People and Places: The Contextual Side of Politics in Demography and Geography

Abstract

The disciplines of political demography and geography examine the interplay between social behaviors, spatial dimensions, politics, and policy. Investigations into demographic shifts, driven by evolving social norms or domestic and international political events, can influence numerous critical dependent variables in international relations, such as trade, development, and inter- and intra-state conflict. Similarly, geography and the interconnection of space with independent variables, such as power, wealth, and culture, yield similar insights. In this article, we employ a systemist approach from the Visual International Relations Project (VIRP) to provide a brief overview of the theoretical intersection between geography, demography, and international relations focusing on using VIRP to teach these subjects. To accomplish this, we have selected two representative pieces of literature from each field. For demography, we examine Hendrik Urdal’s A Clash of Generations? Youth Bulges and Political Violence, and for geography, we review Alex Braithwaite’s The Geographic Spread of Militarized Disputes. These seminal articles in their respective fields demonstrate the clear applicability of demography and geography to international politics scholarship.