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The Intermediate Region is an established
geopolitical Geopolitics (from Greek γῆ ''gê'' "earth, land" and πολιτική ''politikḗ'' "politics") is the study of the effects of Earth's geography (human and physical) on politics and international relations. While geopolitics usually refers to ...
model set forth in the 1970s by the
Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
historian
Dimitri Kitsikis Dimitri Kitsikis ( el, Δημήτρης Κιτσίκης; 2 June 1935 – 28 August 2021) was a Greek Turkologist, Sinologist and Professor of International Relations and Geopolitics. He also published poetry in French and Greek. Life Dimitri ...
, professor at the
University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (french: Université d'Ottawa), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ott ...
in
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world ...
. According to this model, the
Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelago ...
n continent is composed of three regions; in addition to
Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
and the
Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ...
, a third region called the "Intermediate Region" found between the two constitutes a distinct civilization. It roughly covers
Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, wh ...
and the
Middle East and North Africa MENA, an acronym in the English language, refers to a grouping of countries situated in and around the Middle East and North Africa. It is also known as WANA, SWANA, or NAWA, which alternatively refers to the Middle East as Western Asia (or ...
(MENA).


Description

The lands between the
Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) ...
and the
Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir ...
form the Intermediate Region and are considered a bridge between
Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
and Eastern civilisations. The vast area extends from the eastern half of Europe to the western half of
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
. Its significance is that there is neither a uniform Europe nor a uniform Asia. Europe and Asia denote geographical regions, not civilisations. Demographically, the region's dominant religions are Orthodox Christianity and
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God (or '' Allah'') as it was revealed to Muhammad, the ...
, with
Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
to a lesser extent. In contrast,
Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and
Protestantism Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
dominate in the West, and Hinduism and
Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
dominate in the East. The Intermediate Region had, for 2,500 years, been dominated by an ecumenical empire whose centre lay by the Turkish Straits and the
Aegean Sea The Aegean Sea ; tr, Ege Denizi ( Greek: Αιγαίο Πέλαγος: "Egéo Pélagos", Turkish: "Ege Denizi" or "Adalar Denizi") is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea between Europe and Asia. It is located between the Balkans ...
. It was fundamentally the same empire throughout history, and its successive leaders sought to unify its respective peoples. From the
Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest emp ...
of
Darius the Great Darius I ( peo, 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐏁 ; grc-gre, Δαρεῖος ; – 486 BCE), commonly known as Darius the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the third King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 522 BCE until his d ...
, it fell into the hands of
Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to t ...
, then to the
Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in 3 ...
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Medit ...
, the
Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
, and finally the
Sunni Sunni Islam () is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam, followed by 85–90% of the world's Muslims. Its name comes from the word ''Sunnah'', referring to the tradition of Muhammad. The differences between Sunni and Shia ...
Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
until 1923–1924, even though originally the Ottoman Dynasty was
Alevi Alevism or Anatolian Alevism (; tr, Alevilik, ''Anadolu Aleviliği'' or ''Kızılbaşlık''; ; az, Ələvilik) is a local Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Alevi Islamic ( ''bāṭenī'') teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, wh ...
. That is why the
Janissaries A Janissary ( ota, یڭیچری, yeŋiçeri, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman Sultan's household troops and the first modern standing army in Europe. The corps was most likely established under sultan Orhan ...
followed the
Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...
Alevi sect. This Central Empire had been subject to attempts by other empires situated along its periphery to seize succession. These included the
Caliphate A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...
, the
Persian Empire The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Based in Western Asia, it was contemporarily the largest emp ...
and the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. T ...
(until 1917). The dynamic between the Central Empire and the Peripheral Empires constitutes an internal conflict in the Intermediate Region. Each of the main peoples in this area struggled to seize control of its centre of influence, that is,
Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' con ...
-
Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth ( Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
-
Istanbul ) , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = 34000 to 34990 , area_code = +90 212 (European side) +90 216 (Asian side) , registration_plate = 34 , blank_name_sec2 = GeoTLD , blank_ ...
, which remained the undisputed focal point for nearly 2,000 years. The
Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...
s, in the 8th century, and the Russians, in the 20th century, almost succeeded in doing so but were not able to take control of the ecumenical empire. Western intervention, since the 18th century, is considered to be an external conflict, which sought not succession but the destruction of the ecumenical empire and its dismemberment ( Balkanisation) and its subjection to the stranglehold of Westernisation. Kitsikis concludes that “due to historical events spanning thousands of years, the Eurasian continent, of which Europe is but one of its peninsulas, comprises three civilisational areas: a) the West, which today includes the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world ...
, Australia and
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island country ...
, as well as
Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...
; b) the East or '
Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The ...
', which includes the peninsulas of
India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
,
Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...
(with
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
) and
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
(with
Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and Sout ...
and
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
); c) the Intermediate Region, which is found both in the East and the West."D. Kitsikis, ''L'Empire ottoman'', Paris, PUF, 1985, p. 15.


See also

*
Afro-Eurasia Afro-Eurasia (also Afroeurasia, Eurafrasia or the Old World) is a landmass comprising the continents of Africa, Asia, and Europe. The terms are compound words of the names of its constituent parts. Its mainland is the largest and most populo ...
* Arno Peters *
Eurasianism Eurasianism (russian: евразийство, ''yevraziystvo'') is a political movement in Russia which states that Russian civilization does not belong in the "European" or "Asian" categories but instead to the geopolitical concept of Eurasia, ...
*
Eurasian Steppe The Eurasian Steppe, also simply called the Great Steppe or the steppes, is the vast steppe ecoregion of Eurasia in the temperate grasslands, savannas and shrublands biome. It stretches through Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova and Transnist ...
*
Geographical midpoint of Europe The location of the geographical centre of Europe depends on the definition of the borders of Europe, mainly whether remote islands are included to define the extreme points of Europe, and on the method of calculating the final result. Thus, se ...
*
Intermarium Intermarium ( pl, Międzymorze, ) was a post- World War I geopolitical plan conceived by Józef Piłsudski to unite former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth lands within a single polity. The plan went through several iterations, some of which anti ...
*
Ralph Peters Ralph Peters (born April 19, 1952) is a retired United States Army lieutenant colonel and author. In addition to his non-fiction books, he has published eight novels under the pen name Owen Parry of which ''Honor's Kingdom'' received the Hamme ...
* The Clash of Civilizations *''
The Geographical Pivot of History "The Geographical Pivot of History" is an article submitted by Halford John Mackinder in 1904 to the Royal Geographical Society that advances his heartland theory.Mackinder, H. J."The Geographical Pivot of History" ''The Geographical Journal'', ...
'' *
The Great Game The Great Game is the name for a set of political, diplomatic and military confrontations that occurred through most of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century – involving the rivalry of the British Empire and the Russian Empi ...


References

{{reflist


Further reading

# P. Davarinos, ''Geschichtsschreibung und Politik'', Düsseldorf, 1995. (Doctoral thesis). # P. Davarinos, "Die Historische Theorie der Zwischenregion in Osten und Westen", ''Journal of Oriental and African Studies,'' vol. 10 (1999), pp. 131–143. #
Dimitri Kitsikis Dimitri Kitsikis ( el, Δημήτρης Κιτσίκης; 2 June 1935 – 28 August 2021) was a Greek Turkologist, Sinologist and Professor of International Relations and Geopolitics. He also published poetry in French and Greek. Life Dimitri ...
, ''L'Empire ottoman (The Ottoman Empire),'' Paris, PUF, 3e éd., 1994. # Société Royale du Canada, Académie des lettres et des sciences humaines, ''Géopolitique de la Région intermédiaire (The Geopolitics of the Intermediate Region)'', Ottawa, vol.52, 1999. #
Dimitri Kitsikis Dimitri Kitsikis ( el, Δημήτρης Κιτσίκης; 2 June 1935 – 28 August 2021) was a Greek Turkologist, Sinologist and Professor of International Relations and Geopolitics. He also published poetry in French and Greek. Life Dimitri ...
, «Une vision géopolitique: la Région intermédiaire» (A Geopolitical Vision: the Intermediate Region), ''Relations internationales,'' Paris, no.109, 2002. #
Dimitri Kitsikis Dimitri Kitsikis ( el, Δημήτρης Κιτσίκης; 2 June 1935 – 28 August 2021) was a Greek Turkologist, Sinologist and Professor of International Relations and Geopolitics. He also published poetry in French and Greek. Life Dimitri ...
, «Géopolitique d'un Proche-Orient à venir» (The Geopolitics of a future Middle East), ''Diplomatie,'' no. 24, 2007. # E. Konstantinides, "He Geopolitike kai he historia tes mesa apo chartes (Geopolitics and its history through maps)", ''Trito Mati'', Athens, vol.153, 2007 # ''Geopolitike kai Hellada (Geopolitics and Greece),'' Athens, Esoptron, 2001. #
Endiamese Perioche (Intermediate Region)
'' quarterly journal on geopolitics, published in Athens since 1996. #
Dimitri Kitsikis Dimitri Kitsikis ( el, Δημήτρης Κιτσίκης; 2 June 1935 – 28 August 2021) was a Greek Turkologist, Sinologist and Professor of International Relations and Geopolitics. He also published poetry in French and Greek. Life Dimitri ...
, ''Türk-Yunan İmparatorluğu. Arabölge gerçeği ışığında Osmanlı tarihine bakış (The Turco-Greek Empire. A study of Ottoman history from the point of view of the Intermediate Region),'' Istanbul, Iletişim, 1996. # José Pedro Teixeira Fernandes, «A Grécia Moderna e o Ocidente - Entre a Regiao Intermédia e o Ocidente», ''Historia'', no.87, Junho 2006. # Georgios K. Filis, ''Russia and Turkey in the Geopolitics of Eurasia & the Theory of Median Space: Thesis-Synthesis-Antithesis'', Durham University, United Kingdom, 2008. (Doctoral thesis). # Georges Prevelakis, ''Les Balkans: cultures et géopolitique'', Paris, Nathan, 1994. # Georges Prevelakis, ''Géopolitique de la Grèce'', Paris, Editions Complexe, 1997.


External links



Geopolitics of the Intermediate Region - Dimitri Kitsikis lecturing in English - Moscow 2011

Geopolitics of the Intermediate Region - Alexandr Dugin lecturing in Russian - Moscow 2011
Dimitri Kitsikis - Intermediate Region - Article - Moscow 14 December 2011Dimitri Kitsikis - Intermediate Region - Article - Moscow - 19 December 2011Kitsikis & Dugin parallel approaches
Geopolitics Geographical neologisms Eurasianism