the numerous conflicts associated with maintaining that balance, were about limit-
ing control of the Rimland, not about controlling the Heartland.
Spykman’s revision of the Heartland theory, appearing in the last year of World
War II, had a deep influence on post-war geopolitical strategy in the United States.
His argument that the power of the Heartland could be held in check by controlling
the Rimland attracted the attention of western policymakers in the late 1940s, who
were concerned about the possibility of Soviet expansion. Spykman advocated
reconstructing Germany as a counterweight to Soviet ambitions in theregion,a
strategy realized in the Marshall Plan and other efforts to rebuild Europe. The for-
mation of NATO in 1949, an organization consisting primarily of American allies
located in the Rimland, may also be regarded as an outgrowth of Spykman’s influ-
ence. Even more influential was the notion of limiting the expansion of power
from the Heartland by using the Rimland as a barrier—this was the basis of the
Western policy of containment, pursuedin response to the Soviet occupation of
Eastern Europe and the spreading of Soviet influence via “wars of liberation” in
other parts of the world. “Containment policy” guided the foreign relations of
the United States and its allies for the second half of the 20th century, until the col-
lapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In spite of what his critics suggest is an inflated
estimation of the strategic role of the Rimland in global power politics, Spykman’s
theory continues to influence the debate over foreign policy in the United States
and elsewhere.Rural Settlement
In general, a rural place orregionis identified by a low density ofpopulation;a
predominance of land used for agriculture, ranching, or that is undeveloped; and
relative lack of urban places, especially those that occupy a large area whose eco-
nomic activities and employment are concentrated in the secondary and tertiary
sectors of the economy. The territory in a country that is precisely designated as
rural often depends on the standards and definitions used by the government agen-
cies of that specific country, just as is the case when considering urban geography.
Moreover, even countries that show a high level of economic development and
hold large populations may also be predominantly rural—the United States
Bureau of the Census identifies 95 percent of the United States as rural, and the
proportion of rural territory in Canada and Australia is similar, although as in the
United States, a large majority of the population living in these countries is urban-
ized. On the other hand, many lesser-developed countries have a majority of their
people living in rural districts, withonly a relatively small portion of the288 Rural Settlement