Editorial Note
By: Prof. Sami Al-Arian, CIGA Director
Geopolitical Bridges (GPB) is a publication that aims to bring together the understanding of geopolitics and international relations in order to grasp the practical implications of major events and critical transformations taking place around the world. After the eruption of Al-Aqsa Flood operation last October, the protracted Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation and onslaught has once again become one of the most consequential issues that can have a great impact not only on the MENA region, but also globally.
The current GPB issue includes 13 different briefs on this intractable conflict with keen focus on the impact of the dreadful Israeli Genocidal War on Gaza. The articles present different perspectives carefully culled from major publications that were originally written in ten different languages, including English, Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Russian, and Chinese, among others. Such wide perspectives written in different languages and contexts are rarely available to a wide range of audiences around the world, which make this issue very valuable, informative, and insightful.
Furthermore, the current issue continues our tradition of introducing GPB main sections, namely, Geopolitical Concepts, Scholars & Thinkers, and relevant Book Reviews. Hence, we explain in this issue the important geopolitical concepts of Realpolitik, Weltpolitik, Lebensraum, and Grossraum. In addition, we discuss the important contributions of two major geopolitical thinkers, one from the 20th century, while the other from the 15th –16th centuries, namely the German Carl Schmitt (d. 1985) and the Turk Piri Reis (d. 1554).
Finally, we discuss two important books related to the theme of this issue. The first is a presentation of Tim Marshall’s chapter on “Israel and Palestine” in his seminal work “The Age of Walls: How Barriers Between Nations are Changing our World.” The second is a review of an important book titled “Decolonizing Israel, liberating Palestine: Zionism, Settler Colonialism, and the Case for One Democratic State,” by Israeli-American anthropologist, author, and activist Jeff Halper.
The issue is lengthy and intense, but very enjoyable to read, while the extent of valuable information and degree of analysis contained make it indispensable and worthwhile.
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