地缘政治战略与世界帝国的兴衰——从“壮年麦金德”到“老年麦金德”

Geopolitical Strategy and Vicissitude of the World Empire: From “Mature Mackinder” to “Old Mackinder”

本文分析了麦金德地缘政治战略的变化与世界帝国权势转移之间的内在关联。麦金德认为1900年之后的世界历史进入大陆强国(陆权)与海洋强国(海权)争夺世界统治权、建立“单一世界帝国”的新时代。在这种帝国竞争的背景下,麦金德认为英国不能再走传统海洋帝国的“老路”,当然也不能走帝国解体的“邪路”,而必须与时俱进,向大陆(尤其南非、印度)进军,通过金融、关税等改革将大英帝国整合起来,走一条兼具大陆与海洋、依赖技术和金融手段的新型世界帝国之路。这条道路被霍布森、列宁批判为“帝国主义”道路。然而第一次世界大战后,英国已无力单独支撑世界帝国,世界帝国权势从英国转向美国,麦金德意识到只有英美联盟才能延续其海洋世界帝国。为此,他向美国传授老牌帝国的战略教诲,即要实现统治全球的民主理想就必须考虑全球地缘政治现实。世界地缘政治的中心不在北美,而在欧亚非大陆这个“世界岛”。美国要建立单一世界帝国,就必须通过欧洲、南非、印度、日本乃至中国这些大陆边缘地带来包围、挤压大陆“心脏地带”。目睹两次世界大战对人类文明的摧毁,麦金德的观点也在发生微妙的变化,即从“壮年麦金德”强调争夺全球统治权转向“老年麦金德”探索全球平衡与世界和平。

This article is about the intrinsic relation between the evolving of Mackinder’s geo-politics theory and the power-transfer from old world empire to the new one.Mackinder believes that after 1900,a new age begins,when land-powers and sea-powers fight for leadership of the world,seeking to establish a single World Empire.Under this contending circumstance,Mackinder argues that British Empire shouldn’t continue the“old way”as a traditional sea-power,but turn to the“new way”to meet the calling of history,marching to the land(especially India and South Africa),integrating British Empire through finance and tariffs reforms,making British a new World Empire.This new empire,financially and constitutionally united,having both the characters of seapower and land-power,was criticized as“imperialism”.Unfortunately,after the First World War,the power of the world empire transited from Britain to the United States.Mackinder realized that only alliance of Britain and America could prolong the life of the British sea-power empire then,so he tried to teach the lessons of the old empire’s geopolitical strategy to the new one.The dream of ruling the whole world with democracy would come true only if the rulers take reality of world geo-politics into consideration seriously.The pivot of world geo-politics is not in North America but in the“world island”,namely the whole continent of Europe,Asia and Africa.America needs the margin land(such as Europe,South Africa,India,Japan,and China)to surround the heartland,squash into it,and establish the world empire.After the World War II,witnessing the destruction that the two world wars brought to human communities changed Mackinder’s theory subtly.The“mature Mackinder”focusing on the power struggle over the whole world turned to the“old Mackinder”who was more dedicated to global power balance and world peace.