Territorial-political and regional geopolitical systems: correlation of concepts

The article examines the notions of ‘territorial political system’ and ‘regional geopolitical system' as well as a correlation between them from the viewpoint of the socalled activity-based geospatial approach. A regional geopolitical system includes geopolitical relations between the states within the region and those with powerful external actors. A geopolitical region itself can be characterized by integration, autonomization or a permanent geopolitical conflict. A territorial political system is studied in a broad sense (all political phenomena of a certain territory) and in a narrow context (geopolitical relations of a certain territory). The latter is considered to be a subsystem of regional geopolitical system. The research results can be applied in the study of geopolitical regions and geopolitical systems. The article develops a methodology for regional geopolitical and political geographical studies. The author wishes to thank his colleagues from Saint Petersburg State University for their comments on earlier versions.