Editing Geopolitics (section)

== France ==
{{more citations needed section|date=May 2013}}

=== Montesquieu and climate theory ===
French geopolitical doctrines broadly opposed to German [[Geopolitik]] and reject the idea of 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: [[Social representation|Representation]]; Diachronie; and Diatopie.

In ''[[The Spirit of the Laws]]'', [[Montesquieu]] outlined 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 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.

=== Ancel, Braudel, and the rejection of determinism ===
[[France|French]] [[geographer]] and geopolitician [[Jacques Ancel]] (1879–1936) is considered to be the first theoretician of geopolitics in France, and gave a notable series of lectures at the European Center of the [[Carnegie Endowment for International Peace]] in Paris<!-- this is where Ancel worked – see https://books.google.com.co/books?id=kRl8CwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1&lpg=PA1&dq=jacques+ancel+carnegie&source=bl&ots=3LGDeBAJYD&sig=8OhUn9kBpGDksGAHI0TCz7u48Ak&hl=es-419&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi1v7fzx_PXAhVncd8KHSPqBL0Q6AEINTAB#v=onepage&q=jacques%20ancel%20carnegie&f=false --> 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 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.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Braudel|first=Fernand|title=The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean world in the age of Philip II. Vol. 1 Vol. 1|date=2012|publisher=Univ. of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-20308-2|location=Berkeley, Calif|language=en|oclc=935298954}}</ref> Vidalian geopolitics is based on varied forms of cartography and on ''[[Possibilism (geography)|possibilism]]'' (founded on a societal approach of geography—i.e. on the principle of spaces polymorphic faces depending from many factors among them mankind, culture, and ideas) as opposed to determinism.

=== Lacoste and the renaissance of French geopolitics ===
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 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 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 a perspective grounded in three assumptions:
# '''[[Social representation|Representation]]''': Each group or individuals is the product of an education and is characterized by specific representations of the world or others groups or individuals. Thus, basic societal beliefs are grounded in their ethnicity or specific location. The study of representation is a common point with the more contemporary critical geopolitics. Both are connected with the work of Henri Lefebvre (La production de l'espace, first published in 1974)
# '''Diachronie.''' Conducting an historical analysis confronting "long periods" and short periods as the prominent French historian Fernand Braudel suggested.
# '''Diatopie''': Conducting a cartographic survey through a multi-scale mapping.

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 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.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=L'Espace Politique|url=https://journals.openedition.org/espacepolitique/|journal=L'Espace Politique|oclc=958694001}}</ref>

French philosopher Michel Foucault's [[dispositif]] introduced for the purpose of [[biopolitics|biopolitical]] research was also adopted in the field of geopolitical thought where it now plays a role.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ingram |first1=Alan |date=2017 |title=Art, Geopolitics and Metapolitics at Tate Galleries London |url=http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1532789/1/AM.pdf |journal=Geopolitics |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages= 719–739|doi=10.1080/14650045.2016.1263186|s2cid=151769284 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190412055558/http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1532789/1/AM.pdf |archive-date=2019-04-12 |url-status=dead }}</ref>