Apr 9, 2022·edited Apr 9, 2022Liked by Branko Milanovic
Tracing the intellectual lineage of Russian Eurasianism is something that should definitely be explored more, I wish I knew more. But if you haven't already, you should definitely look into Halford John Mackinder who was very influential in popularizing Eurasianism as a geopolitical strategy
His famous 1904 essay "The Geographical Pivot of History" argues that the large stretch of Eurasian land, from the Volga to the Yangtze rivers, constitutes the "heartland." From this heartland, world-history was so often pushed in certain directions because nomads came from the heartland and so often attacked the coastal regions. It was the "pivot area" of world history. Russia is now said to be the first country to occupy the entire Heartland as a proper geopolitical actor, and will soon become the dominant pivot point of world politics again.
This geopolitical theory has been treated as something like a "law of geopolitics" among the Aleksandr Dugin crowd and others, and has been partly responsible for Eurasianism's resurgence as a strategy of Russian power.
Extraordinary that you can attempt to tackle this subject without mentioning the recently published :The Horde: How the mongols changed the world, by Maria Favereau
Interesting thanks. A biological Darwinian analysis of nomadic power might produce a different assessment of winners and losers. Ie. whose genes get passed on in the stream of life. This process could interact with the political cultural process. One is human hardware, the other software. Fixed structures weakened for whatever reason including internal decay, corruption, hoarding/inequality, etc., can boast superiority of culture but lack the basic strength and energy that nomads need for everyday survival.
Tracing the intellectual lineage of Russian Eurasianism is something that should definitely be explored more, I wish I knew more. But if you haven't already, you should definitely look into Halford John Mackinder who was very influential in popularizing Eurasianism as a geopolitical strategy
His famous 1904 essay "The Geographical Pivot of History" argues that the large stretch of Eurasian land, from the Volga to the Yangtze rivers, constitutes the "heartland." From this heartland, world-history was so often pushed in certain directions because nomads came from the heartland and so often attacked the coastal regions. It was the "pivot area" of world history. Russia is now said to be the first country to occupy the entire Heartland as a proper geopolitical actor, and will soon become the dominant pivot point of world politics again.
This geopolitical theory has been treated as something like a "law of geopolitics" among the Aleksandr Dugin crowd and others, and has been partly responsible for Eurasianism's resurgence as a strategy of Russian power.
مفيد: كتابٍ صدر حديثاً للباحثة ماري فافرو بعنوان «الجحفل: كيف غيّر المغول العالم» (منشورات جامعة هارفرد، 2021)
يلخصه الكاتب عامر محسن بمقالة في جريدة الاخبار اللبنانية.
Extraordinary that you can attempt to tackle this subject without mentioning the recently published :The Horde: How the mongols changed the world, by Maria Favereau
Interesting thanks. A biological Darwinian analysis of nomadic power might produce a different assessment of winners and losers. Ie. whose genes get passed on in the stream of life. This process could interact with the political cultural process. One is human hardware, the other software. Fixed structures weakened for whatever reason including internal decay, corruption, hoarding/inequality, etc., can boast superiority of culture but lack the basic strength and energy that nomads need for everyday survival.