Lesson 1 of 9 · All lessons in this module
- Geopolitics, actors and political cooperation
- Resources, standards, soft power, institutions and the hierarchy of interests
- Globalization: features, motivations, costs and rollback
- The IMF, the World Bank and the WTO
- Geopolitical risk and the four archetypes of country behaviourVideo lesson
- The tools of geopolitics
- Types of geopolitical risk and how to assess them
- Scenario analysis, signposts and acting on geopolitical risk
- Integrated cases: reading a geopolitical brief
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Lesson 1 of 9 · 12 min
Geopolitics, actors and political cooperation
Geopolitics studies how geography shapes politics and international relations; its starting lens is whether state actors cooperate on common rules or go their own way, and that choice is driven by their national interest.
In short
- Geopolitics = the study of how geography affects politics and international relations, through the behaviour of actors.
- State actors (governments, leaders, parliaments) control national security and resources; non-state actors (NGOs, multinationals, charities, influential individuals) take part in global affairs without that control.
- Political cooperation = working toward agreed rules and standards. A cooperative country both engages and reciprocates; a non-cooperative one has arbitrary rules, restricted cross-border flows, retaliation and little technology exchange.
- Countries cooperate to serve their national interest, mainly national security (military) and economic goals, plus cultural ones.
- Geography matters: landlocked or resource-poor countries need cooperation more; countries on key trade routes can use location as leverage.
What geopolitics is and who the actors are
Geopolitics is the study of how geography affects politics and relations between countries. Analysts look at actors: the individuals, organisations, companies and governments that carry out political, economic and financial activity, and at how they deal with each other.
Actors come in two kinds. State actors exert authority over a country's national security and resources: a president, a parliament, a prime minister or a monarch who rules. Non-state actors take part in global political, economic or financial affairs but do not control security or resources: non-governmental organisations (NGOs), multinational companies, charities, and even prominent business leaders or cultural figures.
Relationships are a web, not a set of pairs. If Country A is friendly with Country B, but B attacks Country C, a close ally of A, then the A–B relationship can sour or break. The reverse also holds: cooperation across many channels builds trust over time. There is no one-size-fits-all model, but classifying the threats and opportunities a country faces helps gauge how likely geopolitical risk is to arise.
Cooperation versus non-cooperation
At the highest level, relations between state actors are either cooperative (working together toward a shared goal) or competitive. Goals vary widely, from military strategy to economic influence to cultural preferences, which is why interactions get complicated and geopolitical risk can arise.
The module's first lens is political cooperation: how far countries agree on rules and standards for their dealings. A cooperative country engages and reciprocates in rules standardisation, harmonised tariffs and international agreements on trade, immigration or regulation, and allows a free flow of information, including technology transfer. Note the word *reciprocates*: engaging without reciprocating is not full cooperation.
A non-cooperative country has inconsistent or arbitrary rules, restricts the movement of goods, services, people and capital across borders, retaliates, and limits technology exchange. In practice countries sit somewhere on a spectrum between these two poles.
| Non-cooperation | Cooperation |
|---|---|
| Inconsistent, arbitrary rules | Standardised rules, harmonised tariffs |
| Restricted movement across borders | Free movement across borders |
| Restricted trade, capital controls | Goods, services and capital move freely |
| Retaliation | Reciprocation |
| Little technology exchange | Technology exchange |
Why countries cooperate: national interest
A country's reasons to cooperate come from its national interest: its goals and ambitions, whether military, economic or cultural.
National security (national defence) means protecting the country, its citizens, economy and institutions from external threats, which range from military attack and terrorism to crime, cyberattacks and natural disasters. Geography strongly shapes the approach. A landlocked country such as Austria depends on neighbours for access to vital resources, so cooperation can be essential for growth or even survival. A country on a major trade route, or one that acts as a conduit for trade (think of a canal or strait), can use its location as a lever of power.
Economic interest has become part of national security: secure access to energy, food and water, rising national wealth and limited inequality (for social stability), and the ability of domestic firms to operate globally. Countries cooperating for economic reasons usually want one of two things: to secure essential resources through trade, or to level the playing field for their companies through standardisation.
Quick memory hook for economic cooperation: countries cooperate to get things (trade for resources) or to get fair rules (standardisation).
Worked examples
Example 1 Classifying actors
Classify each as a state or non-state actor: (1) Kenya's parliament; (2) a Swiss-based humanitarian NGO; (3) the prime minister of Japan; (4) a Korean electronics multinational; (5) a globally famous footballer who campaigns on climate policy.
Example 2 Is this country cooperative?
Country M signs many trade agreements and attends every international forum, but it ignores rulings it dislikes, changes import rules without notice and blocks foreign technology licensing. How should an analyst describe M's political stance?
On the exam
Expect definition items: state versus non-state actors, the features of a cooperative versus non-cooperative country, and how geography and economic interest push a country toward cooperation.
- Calling a multinational or NGO a state actor because it is powerful. State actors control national security and resources.
- Treating engagement without reciprocation as cooperation.
- Thinking geography is irrelevant to cooperation. Resource-poor or landlocked countries tend to need it more; well-placed countries can use location as leverage.
Check yourself
Q1Which of the following is most likely a non-state actor?
Q2A cooperative country is best described as one that:
Q3Which feature is most consistent with political non-cooperation?
Q4A landlocked country with few natural resources is most likely to:
Q5Countries that cooperate for economic reasons most likely seek to:
Answer the 5 questions: +10 XP for each one you get right first time.
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