THOGG stands for The History of Global Geopolitics. It is a series of essays that examines how geography, energy systems, trade routes, and long historical pressures shape the behavior of nations.
The purpose of THOGG is not to compete with academic geopolitical theory or to claim that the subject itself is new. Geopolitics has been studied for generations. Historians, strategists, and political thinkers have written about these forces for more than a century.
The goal here is different.
THOGG attempts to look at familiar subjects through a slightly different lens. Rather than focusing primarily on daily political events or short-term crises, the series looks at the deeper structures that tend to shape events over long periods of time. Geography changes slowly. Energy systems evolve gradually. Trade networks develop over centuries. Yet these slow forces often determine the strategic choices nations eventually make.
In that sense, THOGG is less concerned with predicting specific events and more concerned with identifying patterns that appear repeatedly throughout history.
Many of the essays in this series examine topics that are widely discussed in geopolitical writing: imperial expansion, maritime trade routes, resource competition, strategic chokepoints, and the relationship between geography and military power. The difference lies mainly in how these pieces are organized and connected.
Each article functions as a small piece of a larger framework. Over time, these pieces begin to link together, forming a broader picture of how global political systems evolve. Individual events—wars, alliances, economic shocks—are easier to understand when placed inside these longer structural patterns.
THOGG is therefore best approached not as a single argument but as an ongoing exploration. New essays add new pieces to the structure, revisiting familiar historical questions while connecting them to contemporary geopolitical developments.
Readers who follow the series will notice recurring themes: the influence of geography on strategy, the importance of energy systems in shaping global power, and the way trade networks create both cooperation and conflict between societies.
The intention is simple.
To step back from the noise of daily headlines and examine the deeper forces that quietly guide the movement of history.
— Randolph A. Lewis
Editor, THOGG
The History of Global Geopolitics
The Strategy of the Weaker Power: From Red Cloud to Vietnam to Iran
