Geo- Economics and Power Politics in
the 21st Century
Starting from the key concept of geo- economics, this book investigates the new
power politics and argues that the changing structural features of the contemporary
international system are recasting the strategic imperatives of foreign policy
practice.
States increasingly practise power politics by economic means. Whether it is
about Iran’s nuclear programme or Russia’s annexation of Crimea, Western states
prefer economic sanctions to military force. Most rising powers have also become
cunning agents of economic statecraft. China, for instance, is using fnance, invest-
ment and trade as means to gain strategic infuence and embed its global rise. Yet
the way states use economic power to pursue strategic aims remains an under-
studied topic in International Political Economy and International Relations. The
contributions to this volume assess geo- economics as a form of power politics.
They show how power and security are no longer simply coupled to the physical
control of territory by military means, but also to commanding and manipulating
the economic binds that are decisive in today’s globalised and highly intercon-
nected world. Indeed, as the volume shows, the ability to wield economic power
forms an essential means in the foreign policies of major powers. In so doing, the
book challenges simplistic accounts of a return to traditional, military- driven geo-
politics, while not succumbing to any unfounded idealism based on the supposedly
stabilising effects of interdependence on international relations. As such, it
advances our understanding of geo- economics as a strategic practice and as an
innovative and timely analytical approach.
This book will be of much interest to students of security studies, inter-
national political economy, foreign policy and International Relations in general.
Mikael Wigell is Senior Research Fellow at the Finnish Institute of International
Affairs and Adjunct Professor in International Political Economy at the Univer-
sity of Tampere, Finland.
Sren Scholvin is Research Fellow at the Institute of Economic and Cultural
Geography, University of Hanover, Germany.
Mika Aaltola is Director of the Global Security Programme at the Finnish Insti-
tute of International Affairs. He also works as Professor of International Rela-
tions at Tallinn University, Estonia.
Routledge Global Security Studies
Series Editors: Aaron Karp and Regina Karp
Global Security Studies emphasizes broad forces reshaping global security and
the dilemmas facing decision- makers the world over. The series stresses issues
relevant in many countries and regions, accessible to broad professional and aca-
demic audiences as well as to students, and enduring through explicit theoretical
foundations.
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North Korea, Iran and the Challenge to International Order
A Comparative Perspective
Patrick McEachern and Jaclyn O’Brien McEachern
Stable Nuclear Zero
The Vision and its Implications for Disarmament Policy
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US Grand Strategy in the 21st Century
The Case for Restraint
Edited by A. Trevor Thrall and Benjamin H. Friedman
US National Security Reform
Reassessing the National Security Act of 1947
Edited by Heidi B. Demarest and Erica D. Borghard
Geo- Economics and Power Politics in the 21st Century
The Revival of Economic Statecraft
Edited by Mikael Wigell, Sren Scholvin and Mika Aaltola
For more information about this series, please visit: routledge/
Routledge- Global-Security- Studies/book- series/RGSS
Geo- Economics and Power
Politics in the 21st Century
The Revival of Economic Statecraft
Edited by
Mikael Wigell,
Sren Scholvin
and Mika Aaltola。