�The cultural meaning of Western Geopolitics

from its historical foundations to its future implications

How do we have to understand the relationship between culture and geopolitics? On the one hand, every great power as well as empire has its own geopolitical project, which is to some extent formed by its culture. On the other hand, culture itself is heavily influenced by geopolitics and can even become a tool within geopolitical competition. We can study this complex interaction based on the example of the first Cold War, which clearly shows traces of such a usage of culture as a military means on both sides. The question that can be raised is, how far does this influence go? Has it gone so far, that it has perhaps altered the cultural heritage of Europe as a whole? The course of lectures tries to raise these questions and seeks to put them in a broader perspective. The course will start with different aspects of geopolitics and culture in recent history. The second half will concentrate more on the European history of ideas, its foundation and its evolution. At the end of the course we will return to the question about the interaction of geopolitics and culture on the example of current Western cultural policy.