THE NATURE OF POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY AND WAYS OF INCREASING ITS GEOGRAPHICAL CONTENT

Political geography's essence and place in the system of Soviet geographical sciences are assessed and key elements of political geographical analysis defined. The latter include the space-time paradigm, the principle of territoriality, the study of center-periphery relationships, analysis of regional planning policy and theory, consideration of the role of the church and armed forces, and the importance of political geographical regionalization. Examples of Soviet work and thinking in many of these areas are provided (translated by H. L. Haslett, Leamington Spa, UK).