Tag Archives: political geography

On the Size and Spacing of Interior Amphoe Under Bravian Transportation and Resource Constraints, with Reference to the Resulting Character of Local Politics and Culture

Posted on May 10, 2026 by nathanalbright

Provincial College of Porterville Working Paper Series in Covenantal Political Economy Working Paper No. 16 Albrecht Wegmüller, Chair of Public Works and Civil Covenants with reference to the typological work of H. Tschudi and the legal work of D. Hartwell … Continue reading →

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Comparative Northern Governance: Labrador in Relation to Yukon, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut, and Its Political Position within Newfoundland and Labrador

Posted on April 29, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract Labrador occupies an anomalous position in Canada’s federal architecture. By every metric typically used to characterize Northern Canada — high latitude, low population density, vast area, significant Indigenous proportion of population, and a resource-extraction economic base — Labrador resembles … Continue reading →

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Structural Determinants of Labrador’s Spatial Isolation: A White Paper on the Geographic, Jurisdictional, and Political-Economic Foundations of a Disconnected Territory

Posted on April 29, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract Labrador, the mainland portion of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, occupies roughly 294,000 square kilometres of the Labrador Peninsula yet hosts fewer than 27,000 inhabitants and only one through-road of any kind: the Trans-Labrador Highway, fully paved … Continue reading →

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White Paper: The Strategic Geography of Orbital Space: Orbital Regimes, Chokepoints, and the Mechanics of Celestial Power Projection

Posted on March 14, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract The emergence of space as a contested operational domain compels strategists and geographers alike to reconsider the foundational frameworks through which they understand geographic advantage. This paper argues that orbital space possesses genuine geographic structure — expressed through orbital … Continue reading →

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Why Iran Is Unlikely to Fragment: A Structural Analysis of Political Cohesion

Posted on March 10, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract This paper advances a structural argument against the proposition that the Iranian state is likely to fragment into its constituent ethnic or regional components, drawing on the four principal factors that make such fragmentation structurally implausible: the integrative logic … Continue reading →

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The Plateau Empire Diagnostic Instrument: A Structured Framework for Identifying and Analyzing Highland Imperial Formations

Posted on March 10, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract This paper develops and presents the Plateau Empire Diagnostic Instrument (PEDI), a structured analytical tool designed to enable systematic identification of highland imperial formations conforming to the plateau-state model developed across this paper series. The instrument operationalizes the model’s … Continue reading →

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Other Imperial Plateau States: A Comparative Analysis of Highland Imperial Formations

Posted on March 10, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract This paper extends the imperial plateau state model developed across this series through systematic comparative analysis of four additional cases: the Anatolian Plateau, which generated the Hittite, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires across a span of more than three thousand … Continue reading →

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The Memory of Territorial Loss in Iranian Political Culture: History, Trauma, and the Politics of Territorial Integrity

Posted on March 10, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract This paper examines the role of historical territorial loss in shaping Iranian political culture’s distinctive preoccupation with territorial integrity and its deep suspicion of external powers perceived as promoting the fragmentation of the Iranian state. Focusing primarily on the … Continue reading →

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Iran: The Archetype of the Imperial Plateau State

Posted on March 9, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract This paper examines Iran as the most fully developed historical exemplar of the imperial plateau state model, tracing the recurring cycle of plateau consolidation, imperial expansion, political collapse, and plateau reunification across five major imperial formations: the Median, Achaemenid, … Continue reading →

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Geography as Destiny: Why Plateaus Generate Empires

Posted on March 9, 2026 by nathanalbright

Abstract This paper advances the argument that plateau states represent a uniquely powerful geopolitical formation by virtue of their combination of defensibility and expansion potential — two properties that, in most geographic settings, exist in tension but that highland plateau … Continue reading →

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