Page 311 - Economia Azul - versão: inglês

Observing the economic causes, we the determinant causes of the influence "Heartland” and Europe, Asia, and Africa the emphasis on geographic determinism.
found that Phoenicia, Carthage, Portugal, of the Maritime Mentality in the history of as the “World Island” (1996). On the other hand, it was up to Admi-
and Spain, with reduced territorial dimen- some peoples, with some having the pre- The preponderance of Mackinder’s geo- ral Alfred Thayer Mahan to point out that
sions compared to the Roman Empire, dominance of political-strategic concepts graphic determinism, with emphasis on the control of the seas, throughout history,
reached continental dimensions, when based on terrestrial spaces and others in continental territories, stems from the fol- has been a decisive force in all wars. This
considering their overseas territories. the oceanic spaces. lowing assertions: argument stems from the understanding
The Roman Empire, on the other To support these arguments, we found a) whoever commands Central-Eastern Eu- that "whoever controls the trade controls
hand, maintained its territorial conquests, that, in the political-strategic concepts of rope commands the Heartland; the riches and whoever controls the riches
with land victories, while keeping its ene- Geopolitics, the geometric shape of the ter- b) whoever commands the Heartland com- controls the world" (1987).

mies away from the Mediterranean Sea – ritory, the availability or not of fertile lands, mands the World Island; and With the same understanding and long
Mare Nostrum. waterways and natural resources and the c) who commands the World Island com- before Mahan, Admiral Themistocles, win-
The British Empire, led by the insular En- relief characteristics are analyzed. The defi- mands the World (Idem, p. 51). ner of the Naval Battle of Salamis, consid-
gland, used oceanic spaces to reach the di- nitions of Geopolitics, presented below, il- To broaden the understanding of Mackind- ered the “command of the sea as para-
mension where, according to authors, “the lustrate this understanding, namely: er’s studies, it is important to remember mount for the command of all things”, and
Sun never sets on the Empire”. In this case, Rudolf Kjellen: “the study of the influ- that his notes were made at the end of the Ratzel, when highlighting the importance
and also in the Portuguese Empire, the simul- ence of geographical factors on the cre- 19th century. As such, they considered the of maritime traffic, the navigation of mer-
taneity of the economic-expansionist causes ation and existence of the state” (BUSH, following aspects: chant ships, and the strategic value of oce-
and the defense of territories are evident. 1993, p.6). a) the phase of discovery of territories was anic islands, in his work “The sea, origin of
After centuries of isolation, the Middle Friedrich Ratzel: “study of the influence completed; the greatness of peoples”. This was a kind
Kingdom - China - continental in its terri- of the territory on the population and the b) the threats to the British Empire, arising of anticipation of the fundamentals of hu-
torial dimensions, is returning to the sea, dispersion of man” (Idem). from the rearmament and colonial preten- man activities at sea, or support on land:
strengthening its global performance, to- Meira Mattos: “An indication of political sions of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and now the Blue Economy.
gether with the “Silk Road”, where it as- solutions conditioned by geographical real- Germany; For Mahan, the seas facilitate mobility,
sociates political-strategic initiatives with ities and needs ... The territory conditions c) international trade was far from today’s as there are no natural obstacles, except
military, logistical and economic issues. the life of a state and limits its aspirations magnitude; in adverse sea situations, the legal system
In the international community, we also (...)” (2007a, 24). relating to oceanic spaces did not restrict
find numerous examples where the initia- Halford J. Mackinder argues that “ge- d) steam navigation was incipient and the movement of ships and the availability
maritime activities lacked adequate infra-
tives adopted in the past remain valid and ography must be a bridge between the structure; and of ports was fundamental for the logistical
remain framed by the Maritime Mentality. physical and social sciences, just as the e) initiatives to discover natural resources in support of ships (1987).
To support these considerations, we have study of the influence of geography on the oceans were almost non-existent. Currently, technology allows situations
the permanent relevance of maritime trade society and the influence of society on the This set of considerations indicates Mackinder of adverse seas to be avoided and we ob-
and the search for territorial expansion, in environment is fundamental”. In his geo- as the main thinker of what came to be called serve a growing complexity in the legal
the past, through overseas colonies and, political studies, Mackinder developed the the Theory of Land Power (1996, p. 22). system, contained in the III United Nations
currently, with the phenomenon of “terri- concept of “pivot area”, which reached Convention on the Law of the Sea. The so-
torialization” of the oceans, when coun- greater political-strategic relevance, com- In the histories of peoples, where Earth called “Constitution of the Sea” began to
tries change the legal system of ocean pared to other land areas of the planet, as a Power has greater relevance, we can asso- impose guidelines for navigation, both mer-
spaces (more on this topic later). result of a set of geographic factors, natural ciate the existence of an Earth Mentality, chant ships and warships. Oceanic spaces
However, it is still possible to analyze resources, and the protection of maritime which adopts a set of processes and activi- received denominations, Territorial Sea (TS),
concepts of Geopolitics and Oceanpolitics, powers. As a “pivot area”, Mackinder iden- ties, beliefs, ways of thinking and other seg- Contiguous Zone (CZ), Exclusive Economic
in order to improve the identification of tified Central-Eastern Europe, calling it the ments of the Mentality definition, linked to Zone (EEZ), Continental Shelf (CS), Extended

308 BLUE ECONOMY Maritime Mentality and National Development 309