One of the founders and main proponents of geopolitics was German general Haushofer, professor of geography at the Munich University during the Nazi rule. Geopolitics is based on the theory that the state is a living organism and as such it is continuously fighting for survival. Conquest of new living space is a basis for the continuous clashes between states. This is a justification for expansionist and nationalist goals of the states with nationalist programs and for the aggressive nationalism and territorial expansion through war.
Geopolitics, the official doctrine of Hitler's Nazi regime, made into law the theory of blood and soil (Blut und Boden) and the supposed German right to expansion in search of new living space (Lebensraum), which is allegedly augmented by the genetic superiority of the germanic race. These theories produced the greatest crimes, not only during WWII, but in the whole modern history of the humanity. Haushofer published his main work on geopolitics in 1943; after the war he was tried in Nurnberg and sentenced for war crimes. He committed suicide.
The intention of the editor of the compilation "The Secret of the Balkans" is, as the introduction states, to "teach the coming generation about the living space of our nation and the real significance of that space in global terms"; guru of "young Serb intellectuals", as the book introduces extreme rightist Dragos Kalajic, adds that these messages are addressed "to the builders of the new Serb state which is being formed through struggle," because, "the presented geopolitical characteristics of the Serb fatherland demand continuous fighting readiness of the Serb nation and the corresponding all encompassing educational and value system." It is not hard to guess what kind of system Kalajic has in mind. On the pages of "the Secret of the Balkans" we can find the works by the foreign founders of geopolitics besides the articles by the researchers and professors from the Belgrade University, as well as an article by a recently retired general from the Yugoslav Army.
Seed couldn't have fallen in the more fertile soil. Everything that was the ideology of the official and unofficial policy, everything passed by the state propaganda as the goals of the program and goals of national policy, the contents of numerous quasi-scientific discussions resulted in the rehabilitation of geopolitics as a science; something obviously missing in the Serb science. This promotion and purported rediscovery of this supposedly all encompassing scientific discipline contains many of the stereotypes, illusions, prejudices and manipulations which had sidetracked the Serb nation and are the essence of the unnecessary and ignominious war. The tales of the peoples of "the land and the sea", about the proud warriors from the mountains and "raja [servile] mentality" of those who live in the flatlands and should be exterminated, about the barbarians who inject fresh blood into civilizations, about the better and worse nations, about the states with rights to territorial expansion at any cost, essentially boil down to racial theories and dangerous ideas about lower and higher races; the unavoidable consequence are the wars in which, in the name of science, nation and mystical revelations, horrendous crimes are committed, ethnic cleansing is justified and "final solution", i.e. the destruction of certain nations, is implemented. The final goal is the formation of the pure Nazi and racist state.
In Hitler's Germany, geopolitics swallowed all other scientific disciplines and assumed the position of the generalized pseudo-science as the fullest available expression of the Nazi ideology. What is truly outrageous is that the publisher of the book is Student Cultural Center, and the book was financed by the Serbian Ministry for Education. The idea of this publishing project with the state support is that the book will become a required text for a number of subjects at the Belgrade University which is confirmed by a reproduction of the official decree with a signature of the head of the faculty for Political science.
All this demonstrates the extent to which the position of the extreme pro-nazi right has been strengthened under the wing of war nationalism. This Nazism has been promoted by certain intellectual circles of the Serb right, with open assistance from the ruling establishment. In a conversation with Russian rightist Alexander Dugin, Dragos Kalajic concludes:"... we, the people from the right, should today stop our attacks on communism, taking into account that those forces have undergone a profound transformation, in a positive sense, which means that today the communists are our potential or actual allies." Dugin responds that he completely agrees with that statement. He says: "Present national-communists are a recent and new political reality... By nature they are more similar to the conservative revolutionaries from 'the German movement' then to the bolsheviks." Both Kalajic and Dugin see their greatest opponents in the New World Order, cosmopolitan, liberal civilizations, United States, the West and something they call "mondialist forces." Serbian struggle, according to them, is the start of the great uprising against these forces of evil, the defense of Europe from the aggression of the New World Order and the infiltration of Islam.
Here is the final product of the populist movement which began in 1990. Unification of red and black, a symbol of blood and a symbol of death. Prodded and supported by the intellectual circles in important cultural and scientific institutions and associations and the hidden centers of power, this monster, defeated, but not completely, drunk from an orgy of violence, is coming under the wing of the system in order to somehow survive and gather new strength.
Therefore, the entrance of Nazi geopolitics as a new Serb science to the Belgrade University, with blessing from the Serbian Ministry for Education, is maybe not that surprising. New Serb Right isn't anymore a marginalized force. It has penetrated many vital spheres of the society, political, military but also the cultural, scientific and spiritual life. These sick and dangerous ideas mirror the shapes of the turbulent future, full of many difficult trials.
The author is a writer and the editor-in-chief of the magazine "Pravo na Rec"; he lives in Belgrade.