Abstract

When one thinks of Napoleon Bonaparte, one primarily recalls his main theaters of war and political-diplomatic activity. These were notably Western Europe, Western Russia, and Egypt. However, Napoleon Bonaparte and his military and diplomatic policies have not often been considered from a so-called “geopolitical” perspective that could take into account the full scope of his attempt at global restructuring. Drawing on the few works that have ventured into the geopolitical dimension of Bonapartist strategic thought, and continuing along that line of inquiry, we will attempt in this paper to analyze this still unfortunately overlooked perspective. In doing so, we will rely on Napoleon’s own considerations about the future of the world and the political necessity of his endeavors. We will thus discover how the Bonapartist vision, which was a global vision by continents rather than a narrow national perspective, had already embryonically grasped elements of the Great Game that would later animate the struggle among various powers for control of Central Asia. The political and human dimension of Asia was, as we will see, of great importance to Napoleon, leading him to develop ideas of global partition that envisaged a broader “Eurasian peace”. This, however, can be considered only from the nascent “geopolitical” perspective that was emerging through Napoleonic thought. With this paper, we will better understand the role that geographic and political concepts such as Central Asia and Eurasia held for Napoleon, and the role these spaces assumed in a renewed global political dimension envisioned by the Corsican strategist.