“Godfather of
Containment”
Joey Bosco
 Born in the Netherlands in 1893.
 Immigrated to the United States to attend the
University of California, Berkeley (Class of ‘23).
 Founded the Institute of International Studies at Yale
in 1936.
 Taught at Yale until he died at age 49.
Henry R. Luce Hall, an area of the
Institute of International Studies
Adopts and changes the ideas of Halford
Mackinder and Alfred Mahan.
 Mackinder’s theory,
Heartland Theory, describes
the Heartland in the World
Island as the key to world
dominance.
 Mahan’s theory, based on his
experience as a naval
commander, stresses the
importance of controlling
coastal regions. His
comprehensive ideas draw
largely from different battles
of naval history.
 Spykman sought to combine Mackinder and Mahan’s
theories.
 Mackinder didn’t take into account:
 Russia’s future as an agrarian society.
 The Industrial Revolution (Western Europe).
 Russia’s borders (ice, mountains, temperatures).
 The ocean.
 Mahan didn’t take into account:
 Everything else.
 The key to controlling the World Island (and therefore
the world) is the coast of Eurasia.
 Rimland contains most of the world’s people and has
access to land and sea.
 Split into three regions:
 European Coast
 Middle Eastern Desert
 Asiatic Monsoon
 Further separated into
Indian and Chinese
 Based more on Mahan’s theory about sea access.
 Originally used during World War II.
 Later used to explain/justify containment.
 Criticized for centering too much on the Eastern
Hemisphere.
 Doesn’t account for modern technology such as
nuclear weapons.
 Self-fulfilling prophecy.
 -Side Note- Not in textbook; consult Chapter 8
RIMLAND ANALYSES
 Sempa, Francis. "Spykman's World." American
Diplomacy. April 1, 2006. Accessed September 19,
2015.
 Bordonaro, Federico. "Rediscovering Spykman."
Exploring Geopolitics. May 1, 2009. Accessed
September 19, 2015.
 Sempa, Francis. "Nicholas Spykman and the
Struggle for the Asiatic Mediterranean." The
Diplomat. January 9, 2015. Accessed September 19,
2015.