Karl who? – Haushofer, Japan and the Free and Open Indo-Pacific
By David Malitz. Following its first public conceptualization in 2007, the “Indo-Pacific” has been adopted as the geopolitical framework for strategic policies by numerous governments. This global adoption of the “Indo-Pacific”, with differing geographic definitions, has led to the emergence of a sizable literature on the region and the different strategies, visions, and outlooks formulated for it. In this literature, it is customary to refer to the German scholar Karl Haushofer (1869–1946) as first geopolitical thinker to use the term “Indo-Pacific” in the 1920s and therefore to claim or imply an influence of Haushofer’s thought on 21st century policy.
