Geniş Orta Doğu’da Jeopolitik ve Koridor Savaşları: Kuşak-Yol Girişimi (BRI) ile IMEC’in Mackinder ve Spykman Perspektifinden Karşılaştırması

Öz

Bu makale, Avrasya’nın stratejik jeopolitiğini yeniden tanımlayan iki rakip jeopolitik proje olarak Kuşak ve Yol Girişimi (BRI) ile Hindistan-Orta Doğu-Avrupa Koridoru’nu (IMEC) incelemekte; özellikle bu iki tasarımın kesişim alanı olarak Orta Doğu bölgesine odaklanmaktadır. Halford J. Mackinder ve Nicholas J. Spykman’ın klasik jeopolitik kuramlarından hareketle çalışma, BRI’nin 21. yüzyıla özgü bir “Kalpgâh (Heartland)” bütünleştirme çabası, IMEC’in ise “Kenar Kuşak (Rimland)” temelli bir dengeleme stratejisi olarak okunabileceğini ileri sürmektedir. Karşılaştırmalı kavramsal bir analiz aracılığıyla, altyapı ve bağlantısallığın birer iktidar aracı olarak nasıl işlediğini; ekonomik koridorların mekânsal hâkimiyet ve çevreleme (containment) teorileriyle nasıl ilişkilendirildiğini tartışmaktadır. Bulgular, Çin’in BRI aracılığıyla kara entegrasyonu üzerinden Mackinder’in kıtasal hâkimiyet vizyonunu somutlaştırdığını; Hindistan’ın IMEC girişiminin ise Spykman’ın deniz gücüne dayalı koalisyon ve çevresel sınırlama mantığını yansıttığını göstermektedir. Bu iki girişim arasındaki etkileşim, “rekabetçi bağlantısallık” (competitive connectivity) temelinde şekillenen yeni bir düzenin ortaya çıktığını, altyapı ağlarının küreselleşmenin tarafsız araçları olmaktan ziyade jeopolitik araçlara dönüştüğünü ortaya koymaktadır. Klasik jeopolitik kuram ile günümüzün altyapı rekabeti arasındaki köprüyü kuran makale, coğrafyanın küresel güç siyasetinde hâlâ merkezî [U1.1]bir unsur olduğunu vurgulamaktadır: 21. yüzyılda da nüfuz, yalnızca toprakları elinde tutanlara değil, o toprakları birbirine bağlayan yolları inşa eden ve kontrol edenlere aittir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Kuşak ve Yol Girişimi (BRI)
• Hindistan–Orta Doğu–Avrupa Koridoru (IMEC)
• Klasik Jeopolitik
• Kalpgâh (Heartland) ve Kenar Kuşak (Rimland) Teorileri
• Uluslararası Politik Ekonomi

Geopolitics and Corridor Wars in the Greater Middle East: A Comparison of BRI and IMEC from Mackinder and Spykman’s Eyes

Öz

This article examines the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and the India–Middle East–Europe Corridor (IMEC) as competing geopolitical projects that redefine Eurasia’s strategic landscape with a specific focus on the Middle Eastern region as the overlapping area of clashing designs. Drawing on the classical theories of Halford J. Mackinder and Nicholas J. Spykman, the study argues that the BRI represents a twenty-first-century effort at Heartland consolidation, while IMEC embodies a Rimland-based balancing strategy. Through comparative conceptual analysis, it explores how infrastructure and connectivity function as instruments of power, linking economic corridors to spatial theories of dominance and containment. The findings suggest that China’s BRI operationalizes Mackinder’s vision of continental control through overland integration, whereas India’s IMEC reflects Spykman’s logic of maritime coalition and peripheral containment. The interplay between these initiatives reveals an emerging order of competitive connectivity, in which infrastructure networks serve as geopolitical tools rather than neutral conduits of globalization. By bridging classical geopolitical theory with contemporary infrastructural rivalry, the article demonstrates that geography remains central to global power politics: in the twenty-first century, again, influence belongs not only to those who hold territory but also to those who build and command the routes that connect it.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)
• India–Middle East–Europe Corridor (IMEC)
• Classical Geopolitics
• Heartland and Rimland Theories
• International Political Economy

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