Russia, Japan, and Germany "has now assumed through the urgency of natural forces a coalition directed against the survival of Saxon supremacy." It is "a dreadful Dreibund". Lea believed that while Japan moved against Far East and Russia against India, the Germans would strike at England, the center of

3624-547: Is Jabal Umm al Dami , at 1,854 m (6,083 ft) above sea level, while the lowest is the Dead Sea −420 m (−1,378 ft), the lowest land point on Earth . Jordan has a diverse range of habitats, ecosystems and biota because of its varied landscapes and environments. The Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature was set up in 1966 to protect and manage Jordan's natural resources. Nature reserves in Jordan include

3775-540: Is a geopolitical border , often agreed upon as part of an armistice or ceasefire . Africa [ edit ] Moroccan Wall , delimiting the Moroccan-controlled part of Western Sahara from the Sahrawi-controlled part Americas [ edit ] During European imperialism overseas, the lines of amity were drawn to differentiate Europe from the rest of the world. The Line of Demarcation

3926-522: Is a disputed maritime demarcation line in the Yellow Sea between North Korea and South Korea . The Line of Actual Control established by India and the People's Republic of China between Aksai Chin and Ladakh after the Sino-Indian War of 1962. The Line of Control established by India and Pakistan over the disputed region of Kashmir . The nine-dash line appears on maps used by

4077-524: Is addressed by Bert Chapman in Geopolitics: A Guide To the Issues , in which Chapman makes note that academic and professional International Relations journals are more amenable to the study and analysis of Geopolitics, and in particular Classical geopolitics, than contemporary academic journals in the field of political geography. In disciplines outside geography, geopolitics is not negatively viewed (as it often

4228-563: Is also a refuge for thousands of Christian Iraqis fleeing persecution. While Jordan continues to accept refugees, the large Syrian influx during the 2010s has placed substantial strain on national resources and infrastructure. The sovereign state is a constitutional monarchy , but the king holds wide executive and legislative powers. Jordan is a founding member of the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation . The country has

4379-409: Is among academic geographers such as Carolyn Gallaher or Klaus Dodds ) as a tool of imperialism or associated with Nazism, but rather viewed as a valid and consistent manner of assessing major international geopolitical circumstances and events, not necessarily related to armed conflict or military operations. French geopolitical doctrines broadly opposed to German Geopolitik and reject the idea of

4530-531: Is an expert of the African Union for borders affairs. More or less connected with this school, Stéphane Rosière can be quoted as the editor in Chief of the online journal L'Espace politique , this journal created in 2007 became the most prominent French journal of political geography and Geopolitics with Hérodote. French philosopher Michel Foucault's dispositif introduced for the purpose of biopolitical research

4681-695: Is attempting to change the laws of the sea to advance claims in the South China Sea . Another geopolitical issue is PRC's claims over the territories of Taiwan against the government of the Republic of China . Various analysts state that China created the Belt and Road Initiative as a geostrategic effort to take a larger role in global affairs, and undermine what the Communist Party perceives as American hegemony . It has also been argued that China co-founded

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4832-525: Is based on loose justifications. This has been observed in particular by critics of contemporary academic geography, and proponents of a "neo"-classical geopolitics in particular. These include Haverluk et al., who argue that the stigmatization of geopolitics in academia is unhelpful as geopolitics as a field of positivist inquiry maintains potential in researching and resolving topical, often politicized issues such as conflict resolution and prevention, and mitigating climate change . Negative associations with

4983-426: Is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south and the east, Iraq to the north-east , Syria to the north , and Israel and Palestine ( West Bank ) to the west. The east is an arid plateau irrigated by oases and seasonal streams. Major cities are overwhelmingly located on the north-western part of the kingdom with its fertile soils and relatively abundant rainfall. These include Irbid , Jerash and Zarqa in

5134-460: Is considered to be a rare event in the country, and Jordan's internal security was dramatically improved afterwards. No major terrorist attacks have occurred since then. Abdullah and Jordan are viewed with contempt by Islamic extremists for the country's peace treaty with Israel, its relationship with the West, and its mostly non-religious laws. The Arab Spring were large-scale protests that erupted in

5285-551: Is considered to be the first having coined the term in English as early as 1902 and later published in England in 1904 in his book Foundations of Modern Europe . Sir Halford Mackinder 's Heartland Theory initially received little attention outside the world of geography, but some thinkers have claimed that it subsequently influenced the foreign policies of world powers. Those scholars who look to MacKinder through critical lenses accept him as an organic strategist who tried to build

5436-614: Is more like Britain's than Russia's in the New Great Game, where Russia plays the role that the Russian Empire originally did. Chen stated, "Regardless of the prospect, China through the BRI is deep in playing a 'New Great Game' in Central Asia that differs considerably from its historical precedent about 150 years ago when Britain and Russia jostled with each other on the Eurasian steppes." In

5587-463: Is relatively cool, with temperatures averaging around 11.08 °C (52 °F). Winter also sees frequent showers and occasional snowfall in some western elevated areas. Over 2,000 plant species have been recorded. Many of the flowering plants bloom in the spring after the winter rains and the type of vegetation depends largely on the levels of precipitation. The mountainous regions in the northwest are clothed in forests, while further south and east

5738-526: Is war) in 1976. This book symbolizes the birth of this new school of geopolitics (if not so far the first French school of geopolitics as Ancel was very isolated in the 1930s–40s). Initially linked with communist party evolved to a less liberal approach. At the end of the 1980s he founded the Institut Français de Géopolitique (French Institute for Geopolitics) that publishes the Hérodote revue. While rejecting

5889-617: The 1948 Arab–Israeli War , Jordan intervened in Palestine together with many other Arab states. Following the war, Jordan controlled the West Bank , and on 24 April 1950 Jordan formally annexed these territories after the Jericho Conference . In response, some Arab countries demanded Jordan's expulsion from the Arab League . On 12 June 1950, the Arab League declared that the annexation

6040-607: The Arab Federation as a response to the formation of the rival United Arab Republic between Nasser's Egypt and Syria. The union lasted only six months, being dissolved after Iraqi King Faisal II (Hussein's cousin) was deposed by a bloody military coup on 14 July 1958 . Jordan signed a military pact with Egypt just before Israel launched a preemptive strike on Egypt to begin the Six-Day War in June 1967, where Jordan and Syria joined

6191-447: The Arab world in 2011, demanding economic and political reforms. Many of these protests tore down regimes in some Arab nations, leading to instability that ended with violent civil wars. In response to domestic unrest , Abdullah replaced his prime minister and introduced reforms including reforming the constitution and laws governing public freedoms and elections. Proportional representation

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6342-685: The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and New Development Bank to compete with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in development finance . According to Bobo Lo , the Shanghai Cooperation Organization has been advertised as a "political organization of a new type" claimed to transcend geopolitics. Political scientist Pak Nung Wong says that a major form of geopolitics between

6493-666: The Battle of Hattin (1187) near Lake Tiberias just north of Transjordan, the Crusaders lost to Saladin , the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty (1187–1260). The Ayyubids built the Ajloun Castle and rebuilt older castles to be used as military outposts against the Crusaders. Villages in Transjordan under the Ayyubids became important stops for Muslim pilgrims going to Mecca who travelled along

6644-580: The British Empire , China , and Tibet in 1914. The Military Demarcation Line , sometimes referred to as the Armistice Line , is the border between North Korea and South Korea . The Military Demarcation Line was established by the Korean Armistice Agreement as the line between the two Koreas at the end of Korean War in 1953. The Northern Limit Line or North Limit Line (NLL)

6795-531: The Bronze Age (3600–1200 BC). Wadi Feynan became a regional centre for copper extraction: the metal was exploited on a large scale to produce bronze. Trade and movement of people in the Middle East peaked, spreading cultural innovations and whole civilizations to spread. Villages in Transjordan expanded rapidly in areas with reliable water-resources and arable land. Ancient Egyptian populations expanded towards

6946-517: The Carnegie Endowment , Paul Stronski and Nicole Ng wrote in 2018 that China has not fundamentally challenged any Russian interests in Central Asia. Jordan Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia . Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and

7097-472: The Dana Biosphere Reserve , the Azraq Wetland Reserve , the Shaumari Wildlife Reserve and the Mujib Nature Reserve . The climate varies greatly; generally, the further inland from the Mediterranean, there are greater contrasts in temperature and less rainfall. The average elevation is 812 m (2,664 ft) above sea level. The highlands above the Jordan Valley, mountains of the Dead Sea and Wadi Araba and as far south as Ras Al-Naqab are dominated by

7248-500: The Dayton Agreement that followed the end of the Bosnian War . See also [ edit ] Demilitarized zone Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Demarcation_line&oldid=1244250813 " Category : Borders Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Articles needing additional references from January 2008 All articles needing additional references Geopolitics At

7399-433: The German-occupied zone in the north and a free zone in the south. The Line of Contact was a demarcation line between Soviet-aligned forces and forces aligned with the Western allies, marking where Soviet-aligned forces and Western-aligned forces met as they advanced into Germany and Austria at the end of World War II in Europe. The Bosnian Inter-Entity Boundary Line is an ethno-administrative border established by

7550-405: The Ghassanids , staved off an attack by a Muslim Rashidun force that marched northwards towards the Levant from the Hejaz. The Byzantines however were defeated by the Muslims in 636 at the decisive Battle of the Yarmuk just north of Transjordan. Transjordan was an essential territory for the conquest of Damascus. The Rashidun caliphate was followed by that of the Umayyads (661–750). Under

7701-454: The Hejaz desert, up to as far north as Damascus , which it controlled for a short period (85–71 BC). The Nabataeans massed a fortune from their control of the trade routes, often drawing the envy of their neighbours. Petra, Nabataea's capital, flourished in the 1st century AD, driven by its extensive water irrigation systems and agriculture. The Nabataeans were talented stone carvers , building their most elaborate structure, Al-Khazneh , in

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7852-461: The Hejaz Railway in 1908—stretching across the length of Transjordan and linking Damascus with Medina —helped the population economically, as Transjordan became a stopover for pilgrims. Increasing policies of Turkification and centralization adopted by the Ottoman Empire in the wake of the 1908 Young Turk Revolution disenchanted the Arabs of the Levant, which contributed to the development of an Arab nationalist movement. These changes led to

8003-449: The House of Representatives . The judiciary is independent according to the constitution but in practice often lacks independence. The king is the head of state and commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces . He can declare war and peace, ratify laws and treaties, convene and close legislative sessions, call and postpone elections, dismiss the government, and dissolve the parliament. The appointed government can also be dismissed through

8154-399: The Howeitat . These tribes laid claims to different parts of the region, and with the absence of a meaningful Ottoman authority, Transjordan slid into a state of anarchy that continued until the 19th century. This led to a short-lived occupation by the Wahhabi forces (1803–1812), an ultra-orthodox Islamic movement that emerged in Najd (in modern-day Saudi Arabia). Ibrahim Pasha , son of

8305-406: The Jordan River , which forms much of the country's northwestern border. While several theories for the origin of the river's name have been proposed, it is most plausible that it derives from the Hebrew word Yarad ( ירד ), meaning "the descender", reflecting the river's declivity. Much of the area that makes up modern Jordan was historically called Transjordan , meaning "across the Jordan";

8456-417: The Late Pleistocene , which resulted in the formation of numerous remains-preserving wetlands in the region. Past lakeshore environments attracted different groups of hominids, and several remains of tools dating from the Late Pleistocene have been found there. Scientists have found the world's oldest known evidence of bread-making at a 14,500-year-old Natufian site in Jordan's northeastern desert. During

8607-453: The Neolithic period (10,000–4,500 BC), there was a transition there from a hunter-gatherer culture to a culture with established populous agricultural villages. 'Ain Ghazal , one such village located at a site in the eastern part of present-day Amman , is one of the largest known prehistoric settlements in the Near East . Dozens of plaster statues of the human form, dating to 7250 BC or earlier, have been uncovered there; they are one of

8758-406: The Paleolithic period. Three kingdoms developed in Transjordan during the Iron Age : Ammon , Moab and Edom , which were conquered by the Assyrian and later Babylonian empires. In the third century BC, the Arab Nabataeans established their kingdom centered in Petra . The Greco-Roman period saw the establishment of several cities in Transjordan that comprised the Decapolis . Later,

8909-448: The People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan) accompanying their South China Sea claims, which are challenged by Malaysia , the Philippines , and Vietnam . Europe [ edit ] [REDACTED] The Line of Contact , final positions of the armies of the Western Allies and Soviets, May 8, 1945. The Curzon Line was a demarcation line proposed in 1920 by British Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon as

9060-429: The Rabat summit conference in 1974, in the aftermath of the Yom-Kippur War, Jordan and the rest of the Arab League agreed that the PLO was the "sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people". Subsequently, Jordan renounced its claims to the West Bank in 1988. At the 1991 Madrid Conference , Jordan agreed to negotiate a peace treaty sponsored by the US and the Soviet Union. The Israel–Jordan peace treaty

9211-456: The Russian Academy of Sciences , Vadim Tsymbursky (1957–2009), coined the term "island-Russia" and developed the "Great Limitrophe " concept. Colonel-General Leonid Ivashov (retired), a Russian geopolitics specialist of the early 21st century, headed the Academy of Geopolitical Problems ( Russian : Академия геополитических проблем ), which analyzes the international and domestic situations and develops geopolitical doctrine. Earlier, he headed

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9362-456: The United Nations on 7 June 2001 for the purposes of determining whether Israel had fully withdrawn from Lebanon. The term Green Line is used to refer to the 1949 Armistice lines established between Israel and its neighbours ( Egypt , Jordan , Lebanon and Syria ) after the 1948 Arab–Israeli War . The Purple Line was the ceasefire line between Israel and Syria after the 1967 Six-Day War . The Green Line (Lebanon) refers

9513-442: The World Island or Core, comprising Eurasia and Africa ; and the Peripheral "islands", including the Americas , Australia , Japan , the British Isles , and Oceania . Not only was the Periphery noticeably smaller than the World Island, it necessarily required much sea transport to function at the technological level of the World Island—which contained sufficient natural resources for a developed economy. Mackinder posited that

9664-568: The eleventh-most populous Arab country . The dominant majority, or around 95% of the country's population, is Sunni Muslim , with the rest being mostly Arab Christian . Jordan was mostly unscathed by the violence that swept the region following the Arab Spring in 2010. From as early as 1948, Jordan has accepted refugees from multiple neighbouring countries in conflict. An estimated 2.1 million Palestinian refugees , most of whom hold Jordanian citizenship, as well as 1.4 million Syrian refugees , were residing in Jordan as of 2015. The kingdom

9815-416: The governor of the Egypt Eyalet , rooted out the Wahhabis under the request of the Ottoman sultan by 1818. In 1833 Pasha turned on the Ottomans and established his rule over the Levant. His policies led to the unsuccessful peasants' revolt in Palestine in 1834. Transjordanian cities of As-Salt and Al-Karak were destroyed by Pasha's forces for harboring a peasants' revolt leader . Egyptian rule

9966-422: The occupied Palestinian territories to the west. The Jordan River , flowing into the Dead Sea , is located along the country's western border. Jordan has a small coastline along the Red Sea in its southwest, separated by the Gulf of Aqaba from Egypt . Amman is the country's capital and largest city , as well as the most populous city in the Levant . Modern-day Jordan has been inhabited by humans since

10117-424: The propaganda of Nazi Germany . The key concepts of Haushofer's Geopolitik were Lebensraum, autarky , pan-regions , and organic borders. States have, Haushofer argued, an undeniable right to seek natural borders which would guarantee autarky . Haushofer's influence within the Nazi Party has been challenged, given that Haushofer failed to incorporate the Nazis' racial ideology into his work. Popular views of

10268-399: The white-spectacled bulbul . Four terrestrial ecoregions lie with Jordan's borders: Syrian xeric grasslands and shrublands , Eastern Mediterranean conifer-sclerophyllous-broadleaf forests , Mesopotamian shrub desert , and Red Sea Nubo-Sindian tropical desert and semi-desert . Jordan is a unitary state under a constitutional monarchy . Its constitution , adopted in 1952 and amended

10419-439: The 2016 election), Christians (9 seats) and Circassians and Chechens (3 seats). Courts are divided into three categories: civil, religious, and special. The civil courts deal with civil and criminal matters, including cases brought against the government. The civil courts include magistrate courts, courts of first instance, courts of appeal, high administrative courts which hear cases relating to administrative matters, and

10570-401: The Arabist cause, offered support. The revolt started on 5 June 1916 from Medina and pushed northwards until the fighting reached Transjordan in the Battle of Aqaba on 6 July 1917. The revolt reached its climax when Faisal entered Damascus in October 1918 and established an Arab-led military administration in OETA East , later declared as the Arab Kingdom of Syria , both of which Transjordan

10721-431: The British Empire. He thought the Anglo-Saxons faced certain disaster from their militant opponents. Two national security advisors from the Cold War period, Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski , argued to continue the United States' geopolitical focus on Eurasia and, particularly Russia, despite the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War . Both continued their influence on geopolitics after

10872-546: The British stated their willingness to recognize the independence of a unified Arab state stretching from Aleppo to Aden under the rule of the Hashemites. British High Commissioner Herbert Samuel travelled to Transjordan on 21 August 1920 to meet with As-Salt's residents. He there declared to a crowd of 600 Transjordanian notables that the British government would aid the establishment of local governments in Transjordan, which

11023-612: The Cold War, Kissinger argues, both sides of the Atlantic recognized that, "unless America is organically involved in Europe, it would later be obliged to involve itself under circumstances which would be far less favorable to both sides of the Atlantic. That is even more true today. Germany has become so strong that existing European institutions cannot strike a balance between Germany and its European partners all by themselves. Nor can Europe, even with

11174-547: The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The country captured and annexed the West Bank during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War until it was occupied by Israel in 1967 . Jordan renounced its claim to the territory to the Palestinians in 1988 and signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994. Jordan is a semi-arid country, covering an area of 89,342 km (34,495 sq mi) with a population of 11.5 million, making it

11325-622: The Islamic era began after end of Byzantine rule that set off Islamic empires of the Rashidun , Umayyad , Abbasid , and the Ottoman . Following the 1916 Great Arab Revolt during World War I , former Ottoman Syria was partitioned , leading to the establishment of the Emirate of Transjordan in 1921, which became a British protectorate. In 1946, the country gained independence and became officially known as

11476-721: The Levant and came to control both banks of the Jordan River. During the Iron Age (1200–332 BC), after the withdrawal of the Egyptians, Transjordan was home to the kingdoms of Ammon , Edom and Moab . These peoples spoke Semitic languages of the Canaanite group ; archaeologists have concluded that their polities were tribal kingdoms rather than states. Ammon was located in the Amman plateau; Moab in

11627-718: The Levant. As had happened during the Roman era, growth of maritime trade diminished Transjordan's central position, and the area became increasingly impoverished. After the decline of the Abbasids, Transjordan was ruled by the Fatimid Caliphate (969–1070), then by the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem (1115–1187). The Crusaders constructed several castles as part of the Lordship of Oultrejordain, including Montreal and Al-Karak. During

11778-567: The Levant. In Transjordan and with Ottoman support, Circassians first settled in the long-abandoned vicinity of Amman in 1867 and later in the surrounding villages. The Ottoman authorities' establishment of its administration, conscription and heavy taxation policies led to revolts in the areas it controlled. Transjordan's tribes in particular revolted during the Shoubak (1905) and the Karak revolts (1910), which were brutally suppressed. The construction of

11929-723: The Main Directorate for International Military Cooperation of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation . Vladimir Karyakin, leading researcher at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies , has proposed the term "geopolitics of the third wave". Aleksandr Dugin , a Russian political analyst who has developed a close relationship with Russia's Academy of the General Staff wrote " The Foundations of Geopolitics: The Geopolitical Future of Russia " in 1997, which has had

12080-610: The Palestinians had limited involvement against the Israeli forces, the events at Karameh gained wide recognition and acclaim in the Arab world. As a result, there was an upsurge of support for Palestinian paramilitary elements (the fedayeen ) within Jordan from other Arab countries. The fedayeen activities soon became a threat to Jordan's rule of law. In September 1970, the Jordanian army targeted

12231-563: The Rimland must be prevented. Spykman modified Mackinder's formula on the relationship between the Heartland and the Rimland (or the inner crescent), claiming that "Who controls the rimland rules Eurasia. Who rules Eurasia controls the destinies of the world." This theory can be traced in the origins of containment , a U.S. policy on preventing the spread of Soviet influence after World War II (see also Truman Doctrine ). Another follower of Mackinder

12382-624: The Roman culture. Some Edomites survived longer – driven by the Nabataeans, they had migrated to southern Judea , which became known as Idumaea ; they were later converted to Judaism by the Hasmoneans . Alexander the Great 's conquest of the Persian Empire in 332 BC introduced Hellenistic culture to the Middle East. After Alexander's death in 323 BC, the empire split among his generals, and in

12533-527: The US and China includes cybersecurity competition, policy regulations regarding technology standards and social media platforms, and traditional and non-traditional forms of espionage. One view of the New Great Game is a shift to geoeconomic compared to geopolitical competition. The interest in oil and gas includes pipelines that transmit energy to China's east coast. Xiangming Chen believes that China's role

12684-662: The Umayyad Caliphate, several desert castles were constructed in Transjordan, including: Qasr Al-Mshatta and Qasr Al-Hallabat . The Abbasid Caliphate 's campaign to take over the Umayyad's began in a village in Transjordan known as Humayma . The powerful 749 earthquake is thought to have contributed to the Umayyads' defeat by the Abbasids , who moved the caliphate's capital from Damascus to Baghdad . During Abbasid rule (750–969), several Arab tribes moved northwards and settled in

12835-428: The assistance of Germany, manage […] Russia" all by itself. Thus Kissinger believed that no country's interests would ever be served if Germany and Russia were to ever form a partnership in which each country would consider itself the principal partner. They would raise fears of condominium. Without America, Britain and France cannot cope with Germany and Russia; and "without Europe, America could turn … into an island off

12986-538: The balance of power in Eurasia. Having converted from an ideologist into a geopolitician, Kissinger retrospectively interpreted the Cold War in geopolitical terms—an approach which was not characteristic of his works during the Cold War. Now, however, he focused on the beginning of the Cold War: "The objective of moral opposition to Communism had merged with the geopolitical task of containing Soviet expansion." Nixon, he added,

13137-470: The beginning of the second millennium, a lordship was established in the area under the name of Oultrejordain . The oldest known evidence of hominid habitation in Jordan dates back at least 200,000 years. Jordan is a rich source of Paleolithic human remains (up to 20,000 years old) due to its location within the Levant , where various migrations out of Africa converged, and its more humid climate during

13288-474: The borders of Pennsylvania , Maryland , Delaware , and West Virginia (then part of Virginia ). It was surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in the resolution of a border dispute between British colonies in Colonial America . Asia [ edit ] Middle East [ edit ] The Blue Line is a border demarcation between Lebanon and Israel published by

13439-866: The building projects that he initiated in Moab and commemorates his glory and his victory against the Israelites. The stele constitutes one of the most important archeological parallels to accounts recorded in the Bible . At the same time, Israel and the Kingdom of Aram-Damascus competed for control of the Gilead. Around 740–720 BC, Israel and Aram-Damascus were conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire . The kingdoms of Ammon, Edom and Moab were subjugated but were allowed to maintain some degree of independence. Then in 627 BC, following after

13590-509: The centenary of The Geographical Pivot of History, Historian Paul Kennedy wrote: "Right now with hundreds of thousands of US troops in the Eurasian rimlands and with administration constantly explaining why it has to stay the course, it looks as if Washington is taking seriously Mackinder's injunction to ensure control of the geographical pivot of history." Friedrich Ratzel (1844–1904), influenced by thinkers such as Darwin and zoologist Ernst Heinrich Haeckel , contributed to 'Geopolitik' by

13741-425: The constitutional court which was set up in 2012 in order to hear cases regarding the constitutionality of laws. Although Islam is the state religion , the constitution preserves religious and personal freedoms. Religious law only extends to matters of personal status such as divorce and inheritance in religious courts, and is partially based on Islamic sharia law. The special court deals with cases forwarded by

13892-637: The disintegration of the Assyrians' empire, Babylonians took control of the area. Although the kingdoms supported the Babylonians against Judah in the 597 BC sack of Jerusalem , they rebelled against Babylon a decade later. The kingdoms were reduced to vassals , a status they retained under the Persian and Hellenic empires. By the beginning of Roman rule around 63 BC, the kingdoms of Ammon, Edom and Moab had lost their distinct identities and were assimilated into

14043-721: The empire in 313 after co-emperors Constantine and Licinius signed an edict of toleration. In 380, the Edict of Thessalonica made Christianity the official state religion. Transjordan prospered during the Byzantine era, and Christian churches were built throughout the region. The Aqaba Church in Ayla was built during this era; it is considered to be the world's first purpose built Christian church . Umm ar-Rasas in southern Amman contains at least 16 Byzantine churches. Meanwhile, Petra's importance declined as sea trade routes emerged, and after

14194-608: The end much of Transjordan was disputed between the Ptolemies based in Egypt and the Seleucids based in Syria. The Nabataeans , nomadic Arabs based south of Edom, managed to establish an independent kingdom in 169 BC by exploiting the struggle between the two Greek powers. The Nabataean Kingdom controlled much of the trade routes of the region, and it stretched south along the Red Sea coast into

14345-531: The end of the Cold War, writing books on the subject in the 1990s— Diplomacy and The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives . The Anglo-American classical geopolitical theories were revived. Kissinger argued against the belief that with the dissolution of the USSR, hostile intentions had come to an end and traditional foreign policy considerations no longer applied. "They would argue … that Russia, regardless of who governs it, sits astride

14496-466: The expansion on the biological conception of geography, without a static conception of borders. Positing that states are organic and growing, with borders representing only a temporary stop in their movement, he held that the expanse of a state's borders is a reflection of the health of the nation—meaning that static countries are in decline. Ratzel published several papers, among which was the essay "Lebensraum" (1901) concerning biogeography . Ratzel created

14647-507: The fedayeen and the resultant fighting led to the expulsion of Palestinian fighters from various PLO groups into Lebanon, in a conflict that became known as Black September . In 1973, Egypt and Syria waged the Yom Kippur War on Israel, and fighting occurred along the 1967 Jordan River cease-fire line. Jordan sent a brigade to Syria to attack Israeli units on Syrian territory but did not engage Israeli forces from Jordanian territory. At

14798-868: The first century AD. It is believed to be the mausoleum of the Arab Nabataean King Aretas IV . Roman legions under Pompey conquered much of the Levant in 63 BC, inaugurating a period of Roman rule that lasted four centuries. In 106 AD, Emperor Trajan annexed Nabataea unopposed and rebuilt the King's Highway which became known as the Via Traiana Nova road. The Romans gave the Greek cities of Transjordan—Philadelphia (Amman), Gerasa (Jerash), Gedara (Umm Quays), Pella (Tabaqat Fahl) and Arbila (Irbid)—and other Hellenistic cities in Palestine and southern Syria,

14949-623: The first time ever, a "non-Eurasian" power had emerged as a key arbiter of "Eurasian" power relations. The book states its purpose: "The formulation of a comprehensive and integrated Eurasian geostrategy is therefore the purpose of this book." Although the power configuration underwent a revolutionary change, Brzezinski confirmed three years later, Eurasia was still a mega-continent. Like Spykman, Brzezinski acknowledges that: "Cumulatively, Eurasia's power vastly overshadows America's." In classical Spykman terms, Brzezinski formulated his geostrategic "chessboard" doctrine of Eurasia, which aims to prevent

15100-607: The form of a hypothesized 'racial character,' to the factor of greatest significance in the constitution of human society. These differences led after 1933 to friction and ultimately to open denunciation of geopolitics by Nazi ideologues. Nevertheless, German Geopolitik was discredited by its (mis)use in Nazi expansionist policy of World War II and has never achieved standing comparable to the pre-war period. The resultant negative association, particularly in U.S. academic circles, between classical geopolitics and Nazi or imperialist ideology,

15251-629: The former crown prince of Jordan, who was placed under house arrest, after having been accused of working to "destabilize" the kingdom. Jordan sits strategically at the crossroads of the continents of Asia, Africa and Europe, in the Levant area of the Fertile Crescent , a cradle of civilization . Its area is 89,341 square kilometres (34,495 sq mi), and it is 400 kilometres (250 mi) long between its northernmost and southernmost points; Umm Qais and Aqaba respectively. The kingdom lies between 29° and 34° N , and 34° and 40° E . It

15402-725: The foundation for Aqaba 's free-trade zone and Jordan's flourishing information and communication technology sector. He also set up five other special economic zones. However, during the following years Jordan's economy experienced hardship as it dealt with the effects of the Great Recession and spillover from the Arab Spring . Al-Qaeda under Abu Musab al-Zarqawi 's leadership launched coordinated explosions in three hotel lobbies in Amman on 9 November 2005, resulting in 60 deaths and 115 injured. The bombings, which targeted civilians, caused widespread outrage among Jordanians. The attack

15553-462: The generalizations and broad abstractions employed by the German and Anglo-American traditions (and the new geographers ), this school does focus on spatial dimension of geopolitics affairs on different levels of analysis. This approach emphasizes the importance of multi-level (or multi-scales) analysis and maps at the opposite of critical geopolitics which avoid such tools. Lacoste proposed that every conflict (both local or global) can be considered from

15704-510: The grain reserves of Ukraine, and many other natural resources. Mackinder's notion of geopolitics was summed up when he said: Who rules Central and Eastern Europe commands the Heartland. Who rules the Heartland commands the World-Island. Who rules the World-Island commands the World. Nicholas J. Spykman was both a follower and critic of geostrategists Alfred Mahan, and Halford Mackinder . His work

15855-620: The highlands east of the Dead Sea; and Edom in the area around Wadi Araba in the south. The northwestern region of the Transjordan, known then as Gilead , was settled by the Israelites . The three kingdoms continually clashed with the neighbouring Hebrew kingdoms of Israel and Judah , centered west of the Jordan River. One record of this is the Mesha Stele , erected by the Moabite king Mesha in 840 BC; in an inscription on it, he lauds himself for

16006-453: The importance of social organization in the development of power. After World War I , the thoughts of Rudolf Kjellén and Ratzel were picked up and extended by a number of German authors such as Karl Haushofer (1869–1946), Erich Obst , Hermann Lautensach, and Otto Maull . In 1923, Karl Haushofer founded the Zeitschrift für Geopolitik (Journal for Geopolitics), which was later used in

16157-633: The industrial centers of the Periphery were necessarily located in widely separated locations. The World Island could send its navy to destroy each one of them in turn, and could locate its own industries in a region further inland than the Periphery (so they would have a longer struggle reaching them, and would face a well-stocked industrial bastion). Mackinder called this region the Heartland . It essentially comprised Central and Eastern Europe : Ukraine , Western Russia , and Mitteleuropa . The Heartland contained

16308-429: The interests of international political actors focused within an area, a space, or a geographical element, relations which create a geopolitical system. Critical geopolitics deconstructs classical geopolitical theories, by showing their political or ideological functions for great powers . There are some works that discuss the geopolitics of renewable energy . According to Christopher Gogwilt and other researchers,

16459-553: The level of international relations, geopolitics is a method of studying foreign policy to understand, explain, and predict international political behavior through geographical variables. These include area studies , climate , topography , demography , natural resources , and applied science of the region being evaluated. Geopolitics focuses on political power linked to geographic space, in particular, territorial waters and land territory in correlation with diplomatic history . Topics of geopolitics include relations between

16610-591: The northwest are clothed in natural forests of pine , deciduous oak , evergreen oak , pistachio and wild olive . Mammal and reptile species include, the long-eared hedgehog , Nubian ibex , wild boar , fallow deer , Arabian wolf , desert monitor , honey badger , glass snake , caracal , golden jackal and the roe deer , among others. Bird include the hooded crow , Eurasian jay , lappet-faced vulture , barbary falcon , hoopoe , pharaoh eagle-owl , common cuckoo , Tristram's starling , Palestine sunbird , Sinai rosefinch , lesser kestrel , house crow and

16761-603: The northwest, the capital Amman and As-Salt in the central west, and Madaba , Al-Karak and Aqaba in the southwest. Major towns in the east are the oasis towns of Azraq and Ruwaished . In the west, a highland area of arable land and Mediterranean evergreen forestry drops suddenly into the Jordan Rift Valley . The rift valley contains the Jordan River and the Dead Sea , which separates Jordan from Israel. Jordan has

16912-518: The oldest large-scale representations of humans ever found. During the Chalcolithic period (4500–3600 BC), several villages emerged in Transjordan including Tulaylet Ghassul in the Jordan Valley ; a series of circular stone enclosures in the eastern basalt desert from the same period have long baffled archaeologists. Fortified towns and urban centres first emerged in the southern Levant early in

17063-595: The outbreak of the 1916 Arab Revolt during World War I , which ended four centuries of stagnation under Ottoman rule. The revolt was led by Sharif Hussein of Mecca, scion of the Hashemite family of the Hejaz, and his sons Abdullah , Faisal and Ali . Locally, the revolt garnered the support of the Transjordanian tribes, including Bedouins, Circassians and Christians . The Allies of World War I , including Britain and France whose imperial interests converged with

17214-408: The peace treaty. On 7 February 1999, Abdullah II ascended the throne upon the death of his father Hussein, who had ruled for nearly 50 years. Abdullah embarked on economic liberalization when he assumed the throne, and his reforms led to an economic boom which continued until 2008. Abdullah II has been credited with increasing foreign investment, improving public-private partnerships and providing

17365-706: The planet – the Royal Geographic Society in London" Haushofer adopted both Mackinder's Heartland thesis and his view of the Russian-German alliance – powers that Mackinder saw as the major contenders for control of Eurasia in the twentieth century. Following Mackinder he suggested an alliance with the Soviet Union and, advancing a step beyond Mackinder, added Japan to his design of the Eurasian Bloc. In 2004, at

17516-467: The principle of spaces polymorphic faces depending from many factors among them mankind, culture, and ideas) as opposed to determinism. Due to the influence of German Geopolitik on French geopolitics, the latter were for a long time banished from academic works. In the mid-1970s, Yves Lacoste —a French geographer who was directly inspired by Ancel, Braudel and Vidal de la Blache—wrote La géographie, ça sert d'abord à faire la guerre (Geography first use

17667-551: The provisions of the mandate dealing with Jewish settlement. On 11 April 1921 the Emirate of Transjordan was established with Abdullah as emir. In September 1922, the Council of the League of Nations recognized Transjordan as a state under the terms of the Transjordan memorandum . Transjordan remained a British mandate until 1946, but it had been granted a greater level of autonomy than

17818-477: The region west of the Jordan River. Multiple difficulties emerged upon the assumption of power in the region by the Hashemite leadership. In Transjordan, small local rebellions at Kura in 1921 and 1923 were suppressed by Abdullah's forces with the help of the British. Wahhabis from Najd regained strength and repeatedly raided the southern parts of his territory, seriously threatening the emir's position. The emir

17969-540: The role of geopolitics in the Nazi Third Reich suggest a fundamental significance on the part of the geo-politicians in the ideological orientation of the Nazi state. Bassin (1987) reveals that these popular views are in important ways misleading and incorrect. Despite the numerous similarities and affinities between the two doctrines, geopolitics was always held suspect by the National Socialist ideologists. This

18120-480: The route that connected Syria to the Hejaz. Several of the Ayyubid castles were used and expanded by the Mamluks (1260–1516), who divided Transjordan between the provinces of Karak and Damascus. During the next century Transjordan experienced Mongol attacks, but the Mongols were ultimately repelled by the Mamluks at the Battle of Ain Jalut (1260). In 1516 the Ottoman Caliphate 's forces conquered Mamluk territory . Agricultural villages in Transjordan witnessed

18271-423: The secret 1916 Sykes–Picot Agreement , which divided the region into French and British spheres of influence, and the 1917 Balfour Declaration , in which Britain announced its support for the establishment of a "national home" for Jews in Palestine. This was seen by the Hashemites and the Arabs as a betrayal of their previous agreements with the British, including the 1915 McMahon–Hussein Correspondence , in which

18422-436: The shores of Eurasia." Nicholas J. Spykman 's vision of Eurasia was strongly confirmed: "Geopolitically, America is an island off the shores of the large landmass of Eurasia, whose resources and population far exceed those of the United States. The domination by a single power of either of Eurasia's two principal spheres—Europe and Asia—remains a good definition of strategic danger for America. Cold War or no Cold War. For such

18573-446: The strategic management of geopolitical interests…. But in the meantime it is imperative that no Eurasian challenger emerges, capable of dominating Eurasia and thus also of challenging America… For America the chief geopolitical prize is Eurasia…and America's global primacy is directly dependent on how long and how effectively its preponderance on the Eurasian continent is sustained." The Austro-Hungarian historian Emil Reich (1854–1910)

18724-684: The term "geopolitics" and its practical application stemming from its association with World War II and pre-World War II German scholars and students of geopolitics are largely specific to the field of academic geography, and especially sub-disciplines of human geography such as political geography. However, this negative association is not as strong in disciplines such as history or political science, which make use of geopolitical concepts. Classical geopolitics forms an important element of analysis for military history as well as for sub-disciplines of political science such as international relations and security studies . This difference in disciplinary perspectives

18875-449: The term is currently being used to describe a broad spectrum of concepts, in a general sense used as "a synonym for international political relations", but more specifically "to imply the global structure of such relations"; this usage builds on an "early-twentieth-century term for a pseudoscience of political geography " and other pseudoscientific theories of historical and geographic determinism . Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840–1914)

19026-406: The term is used to denote the lands east of the river. The Hebrew Bible uses the term עבר הירדן Ever ha'Yarden ( lit.   ' the other side of the Jordan ' ) for the area. Early Arab chronicles call the river Al-Urdunn (a term cognate to the Hebrew Yarden ). Jund Al-Urdunn was a military district around the river in the early Islamic era. Later, during the Crusades in

19177-429: The territory which Halford Mackinder called the geopolitical heartland, and it is the heir to one of the most potent imperial traditions." Therefore, the United States must "maintain the global balance of power vis-à-vis the country with a long history of expansionism." After Russia, the second geopolitical threat which remained was Germany and, as Mackinder had feared ninety years ago, its partnership with Russia. During

19328-443: The throne in 1953 at age 17. Jordan witnessed great political uncertainty in the following period. The 1950s was a period of political upheaval, as Nasserism and Pan-Arabism swept the Arab World. On 1 March 1956, King Hussein Arabized the command of the Army by dismissing a number of senior British officers, an act made to remove remaining foreign influence in the country. In 1958, Jordan and neighbouring Hashemite Iraq formed

19479-489: The trust of Transjordan's tribal leaders before scrambling to convince them of the benefits of an organized government. Abdullah's successes drew the envy of the British, even when it was in their interest. The British reluctantly accepted Abdullah as ruler of Transjordan after having given him a six-month trial. In March 1921, the British decided to add Transjordan to their Mandate for Palestine , in which they would implement their " Sharifian Solution " policy without applying

19630-426: The two monsters – Britain and Russia – it was the latter that Mahan considered more threatening to the fate of Central Asia . Mahan was impressed by Russia's transcontinental size and strategically favorable position for southward expansion. Therefore, he found it necessary for the Anglo-Saxon "sea power" to resist Russia. Homer Lea , in The Day of the Saxon (1912), asserted that the entire Anglo-Saxon race faced

19781-427: The unification of this mega-continent. "Europe and Asia are politically and economically powerful…. It follows that… American foreign policy must…employ its influence in Eurasia in a manner that creates a stable continental equilibrium, with the United States as the political arbiter.… Eurasia is thus the chessboard on which the struggle for global primacy continues to be played, and that struggle involves geo- strategy –

19932-467: The upper Senate are directly appointed by the king, the constitution mandates that they be veteran politicians, judges and generals who previously served in the government or in the House of Representatives. The 130 members of the lower House of Representatives are elected through party-list proportional representation in 23 constituencies for a 4-year term. Minimum quotas exist in the House of Representatives for women (15 seats, though they won 20 seats in

20083-497: The vegetation becomes more scrubby and transitions to steppe-type vegetation. Forests cover 1.5 million dunums (1,500 km ), less than 2% of Jordan, making Jordan among the world's least forested countries, the international average being 15%. Plant species and genera include the Aleppo pine , Sarcopoterium , Salvia dominica , black iris , Tamarix , Anabasis , Artemisia , Acacia , Mediterranean cypress and Phoenecian juniper . The mountainous regions in

20234-437: The view that man and societies are influenced by climate. He believed that hotter climates create hot-tempered people and colder climates aloof people, whereas the mild climate of France is ideal for political systems. Considered one of the founders of French geopolitics, Élisée Reclus , is the author of a book considered a reference in modern geography (Nouvelle Géographie universelle). Alike Ratzel, he considers geography through

20385-406: The war. The Arab states were defeated, and Jordan lost control of the West Bank to Israel. The War of Attrition with Israel followed, which included the 1968 Battle of Karameh where the combined forces of the Jordanian Armed Forces and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) repelled an Israeli attack on the Karameh camp on the Jordanian border with the West Bank. Despite the fact that

20536-409: Was Karl Haushofer who called Mackinder's Geographical Pivot of History a "genius' scientific tractate." He commented on it: "Never have I seen anything greater than those few pages of geopolitical masterwork." Mackinder located his Pivot, in the words of Haushofer, on "one of the first solid, geopolitically and geographically irreproachable maps, presented to one of the earliest scientific forums of

20687-484: Was forcibly ended in 1841, with Ottoman rule restored. Only after Pasha's campaign did the Ottoman Empire try to solidify its presence in the Syria Vilayet , which Transjordan was part of. A series of tax and land reforms ( Tanzimat ) in 1864 brought some prosperity back to agriculture and to abandoned villages; the end of virtual autonomy led a backlash in other areas of Transjordan. Muslim Circassians and Chechens , fleeing Russian persecution , sought refuge in

20838-441: Was a frequent commentator on world naval strategic and diplomatic affairs. Mahan believed that national greatness was inextricably associated with the sea—and particularly with its commercial use in peace and its control in war. Mahan's theoretical framework came from Antoine-Henri Jomini , and emphasized that strategic locations (such as choke points , canals, and coaling stations), as well as quantifiable levels of fighting power in

20989-422: Was a geopolitical rather than an ideological cold warrior. Three years after Kissinger's Diplomacy , Zbigniew Brzezinski followed suit, launching The Grand Chessboard: American Primacy and Its Geostrategic Imperatives and, after three more years, The Geostrategic Triad: Living with China, Europe, and Russia. The Grand Chessboard described the American triumph in the Cold War in terms of control over Eurasia: for

21140-459: Was a temporary, practical measure and that Jordan was holding the territory as a "trustee" pending a future settlement. King Abdullah was assassinated at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1951 by a Palestinian militant, amid rumors he intended to sign a peace treaty with Israel. Abdullah was succeeded by his son Talal , who established the country's modern constitution in 1952. Illness caused Talal to abdicate to his eldest son Hussein , who ascended to

21291-444: Was also adopted in the field of geopolitical thought where it now plays a role. The geopolitical stance adopted by Russia has traditionally been informed by a Eurasian perspective, and Russia's location provides a degree of continuity between the Tsarist and Soviet geostrategic stance and the position of Russia in the international order. In the 1990s, a senior researcher at the Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences of

21442-479: Was based on assumptions similar to Mackinder's, including the unity of world politics and the world sea. He extends this to include the unity of the air. Spykman adopts Mackinder's divisions of the world, renaming some: Under Spykman's theory, a Rimland separates the Heartland from ports that are usable throughout the year (that is, not frozen up during winter). Spykman suggested this required that attempts by Heartland nations (particularly Russia ) to conquer ports in

21593-414: Was inspired by the French geographer Paul Vidal de la Blache (who in turn was influenced by German thought, particularly that of Friedrich Ratzel whom he had met in Germany). Braudel's method was to analyse the interdependence between individuals and their environment. Vidalian geopolitics is based on varied forms of cartography and on possibilism (founded on a societal approach of geography—i.e. on

21744-412: Was one specific line drawn along a meridian in the Atlantic Ocean as part of the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 to divide new lands claimed by Portugal from those of Spain . This line was drawn in 1493 after Christopher Columbus returned from his maiden voyage to the Americas . The Mason–Dixon line (or "Mason and Dixon's Line") is a demarcation line between four U.S. states , forming part of

21895-489: Was part of. During this period, the southernmost region of the country, including Ma'an and Aqaba , was also claimed by the neighbouring Kingdom of Hejaz . The nascent Hashemite Kingdom over the region of Syria was forced to surrender to French troops on 24 July 1920 during the Battle of Maysalun ; the French occupied only the northern part of Syria, leaving Transjordan in a period of interregnum . Arab aspirations failed to gain international recognition, due mainly to

22046-416: Was raised to the status of a kingdom under the name of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Arabic, with Abdullah as its first king; although it continued to be referred to as the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan in English until 1949. 25 May is now celebrated as the nation's Independence Day , a public holiday . Jordan became a member of the United Nations on 14 December 1955. On 15 May 1948, as part of

22197-481: Was re-introduced to the Jordanian parliament in the 2016 general election , a move which he said would eventually lead to establishing parliamentary governments. Jordan was left largely unscathed from the violence that swept the region despite an influx of 1.4 million Syrian refugees into the natural resources-lacking country and the emergence of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). On 4 April 2021, 19 people were arrested , including Prince Hamzeh ,

22348-400: Was signed on 26 October 1994. In 1997, in retribution for a bombing , Israeli agents entered Jordan using Canadian passports and poisoned Khaled Mashal , a senior Hamas leader living in Jordan. Bowing to intense international pressure, Israel provided an antidote to the poison and released dozens of political prisoners, including Sheikh Ahmed Yassin , after King Hussein threatened to annul

22499-415: Was to be kept separate from that of Palestine. The second meeting took place in Umm Qais on 2 September, where the British representative Major Fitzroy Somerset received a petition that demanded: an independent Arab government in Transjordan to be led by an Arab prince (emir); land sale in Transjordan to Jews be stopped as well as the prevention of Jewish immigration there; that Britain establish and fund

22650-426: Was unable to repel those raids without the aid of the local Bedouin tribes and the British, who maintained a military base with a small Royal Air Force detachment close to Amman. The Treaty of London , signed by the British government and the Emir of Transjordan on 22 March 1946, recognised the independence of the state. On 25 May 1946, the day that the treaty was ratified by the Transjordan parliament, Transjordan

22801-499: Was understandable, for the underlying philosophical orientation of geopolitics did not comply with that of National Socialism. Geopolitics shared Ratzel's scientific materialism and geographic determinism, and held that human society was determined by external influences—in the face of which qualities held innately by individuals or groups were of reduced or no significance. National Socialism rejected in principle both materialism and determinism and also elevated innate human qualities, in

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