Hal Brands, Columnist
British geographer and diplomat Halford Mackinder foresaw the epic Eurasian conflicts that would ravage the 20th century — and that will challenge the democratic world in the 21st.
“Practical men who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist,” John Maynard Keynes once wrote. “Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back.”
Keynes was making the point that ideas drive policy, even when policymakers hardly realize it. That’s a good way to understand the life and legacy of Sir Halford Mackinder, the most important strategist you’ve probably never heard of.
Today, Mackinder has faded into obscurity. A British geographer and politician who lived from 1861 to 1947, he is remembered — not always fondly — by academics who study international relations. He has been forgotten by nearly everyone else.
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