Geopolitics is a term more and more present in everyday language, even though few are aware of the roots and the history of the subject. The aim of this article is to briefly investigate the scientific premises of geopolitics, which counts controversial figures such as the germans Schmitt and Haushofer among its founding fathers. The latter was influential to Ernesto Massi’s «Geopolitica» review, issued in Italy from ‘39 to ‘42, that distinguished itself for a series of original analyses regarding the international context. The intellectual legacy of this publication, besides from some exaggerations and anachronisms, can still offer useful food for thought regarding the country’s foreign policy and within the framework of the academic debate which has distanced itself from ideological interpretations following the fall of bipolar balance in 1989.