Evolution Of American Geo-strategic Thought And Its Characteristics Analysis

In the early period of independence,the United States was subject to a unique geographical location and domestic development.The principle of isolationism proposed by the father-in-law Washington was adopted.Since then,the isolationist policy has always dominated the foreign policy of the United States.With the advancement of the United States national power,the United States began its transition to globalism from isolated Monroe doctrines in North and South America.The outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898 enabled the United States to acquire an important strategic expansion base,marking the end of the stage of the United States' isolation of the American continent and the beginning of global expansionism.During this period,Mahan's sea power theory played an important role in the geo-strategic choice of the United States at that time.The United States' strong navy defeated the Spanish navy and made the United States realize the importance of building a navy.Mahan's "sea power Theory" conforms to the historical development trend and meets the needs of the United States for strategic expansion at that time.Prior to World War I,the United States' naval strength had leapt to the second place in the world,laying the foundation for the United States to establish world hegemony.With the end of the Second World War,the United States became the only superpower in the Western world,and it was in opposition to the Soviet Union,a powerful country on the mainland.Spykman's “Rimland theory” provided a strategic direction for the United States at that time,emphasizing the importance of the marginal zone.The United States took a containment strategy against the Soviet Union and eventually won victory and became the only superpower in the world.After the Cold War,the strategic positioning of the United States mainly centered on the Eurasian continent,preventing the emergence of a superpower capable of confronting the United States in Eurasia and controlling the Eurasian continent to ensure the primacy of the United States.Under the guidance of the concept of “ingenious power”,during the Obama era,the international center was transferred to the Asia-Pacific region and a “Asia-Pacific rebalancing” strategy was introduced.Following the “offshore balance” strategy of J.Mear-sheimer,the rise of China was curbed in the Asia-Pacific region.Maintain the hegemonic position of the United States.The logic of using power to protect American interests in American geopolitical thinking is obvious geopolitical logic.Mahan's "sea power theory" actually serves the hegemony of the United States.In addition to the "Rimland theory" of the Cold War period,in addition to the confrontation model of sea power and land rights,there is also a mode of combining sea power and land rights to fight against the fringes.The "Rimland theory" emphasizes that the periphery is the power center of the world and is a region that poses a direct threat to the security of the United States.The tragedy of the big game and the politics of the major powers is mainly concerned with how the United States maintains its global primacy position after the Cold War.It is still using the concept of power to overlook the great powers of Europe and Asia and prevent the emergence of a force in Eurasia that can compete with the United States.From these processes we can see that the evolution of the political logic in the United States is full of the continuation of the logic of power politics.At the same time,there is a phenomenon of universalism and specialism in the foreign policy of the United States.However,in its diplomatic performance,specialism plays a dominant role in American foreign policy.This paper analyzes the geostrategic direction chosen during the historical period of the United States,summarizes the evolution and characteristics of the United States geopolitical ideas,and tries to infer the strategic direction of the Trump administration after a year in power.