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Last broadcast on Mon, 29 Jun 2009, 00:15 on BBC Radio 4 (see all broadcasts).
Synopsis
'Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland. Who rules the Heartland commands the World-island. Who rules the World Island commands the World'. So decreed Halford Mackinder, one of the pioneers of geography and of the nascent science of geopolitics. He had a huge influence on the strategy of the British Empire and a great impact on the foreign policy of Hitler.
Gerry Kearns, author of Geopolitics and Empire: The Legacy of Halford Mackinder tells Laurie Taylor that, with dwindling resources of gas and oil and the quest for sphere of influence, Mackinder is very much back in vogue.
Also, Laurie speaks to Roma academics Delia Grigore and Ian Hancock about ambivalent feelings towards traditional gypsy or Romani culture and the threats and advantages of assimilation.
Professor Ian Hancock
Ian Hancock, Professor of English, Linguisitics and Asian Studies, as well as keeper of the Romani Archives at the University of Texas
The Pariah Syndrome: An Account of Gypsy Slavery and Persecution
Publisher: Karoma Pub
ISBN-10: 0897200799
ISBN-13: 978-0897200790
We Are the Romani People
Publisher: University of Hertfordshire Press
ISBN-10: 1902806190
ISBN-13: 978-1902806198
Dr. Delia Grigore
Dr. Delia Grigore, Romanian Romani writer, philologist, academic and Romani rights activist
Professor Gerry Kearns
Gerry Kearns, Professor of Government and International Affairs; Director, School of Public and International Affairs
Geopolitics and Empire The Legacy of Halford Mackinder
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN-10: 0199230110
ISBN-13: 978-0199230112
Broadcasts
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Wed 24 Jun 200916:00
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Mon 29 Jun 200900:15
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