This book provides readers with fresh new theoretical tools to better understand how sociopolitical actors (from governmental institutions to ecological NGOs; from local residents to multinational companies) clash about transport initiatives. It questions both the dominant understanding of what is geopolitics and conventional conceptions in transport geography used by transport planners. Drawing on a structuralist approach and addressing the capital notion of 'political control of mobility', it demonstrates how transport geopolitics, by being more inclusive of all modes of transport and all scales of analysis, may help prepare transport diplomacy in a time of critical global and local turbulences. It offers a valuable resource for research and teaching in the fields of transport studies, land-use planning, conflict studies, human geography and politics, presenting insightful theoretical material and concrete transport conflict examples to support teaching about territorial conflicts, political governance and transport political geography.

Geopolitical Traditions brings together scholars working in a variety of disciplines and locations in order to explore a hundred years of geopolitical thought.

Although we live in a globalised world, territorially embedded factors are highly relevant in such domains as security, economy, energy, environment, politics & diplomacy. Today’s analysts of world affairs are often loosely referring to ‘geopolitics’, but do not always clearly define it. This book therefore offers a necessary framework: an introduction into the main components of geopolitical analysis, an overview of the main geopolitical schools of thought, as well as reflections on how technology and geopolitics affect each other in economy, energy and security. In addition, several empirical studies are showcased, each developing innovative approaches. Leading authors reflect upon containment, analyse geopolitical myths, research geoeconomic rivalries, study mental maps, analyse conflict through territorially embedded variables & greed motivations and apply ‘neo-medievalism’ to study sub-state diplomacy. Contributors include: David Criekemans, Gyula Csurgai, Luis da Vinha, Manuel Duran, Alexandre Lambert, Antonios Nestoras, and Steven Spittaels.