Author Profile

David King, PhD, is a world-renowned political geographer, author, and policy advisor with over two decades of field experience analyzing geopolitical friction points. He holds a Doctorate in Human Geography from the University of Oxford, where his foundational research on territorial disputes earned the prestigious Royal Geographical Society Award. Dr. King has spent over twenty years in academia and active field research, serving as a Professor of Global Politics and Geopolitics at the London School of Economics and as a senior consultant for international boundary commissions. His boots-on-the-ground research spans conflict zones and shifting borders across Sub-Saharan Africa, Central Asia, and the Arctic Circle. By embedding himself within communities directly affected by changing maps, he bridges the gap between abstract academic theory and the raw reality of geopolitical conflict. A frequent contributor to Foreign Affairs and The Journal of Political Geography, Dr. King is recognized globally for his uncanny ability to decode the hidden spatial patterns behind modern resource wars, climate migration, andthe rise of digital statehood. Political Geography represents the culmination of his life's work, a definitive, uncompromising masterclass on how physical space dictates the fate of human power.

About The Book

The Field of Political Geography is a dynamic discipline that explores the profound relationship between space, place, and power. It examines how politics shapes geography and, conversely, how geographical realities dictate political outcomes, from the drawing of international borders to the spatial dynamics of local voting patterns. Political Geography includes--The Mapping of Power: Foundations of Political Geography; Political geography sits at the critical intersection of human geography and political science. At its core, the sub-discipline is concerned with territoriality, the attempt by an individual or group to affect, influence, or control people, phenomena, and relationships by delimiting and asserting control over a geographic area. Maps are never neutral. They are battlegrounds of imagination, architectural blueprints of authority, and historical tallies of violence and negotiation. To study political geography is to strip away the illusion of static borders and look directly at the raw mechanics of space, power, and human organization. This book is not merely a collection of data; it is an intellectual lens designed to decode our rapidly changing world. It bridges rigorous theoretical frameworks with empirical realities to explore how human societies slice, claim, defend, and reconstruct the surface of the Earth. The text integrates classic structural geopolitics with the vital correctives of postcolonialism, feminist geography, and environmental political ecology. It shows that politics happens as much in international waters as it does in city streets and local council rooms. Students will not just read about Anglo-American or European histories. The book dives deep into the complex hydro-politics of the Nile, the shifting digital sovereignty of the South China Sea, the arctic resource rush, and the structural realities of global supply chains. Designed to serve students across political science, international relations, human geography, and environmental studies, it simplifies complex jargon without diluting the theoretical power required for true academic literacy.

Table of Contents

Preface
Chapter 1. Introduction to Political Geography
Chapter 2. Nation-State and Territory
Chapter 3. Geopolitical Theories and World-Systems
Chapter 4. Political Boundaries and Frontiers
Chapter5. Locality, Regionalism, and Governance
Chapter 6. Global Political Economy
Chapter 7. International Relations and Geopolitics
Chapter 8. Political Movements, Ideologies, and Nation-Building
Chapter 9. Urban Political Geography
Bibliography
Index