About the Spykman Institute

The Spykman Institute is an independent, nonpartisan policy review that tracks the tensions, relationships, and conflicts shaping the Pacific Rim. We study where instability is building so that the world can see conflict coming, and so that humanitarian organizations can prepare to respond before a crisis breaks.

The Institute takes its name from Nicholas J. Spykman, the geopolitical theorist whose “Rimland” thesis argued that the coastal edge of Eurasia, the contested seas and states that run across the Pacific Rim, is where the balance of world power is decided. This idea guides our work. The places where land meets sea, and where rival powers meet each other, are where conflict concentrates and where early warning matters most.

What We Do

We watch and analyze qualitative events as they unfold across the Pacific Rim region. We turn those events into structured, qualitative data that can be compared over time and across places. From that data we build forecasts of where conflict is most likely to emerge. And we translate those forecasts into policy briefs and planning guidance built for humanitarian response, so that relief organizations can understand not only whether conflict is likely, but who it would displace, endanger, and cut off from aid.

Making the Region Accessible

We also believe that understanding the Pacific Rim should not be limited to specialists. Alongside our research, the Institute produces educational features for the general public, including a Word of the Week, a Moment in History, and regular news quizzes. These break down the concepts and vocabulary of geopolitics into pieces that students and adults can follow, so that a wider audience can make sense of the events shaping the region and the forces behind them.