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Political Geography

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The study of the "political" organization of the world.

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State

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~A politically organized territory with a permanent population, a defined territory, and a system of government. ~Must be recognized by other states as a state in order to be considered a state. Examples: USA, Canada, Russia

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Enclave

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A territory whose geographical boundaries lie entirely within the boundaries of another territory. Examples: Lesotho, Vatican City

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Exclave

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A territory legally attached to another territory with which it is not physically contiguous. Exclave: Alaska, Kaliningrad

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Territoriality

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The attempt by an individual or group to affect, influence, or control people, phenomena, and relationships, by delimiting and asserting control over a geographic area.

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Sovereignty

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A principle of international relations that holds that final authority over social, economic, and political matters should rest with the legiitmate rulers of independent states.

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Territorial Integrity

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The right of a state to defend sovereign territory against invasion from other states.

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Peace of Westphalia

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Peace negociated in 1648 to end the 30 years war. Treaties contained new languages recognizing statehood and nationhood, clearly defined borders and guarantees of security

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Nation

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A group of people who think of themselves as one based on a sense of shared culture and history, and who seek some degree of political-territorial independence. Examples: Kurds, Palestinians, Basque, Saamis

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Nation-state

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A politically organized area in which nation and state occupy the same space. Examples (closest to being nation-states): Iceland, Japan

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Democracy

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Government based on the principal that the people are the ultimate sovereign and have the final say over what happens within the state.

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Nationalism

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Devotion to the interests or culture of one's nation.

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Throughout the nineteenth-century in Europe, states used what to achieve various goals?

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Throughout the nineteenth-century in Europe, states used nationalism to achieve various goals.

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Name three ways European countries use nationalism throughout the 19th century to achieve various goals.

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1. They integrated their population into an ever more cohesive whole. Examples: France and Spain 2. They brought together people with shared cultural characteristics within a single state. Examples: Germany and Italy 3. Launched successful separatist movements and achieved independence. Examples: Ireland, Norway, and Poland

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Multi-nation State

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A state with more than one nation inside its borders. Examples: USA, Canada, Belgium

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Strong example of multinational state.

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The people living in former Yugoslavia never really achieved a strong sense of Yugoslav nationhood. The millions of people who were citizens of Yugoslavia never had a Yugoslav nationality; long identifying themselves as Slovenes, Croats, Serbs, or members of other nations or ethnic groups within the state. Yugoslavia was a state that always had more than one nation, and eventually the state collapsed and dissolved into several states each having a distinct culture.

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Multistate Nation

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A nation that stretches across borders and across states. Examples: North Korea + South Korea

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Stateless Nation

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A nation that does not have a state. Example: Palestinians, Kurds, Basque.

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The main colonizers of Africa include:

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~Britain ~France ~Netherlands ~Belgium ~Germany ~Italy

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Berlin Conference

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(1884-1885) During European Imperialism, various European leaders met in Berlin, Germany to discuss plans for dividing Africa peacefully. (These leaders had little regard for African independence, and had no representation for native Africans. This began the process of imperializing Africa.)

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Colonialism

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Attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles in another territory. Example: Spanish colonialism in the west. (1500's-1700's) European colonialism in Africa (1800's-1900's)

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Wallerstein's World-systems theory

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1. The world economy has one market and a global division of labor. 2. Although the world has multiple states, almost everything takes place within the context of the world economy. 3. The world economy has a three-tier structure. (Peripheral, Semi-peripheral, Core)

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Capitalism

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Economic model wherein people, corporations, and states produce goods and exchange them on the world market, with the goal of achieving profit.

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Core

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~Incorporates higher levels of education, higher salaries, and more technology. ~Generate more wealth in the world economy. Examples: United States, Australia, Canada, Japan

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Periphery

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~Incorporates lower levels of education, lower salaries, and less technology. ~Generate less wealth in the world economy . Examples: Sub-Saharan Africa, Iraq, Honduras

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Semi-periphery

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~Places where core and periphery processes are both occurring. ~Serves as a buffer between core and periphery. Examples: Brazil, Russia

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Unitary State

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~Highly centralized government. ~Capital city serves as focus of power. ~Most pre-WWll European governments. Examples: United Kingdom, France, China

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Federal State

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~State is organized into territories. ~Territories have control over policies and funds. Examples: United States, Russia, Brazil, Mexico

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Devolution

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The movement of power from the central government to regional (local) governments within the state. Example: The devolution in Africa after the European states gave the African states their independence.

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The devolution of a state is caused by what kinds of conflict?

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~Ethnocultural conflicts ~Economic conflicts ~Spatial conflicts

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Example of ethnocultural conflict.

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Former Yugoslavia.

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Example of economic conflict.

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Catalonia, Spain.

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Example of spatial conflict.

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Basque Country, Spain.

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Territorial Representation

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System wherein each representative is elected from a territorially defined district. Example: US has territorial representation.

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Reapportionment

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The process by which districts are moved according to population shifts, so that each district encompasses approximately the same number of people.

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Majority-minority Districts

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Packed districts in which a majority of the population is from the minority.

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Perforated State

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A state that completely surrounds another state. Example: Italy (San Marino, Vatican City), South Africa (Lesotho)

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Gerrymandering

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Drawing electoral (voting) districts to benefit one political group over another.

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Boundary

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Vertical plane between states that cuts through the rocks below, and the airspace above the surface.

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The steps (criteria) for establishing boundaries:

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1. Define: through a legal document 2. Delimit: Draw the boundary on a map 3. Demarcate: make a physical boundary on the land 4. Administrate: determine how the boundary will be maintained and how goods and people will cross the border

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Geometric Boundary

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~Political boundary defined and delimited as a straight line or an arc. ~Based on a grid system. Examples: Egypt|Sudan, Canada|U.S

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Physical-political (Natural-political) Boundary

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Political boundary defined and delimited by a prominent physical feature in the natural landscape, such as a river or the crest ridges of a mountain range. Examples: Sweden|Finland

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Definitional Boundary Dispute

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Focus on the legal language of the boundary agreement. Example: Chile and Argentina

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Locational Boundary Dispute

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Conflict over the location or place of a boundary. OR These disputes arise when the definition of the border is not questioned but the interpretation of the border is. Example: Saudi Arabia and Yemen

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Operational Boundary Dispute

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Involves neighbors who differ over the way their borders should function. Example: US and Mexican border

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Allocational Boundary Dispute

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Disputes over natural resources that run across borders. Example: Iraq and Kuwait (oil reserves)

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Geopolitics

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The interaction (interplay) among geography, power, politics, and international relations. *Help us understand the arrangements and forces that are transforming the map of the world.

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German School

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~The first political geographer who studied these issues was the German professor Friedrich Ratzel. ~Influenced by the writings of Charles Darwin. ~Assumed a state resembled the life cycle of an organism. ~He states that a state requires nourishment in order to thrive just like an organism does. ~Nourishment=Territory

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The British/American School

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~Sir Halford J. Mackinder proposed the Heartland Theory. ~Heartland Theory 1. "Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland." 2. "Who rules the Heartland commands the World Island" 3. "Who rules the World Island commands the World"

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Critical Geopolitics

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The idea that "intellectuals of statecraft" construct ideas about places, these ideas influence and reinforce their political behaviors and policy choices, and these ideas affect how we, the people, process our own notions of places and politics.

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Supranatural Organization

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An group composed of 3 or more states that forge an association and form an administrative structure for mutual benefit and in pursuit of shared goals Examples: Global UN-World Politics Regional The European Union-Currency (economic) NATO-Military NAFTA-Economic

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Imperialism

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Control of territory already occupied and organized by an indigenous society. Example: Germany taking over France

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Geopolitical World Order

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Temporary periods of stability in how politics are conducted at the global scale. Bi-polar (Cold War era 1945-1990) Multi-polar (Coalition forces in first Gulf War, 1991) Unilateralism (present)

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Unilateralism

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World order in which one state is in a position of dominance with allies following rather than joining the political decision-making process.

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Heart-land Theory

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Mackinder noted Eurasia, the largest most populous landmass on earth had a pivot point at its center. Warned that if this pivot area become influential in Europe a great empire would be formed.

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The U.S. Federal Government

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Allows states within the state to determine "moral" laws such as death penalty, access to alcohol, and concealed weapons.

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Nigeria's Federal Government

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Allows states within the state to determine whether to have Shari'a Laws.

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Shari'a Laws

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Legal systems based on traditional Islamic laws.

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Centripetal

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The forces within a state that unify the people.

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Centrifugal

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The forces that divide the people of a state.

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Commodification

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The process of placing a price on a good and then buying, selling and trading it

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Bi-Polar World Order

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2 major powers in the world.

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Multi-Polar World Order

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Multiple major powers in the world

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The Modern State Idea

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The idea that a state is tied to a particular territory with defined boundaries came out of Europe and diffused through: ~Mercantilism ~Colonialism

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Mercantilism

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An economic policy under which nations sought to increase their wealth and power by obtaining large amounts of gold and silver and by selling more goods than they bought

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