Geostrategist

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who studies the effects of geographical conditions on national strategies and security policies globally
2. An expert who analyzes how geography influences a country's political and military decisions and plans
3. Specialist in assessing the impact of physical and political geography on global security and power dynamics

Etymology: Geostrategist is a modern blend of two parts with very different ages. "Geo-" comes from Ancient Greek "gê" (earth), and "strategist" descends from "stratēgos," a Greek word for a general, built from "stratos" (army) and "agein" (to lead), so it literally meant "army-leader." The Greek noun "stratēgia" (generalship) passed through Latin "stratēgia" into English as "strategy," and the English suffix "-ist," which marks a person who practises or specialises in something, was added to form "strategist." The combination is a straightforward compound: "geo-" attached to "strategist" produces a person who studies strategy in relation to geography. The compound is recent, so the word has no history older than its parts, and it is used mainly in political and military writing about how territory, resources and terrain shape national power.

Synonyms: strategist, planner