Geopolitical Narratives Research Articles

Subaltern Geopolitics of Closed Borders: Russophone Minorities in Estonia and Finland

The article discusses how geopolitical discourses and related performative practices of bordersensitive groups in countries neighbouring Russia are transformed by the war in Ukraine. Based mainly on the mixture of ethnographic methods (semi-structured interviews and unprovoked talk), the article is built around the study of vernacular geopolitics of Russian speakers living in the city of Narva, Estonia, and Finland. It suggests that the geopolitical narrative of these ethnolinguistic groups is changing from subaltern, neither dominant nor resistant geopolitical imagination, to oppositional geopolitics. This transformation takes place through public expression in the form of creative performances (Estonia) or online and offline protests (Finland). In this way, Russian speakers seek to acquire a political agency, local (in the case of Estonia) or national (in the case of Finland).

Finland's Strategic Shift: A New Chapter with NATO Membership

This paper delves into Finland's potential accession to NATO, marking a significant departure from its longstanding policy of military non-alignment. As geopolitical dynamics in the Baltic region undergo profound changes, Finland's consideration of NATO membership carries far-reaching implications for regional security and global geopolitics. Finland responded to Russian aggressiveness by joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to counteract Russia�s security threats in the region. The abstract explores the historical context of Finland's neutrality, the evolving security landscape, and the factors driving the nation towards reevaluating its defense posture. Using the research method of critical content analysis and in-depth interview with military and defense and security analyst Rahakundini, the potential impact on NATO, Russia's response, and the broader implications for the delicate balance of power in Northern Europe. The proposed NATO membership signals a strategic recalibration for Finland, with ramifications extending beyond national borders, shaping the geopolitical narrative in an ever-evolving international arena.

Geopolitical Narratives of Withdrawal and the Counter-Narrative of Women's Rights Activism in Afghanistan

Abstract Gendered narratives are political narratives that frequently frame decisions to go to war or broker peace. Such geopolitical narratives both enable the protection of women's rights and violate them. Women's rights, specifically, have been used as a rhetorical device by security policymakers to persuade people of the urgency and legitimacy of foreign intervention or withdrawal. We explore how gendered, geopolitical narratives work to construct understandings of political reality and delimit foreign policy options, and how counter-narratives contest them, transforming the available policy options. Drawing on narrative analysis frameworks, we examine the shifting narratives invoking “Afghan women” that facilitated the change in US policy on Afghanistan between 2018 and 2021 and the consequent return of the Taliban. In response to the US withdrawal, we investigate the counter-narrative of Afghan women that emphasizes universal human rights, inclusive peace, and international recognition of the situation of “gender apartheid.” We argue that counter-narratives supported by political strategies are an effective instrument for empowering marginalized women and legitimizing their activism that protests the continuation of war against women despite the end of military war.

Publisher's Note: Geopolitical narratives of withdrawal and the counter-narrative of women's rights activism in Afghanistan

Publisher's Note: Geopolitical narratives of withdrawal and the counter-narrative of women's rights activism in Afghanistan

Narratives and Power in Digital Media Coverage of the US Troop’s Withdrawal from Afghanistan

This study examined the digital media coverage of the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021, focusing on how narratives within China Daily constructed and communicated power. This critical juncture in international relations provided a unique opportunity to analyze media narratives that shaped public perception and policy discourse, particularly through the lens of China Daily, a significant voice in Chinese and global media. The objective was to dissect how China Daily’s reporting reflected and influenced geopolitical narratives, utilizing Teun van Dijk’s framework for news discourse analysis. This involved a detailed examination of the discourse strategies and ideological constructs in the coverage of the troop withdrawal. By analyzing 192 articles from China Daily published between April and September 2021, the study explored the construction of narratives and their underlying ideologies. Findings indicated that China Daily strategically framed the U.S. withdrawal in terms of regional instability and terrorism risks, emphasizing the consequences of what it portrayed as a hasty and irresponsible U.S. action. This narrative strategy was aligned with broader Chinese political stances on non-interference and respect for national sovereignty. This research contributed to the field by highlighting the role of media in shaping international perceptions and added a non-Western perspective to discourse studies on global military engagements.

Unmasking Media Narratives through Comparative Corpus Linguistic Analysis: A Study of Russia-Ukraine Conflict

In a world inundated with diverse media narratives, the Russia-Ukraine conflict emerges as a focal point of contention, revealing a complex interplay of linguistic strategies and discursive tactics. This study aims to unravel the intricacies of lexical choices, and discursive techniques employed by Sputnik, BBC, and Fox News in their coverage of the Russia-Ukraine conflict through corpus-assisted discourse studies techniques. Three corpora were created comprising 5,347 articles with 5,829,747 tokens, sampled from February 2022 to February 2023. Moreover, Sputnik’s diction strategically employs the phrase “military operation” while eschewing “war”, portraying the conflict as a defensive, legitimate endeavour, thus reinforcing a Russian geopolitical narrative that recasts Ukraine not as a victim but as an active participant with extremist factions. BBC, in contrast, adopts a pro-Western stance, framing Ukraine as a victim and Russia as an aggressor. Fox News calls Russia’s action as an invasion, and highlights the individual roles of political leaders in shaping the conflict. However, to address the limitations of this study, future studies can expand the scope, sources, languages, and genres for analysis. Furthermore, media consumers need to practice media literacy, cross-checking, and critical analysis in the era of overloaded information in order to form well-rounded opinions on complex geopolitical events.

Risks on the Belt and Road in Eurasia: Local Perspectives and Options

ABSTRACT A binary, geopolitical narrative of a new “Great Game” for power in Central Asia may be too simplistic. It remains unclear what regionalisation trends will become embedded in Central Asia, with the apparent rise of China. The paper examines potential for China's Belt and Road Initiative to build new Eurasian economic interdependence through connectivity infrastructure and to reduce dependency for some actors on Russia. A political risk and grounded theory approach is taken, utilising in-depth interviews with local experts and stakeholders to develop a risk/opportunity framework. Conclusions from the research indicate China is unlikely in the foreseeable future to replace Russia as regional hegemon, but is likely to drive greater economic integration. Empirical investigation of dynamics on the ground - including the spectrum of options available to actors - is recommended for realist understanding of economic and other international connectivity trends across Central Asia.

Embodied Geopolitics: The Discursive Construction of Refugee Men and Masculinities in Turkey

ABSTRACT A new wave of displaced people from Afghanistan arriving in Turkey in August-September 2021 generated public debates about how the country would protect its borders while continuing to face the ‘problem’ posed by more than 3 million displaced Syrians. Much of these debates centred on refugee men and scrutinised their bodies and bodily acts to produce them as Other. This article analyses how the racialised and gendered depictions of refugee men in Turkey discursively produce geopolitical spatial hierarchies. Our analysis includes political leaders’ speeches, news articles, and opinion pieces published in mainstream media outlets and social media about displaced people from Syria and Afghanistan since 2016. We build on and contribute to feminist geopolitics and refugee studies by focusing on refugee men and masculinities, teasing out the contradictions in the geopolitical narratives centred on refugee men’s bodies, and analysing their implications for representing civilisational hierarchies. Using the concept of embodied geopolitics, we show how the dominant anti-refugee discourse in Turkey operates through a series of contradictory -but eventually complementary- geopolitical depictions of refugee men’s bodies, appearance, and behaviour that simultaneously masculinise and feminise them. These portrayals present refugee men either as fighters or cowards, as modern or backward. We argue that gendered and racialised refugee bodies animate geopolitical narratives and demonstrate that bodies are not simply territories with fixed meanings. Instead, they are constantly and simultaneously inscribed with multiple meanings that operate together and, ultimately, produce international hierarchies, ethnic boundaries, and the modern/backward dualism.

The Shifting Geopolitics

Geopolitics has now taken center stage in shaping the domestic and foreign policies of nation-states. This trend largely aligns with the principles of political realism, where states aim to survive in an anarchical international order by maximizing power and wealth while minimizing losses. In an era characterized by rapid ecological, economic, and technological changes, as well as uncertainty and conflicting dynamics in international politics, geopolitical narratives have captured the attention of statesmen, journalists, academics, policy analysts, and military strategists. The traditional version of geopolitics, which was characterized by determinism, expansionism, and aggression, has given way to a more nuanced understanding of where states make strategic choices in a multi-polar world. However, this shift has also witnessed a decline in multilateralism and the rise of nationalism, populism, and fundamentalism, which has weakened international regimes and global governance institutions. These developments are occurring at a time when many global issues, such as arms proliferation, pandemics, poverty, inflation, and climate change, require international cooperation. The global power shift from the Atlantic to Asia, particularly with the ascent of China as a geo-strategic rival to the USA with global influence in security, development, and civilization initiatives, as well as the growing Sino-Russian partnership, has created new geopolitical dynamics. India's neutral stance between a resurgent Russia and the USA, while being part of America's Indo-Pacific strategy, alongside rival strategies aimed at containing, deterring, and pushing back against China, has placed small states like Nepal in a challenging position. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, driven by the latter's interest in joining NATO and the EU, has reshaped bilateral relationships among major and minor states. This ongoing conflict shows no signs of resolution, further complicating global geopolitics. The emergence of the Eurasian geopolitical pole and the Atlantic solidarity, along with their contest for supremacy, are affecting global security, political and economic order, and the formation and dissolution of alliances among nation-states as they strive to rebalance their relationships.

“Fact or Fancy?” Inventing and Instrumentalizing. Geopolitical Narratives in the United States and Russia from the Cold War to the Present

“Fact or Fancy?” Inventing and Instrumentalizing. Geopolitical Narratives in the United States and Russia from the Cold War to the Present

The Wakhan Economic Corridor: Examining its Impact on Regional Power Dynamics and Geopolitical Strategies

Introduction: The emergence of the Wakhan Economic Corridor signifies a pivotal geopolitical paradigm shift with profound ramifications for regional power configurations and strategic alignments in Central Asia and its contiguous areas. Methodology: This research undertakes an in-depth analysis of the corridor's transformative potential through a lens of political economy, strategic studies, and geopolitical analysis. Employing a sophisticated multidimensional framework, this study investigates how the corridor influences interstate relations, geopolitical rivalries, and the distribution of power among nation-states and non-state actors. Results/Findings: It examines the corridor's role in reshaping geopolitical narratives, fostering strategic alliances, and redefining spheres of influence in the region. By elucidating the intricate political dynamics and power plays catalyzed by the corridor, this research contributes nuanced insights into contemporary geopolitical challenges. Future Direction: It underscores the corridor's impact on statecraft, diplomatic maneuvers, and foreign policy calculus, providing a sophisticated understanding of how states navigate and capitalize on evolving geopolitical landscapes. The findings of this study will offer critical perspectives for policymakers, diplomats, and strategists, illuminating the strategic imperatives associated with the Wakhan Economic Corridor and its broader implications for regional stability, power projection, and global geopolitical competition.

A Critical Discourse Analysis of Online News Reports on the Withdrawal of US Troops from Afghanistan

This study undertakes a CDA of online news reports from China Daily regarding the 2021 withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan. Drawing upon van Dijk’s (1988) theory of news discourse analysis, the study examines the discursive features of China Daily’s coverage between April and September 2021. A corpus of 192 reports, with ten selected for detailed examination, offers a thorough analysis of how this important geopolitical event has been portrayed in the media and its ideological foundations. The major findings reveal a refined presentation of muti-angled discourses. These reports politically emphasize China’s stance on the event and advocates for a moral obligation toward Afghanistan’s future and a broad, inclusive government arrangement post-withdrawal and economically calls for policies that consider the welfare of local populations. These findings underscore the strategic use of discourse to navigate complex geopolitical narratives, illustrating the media’s role in ideological dissemination.

‘What have you done, brother Putin?’: Everyday geopolitics and Central Asian labour migration to Russia

ABSTRACT The geopolitical positioning of Central Asia as the centre of the ‘Eurasian Heartland’ has been the subject of extensive debates in academic and policy circles over the last three decades. However, the mainstream geopolitical narratives on Central Asia tend to focus on grand-level geopolitical players and discourses, thereby reducing the region and its populations to passive entities without any agency. Not much has been said about how these grand-level narratives are reflected and operate within the micro-level, everyday spaces, relationships and experiences of ordinary people. This paper addresses this lacuna by examining the everyday, micro-level discourses and experiences of geopolitics amongst Uzbek migrant workers in Russia and their left-behind families in Uzbekistan – a form of ‘everyday geopolitics’. The paper is based on a transnational ethnography of Uzbek migrant workers in Russia and in their home village in Uzbekistan, conducted between January 2014 and November 2019.

From Geopolitical Anxiety to Assertive Stance: The Historical Construction and Transformation of Turkish Naval Strategy

This article traces the evolution of Türkiye’s naval strategy from a defensive coastal-based concept to an assertive one within a broader geopolitical perspective. The shift began during the Cyprus crisis of the 1960s and was made possible by the Navy’s desire to return to the seas. The “Toward Open Seas” strategy of the 1990s and the development of the Turkish defense industry in the 2000s under the AK Party government further enabled this shift. By 2015, the Navy had become more active and was mobilized under a comprehensive strategic reorientation, reflecting its expanded role beyond coastal defense. It examines the various contextual factors that have influenced the transformation of Türkiye’s naval forces, including the intra-institutional context under the Turkish Armed Forces, the discursive context regarding dominant geopolitical narratives, and the geostrategic context concerning the operationalization of Turkish naval strategy. The article’s main aim is to contribute to the existing literature on Türkiye’s naval strategy by drawing on primary sources that have not yet been fully examined.

Tactical Landscapes

Desert landscapes serve as a site for the dynamic interplay of competing historical and geopolitical narratives. In Kuwait, tribal, colonial, and global conflicts across the hinterland have mobilized state planning efforts, articulating a geospatial division between urban and desert life. Concurrently, visioning tools such as hand-drawn maps and satellite imagery have not only shaped the understanding of this desert, but have been shaped by it. Through an examination of the forces that have driven its transformation, this landscape is shown as both product and producer of cultural, social, and political complexity. The contemporary desert exists as a patchwork, the result of a disparate collection of essential narratives projected onto the territory.

The Missing Scale: “Eastern Europe” in Hungary’s Geostrategic Representations

Since 2010, with Viktor Orbán’s return to power, Hungary has progressively turned into an antidemocratic regime through a well-thought process of state and democracy capture. This slide has come along with chimeric narratives about national identity. Consecutive narratives about the nation and the country’s sense of belonging have given the impression that Hungary is moving on the map, as the Orbán regime has been locating itself more and more explicitly against the West. During the migration crisis, ‘Central Europe’ was at the centre of Orbán’s cultural map, as he extrapolated his ideology to the East-Central European macro-region, hoping to turn it into a region against the European establishment. Budapest’s tactical moves in the Western Balkans have gained importance as Orbán is increasingly isolated in the EU community. On the global scale, the regime has mixed trade and diplomacy with tying political alliances in Central Asia and beyond. These narratives do not result in a system. However, there is a common denominator in Orbán’s consecutive discourses on Hungary’s geopolitical place and role: anti-Western and anti-EU convictions flow through the opportunistic contradictions of national propaganda. In a contradictory way, only an EU member state could proceed to state and democracy capture and become famous for it, giving the impression that the small, peripherical Eastern European state is more important than it is. It is an EU member that has fallen into Russia’s arms to propagate pro-Kremlin narratives in and outside the EU. In this paper, I will examine the geopolitical narratives used by the Orbán regime and show how Budapest’s very sense of scale has got lost in the process. Indeed, it is Hungary’s precarious location on the map that the regime seems to have forgotten about and has reached this point at the time of renewed Russian aggression in Hungary’s direct neighbourhood.

The Role of Geopolitical Narratives in the Process of Global Ordering and Disordering

The Role of Geopolitical Narratives in the Process of Global Ordering and Disordering

From geopolitics to anti-geopolitics: The story of Cameroonian bilingualism

The aim of the article is to examine how Cameroonian bilingualism was portrayed in academic literature and how it fit into the ongo¬ing geopolitical dynamics. The article considers two time periods for the geopolitical narrativization of African states (1960–1990 and 1990–2020). These two periods differ not only in geopolitical narrativization, but also in the shift in academic paradigms. This article employs geopolitical and anti-geopolitical approaches to show how the state’s narrative of bilingualism has been filling into the globally accepted narratives. Cameroon was chosen as the extreme case, where the two former colonial languages (English and French) share the same status, defining Cameroon as a bilingual country. The conclusion of the article is that Cameroon’s bilingual status has the ability to fit into the current geopolitical narratives. Beside the dominant narrative, there was present at least one important narrative.

Historical and Geographical Dimension of Interstate Territorial and Political Contradictions and Conflicts (2011–2022)

The analysis of publications has revealed that the main attention is focused on the armed conflicts of the 19th-21st centuries regarding the belongingness of territories. Many territorial disputes date back to the past historical and geographical periods. In this article, we seek to find out the following important facts: 1) to establish the dynamics and average intensity of territorial and political conflicts during 2011–2021 based on the analysis of their intensity, particularly, in the context of individual parts of the world; 2) which and how many territorial political conflicts from previous geopolitical eras have remained relevant. Since we study territorial political conflicts in the context of the formation of the political world map, we must refer to the historical and geographical method. Its application allows for establishing historical geographic sections and defining which territorial political conflicts of 2011–2022 originate in a definite period of the formation of the political world map. The article applies the classical periodization of the political map formation: 1) ancient (from the era when the first state forms appeared to the 5th century AD); 2) medieval (V-XV centuries); 3) new (late 15th century – the end of the World War I in the 20th century); 4) contemporary (after the World War I to the present day). The contemporary period of the political map development includes five stages: 1) World War I and the Versailles-Washington peace system; 2) World War II and the Yalta-Potsdam peace system; 3) decolonization and formation of new independent states; 4) unsustainability of the socialist camp and termination of its existence; 5) modern stage. We have used this periodization arrange the data on the beginning, subject and intensity of conflicts according to 11 annual reports of the «Conflict Barometer» (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021). From this database, we have selected conflicts based on such notions as «territory» and «secession». There was a total of 79 territorial and political conflicts during the research period, most of them were non-violent. This is evidenced by low intensity of the vast majority of conflicts. Cases when territorial and political conflicts developed into violent forms are not so numerous. During the period of 2011–2021, there were occasional limited wars (4 points) and the most acute conflicts with the maximum intensity at the «war» level (5 points) took place in Africa only for one year and in Europe for 6 years. The geography of territorial and political conflicts during the studied period demonstrates the leadership of Asia in terms of the number of conflicts over territory in the world. This circumstance destroys the stereotype about Africa, which is a continent that is the most vulnerable to conflicts. Europe, which is often mentioned as an example of the most peaceful macroregion with a significant track record of conflict resolution, is in fact not like that. A number of territorial and political claims from previous geopolitical eras remain relevant even when the key geopolitical and economic circumstances that provoked them have changed. The use of historical argumentation in the justification of territorial claims is illegitimate from the point of view of international law, however, it allows for the formation of an internal political agenda in states participating in territorial disputes. We have found out that the historical geopolitical narrative in substantiating territorial claims in many cases refers to the previous stages of the formation of the political world map. They are expressed in the form of mythologized territorial claims, unofficial historical territorial claims and official territorial claims. The maximal manifestation of the latter is the Russian authorities’ denial of Ukraine’s sovereignty over its sovereignly recognized territory and justification of armed aggression. The dreams of many about the conflict-free development of the world in the 21st century have not come true. Today’s challenge is to reject historical geopolitical narratives in the justification of territorial claims, as such that threaten peace and security in the world.

A choice between neoliberal engagement and strategic autonomy? The impossibility of EU's green cooperation with Russia between 2019 and 2021

This article explores the dynamic coexistence of neoliberal and realist narratives in the EU's discourse on international green cooperation with a focus on Russia. Using critical discourse analysis and critical geopolitics, the article explores how the neoliberal and realist narratives were applied in the EU's international (Russia-focused) energy transition cooperation. The neoliberal narrative presupposed fine-tuned multilateralism and market openness, with an opportunity for Russia to join the EU's success story. The realist narrative was based on the notions of relative gains, strategic autonomy/sovereignty, market corrections by public authorities, borders and closed alliances, Russia was used in this narrative to encourage more EU autonomy and strategic partnerships. The article demonstrates how and why the geopolitical narrative was strengthened between 2020 and 2021. It reveals the similarities between the neoliberal and realist narratives regarding the policy framework and relative positions of the EU and Russia in the spacialisation of the green energy policy. As a result, no policy opening for selective engagement with Russia emerged; rather, the 2020–2021 discourse prepared the EU for a policy shift that it took to react to Russia's assault against Ukraine in February 2022.