God-Given Geography: The Structure of American Geopolitics
The two world wars that took place in the 20th century and the 20-year period between these two world wars followed a chaotic course in every sense. In this study, it is aimed to analyze this historical period and the role of the USA in this period through the concepts of international relations and geopolitics.
In this analysis, starting from the isolation policy of the USA based on the Monroe Doctrine declared in the first half of the 19th century, the first change in the understanding of foreign policy during the reign of Woodrow Wilson, who was president during World War I, will be examined. Afterwards, the return to the isolation policy and the irreversible emergence of the USA as a hegemon on the world stage during the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in World War II will be examined. Before starting this analysis, the concept of geopolitics will be briefly described and the analysis will then be shaped according to this description. So what is geopolitics? The term geopolitics, which has countless uses today, originally describes everything related to the competition for influence and power over lands and the people living in those lands: struggles between all kinds of political forces, struggles to gain control and domination over all kinds of lands, large or small. Geopolitical reasoning serves to better understand the causes of this or that conflict within a country or between states, as well as to think about what consequences these conflicts may have in more or less distant countries or even in other parts of the world. (Lacoste, 2007)
If we think of geopolitics as a pyramid, we can create this pyramid from three parts, from bottom to top. The first part at the bottom is the structure of the geopolitical pyramid. In this section, the geographical and climatic characteristics of a country are analyzed. Therefore, the structure of a country is considered fixed data in geopolitical analysis. The second part of the geopolitical pyramid is the conjuncture of the period in the country examined. Since any period can be chosen as the conjuncture, this part is the variable data of geopolitical analysis. In the last part, at the top of the pyramid, the agency, the actors of the period is examined. Since the agencies may vary among individuals, the agency part is considered variable data in geopolitical analysis. This study will begin by analyzing the climatic and geographical situation of the USA, which we will accept as fixed data, under the name of the structure. Of course, the fact that the country was founded on liberal values had a lot to do with the great development and strengthening that the USA experienced after its founding in 1776. However, the huge growth experienced by the USA geographically and economically was perhaps the result of its very favorable geographical and geopolitical situation. The country was founded on newly discovered, vast, empty and fertile lands. There was almost an abundance of raw materials. The USA had the characteristics of a continental state, and two large security walls, the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean, protected the country against threats that could come from the great powers of the old world, namely Europe. However, the United States did not have any genuine neighboring power on its continent that could hinder its development. Since the USA is a continental state, it has different climatic conditions. While this situation can be positive, it also carries inherent risks. The north of the United States experiences major snowstorms during winters. The southeast sees major late summer hurricanes. At the same time, large earthquakes can occur in the western United States due to tectonic plates. Along with these structural data, in the body part of the study, the conjuncture and agency parts of the geopolitical analysis from the USA's participation in the First World War to the end of the Second World War will be discussed. In the conclusion, the new position of the USA in international politics after the Second World War and the new geopolitical situation created by the Cold War will be analyzed. (Lacoste, 2007)
Transition From Chaos to Hegemonic Order: Conjuncture and Agency of the Era in American Geopolitics
First of all, we will start with the body part by briefly summarizing the conjuncture of the 20-year period of chaos between the two world wars. First, since Woodrow Wilson's call for common security, we have seen ineffective peace and common security efforts in the world. And despite these efforts, we see the emergence of rising totalitarian regimes and revisionist states (Germany, Italy, Japan) that are against the status quo. In the USA, we see the return to the Monroe Doctrine after Woodrow Wilson, the lack of support for common security, and the isolation policy that was insisted on until the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt. While describing the agencies in this conjuncture, American presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt will be shown as the agencies. Woodrow Wilson served as president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. Since 1823, until Wilson's presidency, the United States had been shaping its foreign policy according to the Monroe Doctrine. Because of this doctrine, the USA was pursuing an isolationist foreign policy. So what is the Monroe Doctrine? The Monroe Doctrine is a doctrine that was presented to the Senate by the then US President James Monroe in 1823 and formed the basic dynamic of American foreign policy for more than 100 years. According to this doctrine, the countries on the two continents of America, which were now independent, could not become colonies of any European state. Attempts by the Holy Alliance Powers in Europe to spread their systems to America would be seen as a threat to the security of the United States. However, there would be no interference with Europe's existing colonies. Finally, it was emphasized that the USA would never be a party to the wars in Europe and that an isolationist policy would be pursued. However, Woodrow Wilson abandoned the Monroe Doctrine during his time and included the USA in World War I in favor of the Allied powers in 1917. Envisioning a world peace after the war ended, Wilson aimed to establish democratization, mutual disarmament, free trade, self-determination and common security in the world. However, Woodrow Wilson's ideas did not receive much support in the United States at that time, and after Wilson, they returned to the Monroe Doctrine. But even though Wilson was alone at that time, he was perhaps the president who had the most impact on future US foreign policy. (Sexton, 2011), (Moore, 1896)
As for the attempts to establish common security between the two world wars, the League of Nations was founded in 1920 within the framework of Woodrow Wilson's idea of common security after World War I. But the USA refused to become a member of this society. The absence of the USA in the League of Nations caused the loss of the most important international power in the league and the loss of its effectiveness. The reason why the USA did not become a member of the society was its internal dynamics. The USA, which had for a long time adopted the isolation policy brought about by the Monroe Doctrine, did not want to participate in wars that would occur with fait accompli to ensure common security. According to those who advocated the policy of isolation, taking part in common security and maintaining it militarily was against the US constitution. Because the USA could not declare war without the decision of Congress, and the structure of the League of Nations was against this situation. Thus, the USA ignored the aggressive attitudes of the revisionist states between the two world wars. Essentially, the overwhelming majority of American society is in favor of the isolation policy. They were content with their own comforts and wanted no part of the troubled wars of the Old World. This situation continued until Franklin D. Roosevelt put the United States on the world stage, never to return. (Kissinger, 2000)
Roosevelt, who became president in 1933, remained president until his death in 1945. Roosevelt was actually quite disturbed by aggressive and undemocratic states that were disrupting the status quo, they needed to be stopped, and when World War II started in 1939 he thought the United States should be on the side of democratic countries. However, he could not express these thoughts openly before the war and could not involve the USA in the war until the end of 1941. After all, the USA was a democratic state, and the overwhelming majority of public opinion and politicians supported the isolation policy and did not want the USA to be a party in the war. Roosevelt, on the other hand, was patiently trying to convince society and remove obstacles step by step. As an example, we can give the neutralization of the Neutrality Act by Roosevelt. In August 1941, before the United States entered the war, Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Churchill jointly announced the Atlantic Charter. The Atlantic Charter declared to the world some common principles on which Roosevelt and Churchill based their hopes for a better future for the world. The Atlantic Charter explained post-war security problems entirely in Wilsonian terms and did not contain any geopolitical elements. “After the final elimination of the Nazi dictatorship,” free nations would reject the use of force, and permanent disarmament would be imposed on nations “threatening… to attack.” This would free peace-loving peoples from “the crushing burden of armament and increase their courage to take all other practicable measures.” Two types of nations were envisaged: Aggressive nations (especially Germany, Japan, and Italy) would be permanently disarmed, and "peace-loving countries" would be allowed to maintain their military forces; but it was hoped that it would be at a greatly reduced level. National self-determination would serve as the cornerstone of the new world order. The balance of power element was not included in this declaration. The articles of the declaration were summarized as follows:
No land will be gained after the war.
No land changes will be made without the approval of the people.
Nations will be able to determine their own future. (self-determination)
International cooperation will be established and developed.
Basic raw materials will be used equally.
People will be freed from fear and hunger.
Freedom of trade on the high seas will be possible.
The Axis powers will be disarmed and total disarmament will be carried out after the war. (Kissinger, 2000)
End of War and New Geopolitical Understanding
On December 7, 1941, Japan came to the aid of Roosevelt, who was having trouble convincing his people for war. Roosevelt imposed many economic sanctions against Japan, which occupied many countries in the Far East. Thereupon, Japan launched a surprise raid on US bases in Pearl Harbor and destroyed a significant part of the US Pacific fleet. On December 11, Hitler declared war on the United States, considering the treaty with Tokyo valid. In less than three years, Roosevelt led his people, who had uncompromisingly fiercely defended his policy of isolationism, into a global war. Now the public saw that the war also affected the USA and was convinced of the war. In 1945, three years after the United States entered the war, the Allied powers defeated the Axis Powers. The Soviet Union emerged as a superpower after the war. The Red Army had advanced as far as Berlin and they had established domination as far as Central Europe. The USSR was now a major threat to Western democracies, and without the United States, Western countries could not deal with it. After the war, the winners of the war established the United Nations Organization within the framework of common security. This time it was part of the common security in the USA. With the end of the war, the USA agreed to become the hegemonic country of the Western world. With this attitude of the USA, the Cold War began between democratic Western countries and communist Eastern bloc countries. We now see the beginning of the Ideological Geopolitics understanding. Poland, which is considered a Western country today according to its ideological geopolitical understanding, was considered in the east because it was an eastern bloc country during the Cold War. In this context, NATO was established in 1949 under the leadership of the USA. Now the USA is fully on the stage within the framework of Wilson's ideas and aims to spread its moral values all over the world.
Kaynakça
Kissinger, H. (2000). Diplomacy (2 b.). Türkiye İş Bankası Kültür Yayınları.
Lacoste, Y. (2007). Understanding the Big Game - Geopolitics: The Long History of Today (1 b.). NTV.
Moore, J. B. (1896, March). The Monroe Doctrine. Political Science Quarterly, 11(1), s. 1-29.
Sexton, J. (2011). The Monroe Doctrine: Empire and Nation in Nineteenth-Century America. Hill and Wang.
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