Geopolitics,Nation And Race In Japan's Century Of War(1867-1945)

This study aims to analyze the influence of classical geopolitical theories in Japan,exploring the development of Western concepts of nation and race in the country.With this objective,the historical evolution of Western geographic thought and its expansion around the world is first analyzed,focusing in the classical geopolitics theories,but also highlighting behaviors that are common to all humans.Following the Western expansionism through the world,geographic and historical reasons made the Japanese follow a different path from other Asian countries,developing a major Westernization project that would accentuate the problems with its neighbors.In this process,the development of the concepts of nation and race was quite complex in the sense that these terms were sometimes associated with the Asians as opposed to the West,but sometimes aligned with the Westerners and opposed to the other Asian societies.In a later analysis,the importance of this process for the present is discussed,especially because the Western international order has been decadent.In this sense,a better historical understanding is needed both in Japan and East Asia as a whole,in order to establish Japan as a normal country,more independent from the West and capable of ensuring stability in the region.