the study of the effects of economic geography on the powers of the state.

the study of the relationships between a nation and the rest of the world - each nation has a sphere of influence it exerts over surrounding nations in areas such as trade, economic aid, military intervention etc.

method of political analysis, popular in Central Europe during the first half of the 20th cent., that emphasized the role played by geography in international relations. Geopolitical theorists stress that natural political boundaries and access to important waterways are vital to a nation's survival. The term was first used (1916) by Rudolf Kjeflen, a Swedish political scientist, and was later borrowed by Karl Haushofer, a German geographer and follower of Friedrich Ratzel. Haushofer's writings found favour with the Nazi leadership, and his ideas were used to justify German expansion during the Nazi era. Many expansionist justifications, including the American "manifest destiny as well as the German Lebensraum, are based on geopolitical considerations. Geopolitics is different from political geography, which is a branch of geography concerned with the relationship between politics and the environment.