Review Images #4:Political Geography

Territorial Morphology

Advantages and disadvantages?

Prorupt

Enclaves and Exclaves

Advantages and disadvantages?

Landlocked

Advantages and disadvantages?

8 Characteristics of a State(Synonym = Country)

1. Territory with recognized boundaries2. Permanent population3. Economic system (currency, exchange of

goods & services, trade, etc.)4. Social system (health care, education etc.)5. Transportation system6. Government providing services & order7. Sovereignty (independence)8. External recognition

States Recognizing Kosovo

External Recognition Example: Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008. Only the green countries on the map recognize Kosovo as

an independent State.

Sovereignty Established

When were independent States established in China? India? Europe? The Americas? The Middle East?

Southeast Asia? Africa?

Multinational States and Multistate Nations

• Multinational State: many nations, one State

• Multistate nation: many States, one nation

Nations: England, Scotland, Wales, N. Ireland

State: United Kingdom

Nation: Arab States: 22

Nations Becoming States Greatly Changed the World Map in the 20th Century

Note Africa, Eastern Europe and Central Asia

1945 = 51 U.N. Members 2017 = 193 U.N. Members

Territories Are Not States - No Sovereignty

• Examples:– Hong Kong– Bermuda– Greenland– Puerto Rico

Microstates

• Have very small population or very small land area

• Examples:– Monaco– Andorra– Liechtenstein– Vatican City– Nauru– Palau

Many Stateless Nations

Example: Palestine - A nation, but no State

ColonialismOne state takes control of

another, controlling its government and ruling its

territory as its own.

2 Waves of European Colonization

1500-1800 and 1800-1975

Dominant Colonial Influences

Animation: 1492 to 2007

2 Waves of Decolonization1st Wave: the Americas

2nd Wave: Africa and Asia

Only 5 countries escaped European colonialism!

Legacy of European Colonialism =Capitalism

People, corporations, and states produce goods and services

and exchange them in the world market, with the goal of

achieving profit.

Wallerstein’s World Systems Theory

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 world economy.

3. The world economy has a three-tier structure.

Three Tier Structure

Core Places & Processes

*Higher levels of education, higher salaries, more technology

* Generate more wealth

Semi-periphery Places & Processes

*Places where core and periphery processes are both occurring. Exploited by the core, they then exploit the periphery.

* Buffer between core and periphery

Periphery Places & Processes

*Lower levels of education, lower salaries, less technology

* Generate less wealth

Make sure you can identify and explain the spatial patterns.

Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces

• Major Centripetal Forces: forces that unify– Form of government– Nation-state status– Long history as unified state– Accepted boundaries

• Major Centrifugal Forces: forces that divide– Form of government– Ethnic, language, religious, cultural differences– Lack of history as unified state– Disputed boundaries

Forms of Government

Democratic Forms of Government• Democratic Republic: elected President or

Prime Minister– Examples: U.S., France, Brazil, India, Mexico

Brazil’s Former President Rousseff

Democratic Forms of Government

• Democratic Constitutional Monarchy: elected Prime Minister, King or Queen as symbolic leader– Examples: United

Kingdom, Spain, Japan

England’s Queen Elizabeth and former U.K. Prime Minister David

Cameron

Constitutional Monarchies

Spain’s King Felipe VI Japan’s Emperor AkihitoNorway’s King Harald V

Authoritarian Forms of Government

• Absolute Monarchy: rule by monarch or royal family

• Theocracy: rule by religious leaders• Dictatorship or One Party: rule by one person,

one group or one political party such as the Communist Party

• Military junta: rule by military leadersCitizens do not vote for their leaders

through free and fair elections.

Most Absolute Monarchies Today Are in the Middle East

Saudi Arabia

Qatar

Oman

United Arab Emirates

Absolute MonarchyExamples: Brunei, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia,

Swaziland, United Arab Emirates

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman

Qatar’s Emir Tamim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani

Swaziland’s King Mswati III

Theocracy• Examples: Iran, Vatican City

Iran’s Supreme Ruler Khamenei

Iran’s President Rouhani

Pope Francis

One Party Rule (Communist Party)• Examples: China, Cuba, North Korea,

Eritrea, Laos, Vietnam

North Korea’s Kim Jong-un

Cuba’s Raul CastroChina’s Xi Jinping

Military Junta• Current Example: Thailand

Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha

Transitional Government

Emergency or interim government set up to rule in time of transition, typically after a civil war.

Currently Burkina Faso, Egypt, Eritrea, Libya, Yemen

Division of Power Within a State

• Unitary: power centralized in capital• Federal: power distributed between

central and regional governments

Federal States

Devolution of States

the movement of power from central government to regional

governments

a matter of degree …

Devolutionary MovementsFueled by:

• Ethnocultural forces: ethnic and cultural differences among regions

• Economic forces: economic differences among regions

• Spatial (territorial) forces: geographic location

Devolutionary Movements

• Vary in degree: range from desire for more autonomy to desire for secession

• May be peaceful or violent

• Often occur on margins of states

Balkanization“Balkanization is a geopolitical term originally used to describe the process

of fragmentation or division of a region or state into smaller regions or states that are often hostile or non-cooperative with one another.”

Scotland Referendum

South Sudan

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/12/30/9-questions-about-south-sudan-you-were-too-embarrassed-to-ask/

Ethnolinguistic Groups in Africa

Former USSR

Ethnic Regions in Former USSR

Former Yugoslavia

Ethnic Regions in Former Yugoslavia

Until 1992 Yugoslavia’s 6 republics included much ethnic diversity. Brutal ethnic cleansing occurred in Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo during civil wars in the 1990s.

Hawaii

U.S. overthrew Hawaiian monarchy in 1893, annexed Hawaii in 1898, granted statehood in 1959

Hawaiian Queen Liliʻuokalani

Partition of India

Former Czechoslovakia

Tibet

East Turkistan (Uighurs)

Chechnya & Dagestan

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2013/04/19/9-questions-about-chechnya-and-dagestan-you-were-too-embarrassed-to-ask/

Ukraine & Crimea

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/01/30/9-questions-about-ukraine-you-were-too-embarrassed-to-ask/

http://fsi.fundforpeace.org/map/2016heatmap.png

Boundaries Are Vertical Planes Extending Below The Ground and Into

Airspace

The Law of the Sea

• Territorial waters: 12 nautical miles from coastline• Exclusive Economic Zone: 200 nautical miles from coastline

(fishing, mining, etc. allowed)

1 nautical mile = 1.15078 miles

Establishing Boundaries• Define: create legal description• Delimit: map• Demarcate: mark with fence, wall, etc.• Administrate: maintain, monitor crossing of

people and goods

U.S. - Mexico Border Pres. Bush in Border Patrol Dune Buggy

Types of International Boundaries

• Geometric: based on a grid system• Physical-political (natural): based on natural

features– Mountain ranges, rivers, lakes, deserts, etc.

• Anthropographic (cultural): based on cultural features– Ethnicity, language, religion, etc.

Boundary Related Problems Often Arise When International Boundaries Clash with

Cultural Boundaries

Geometric, Not Cultural Boundaries = Trouble

Boundary Related Problems Often Arise When International Boundaries Clash with

Cultural Boundaries

Boundary Related Problems Often Arise When International Boundaries

Clash with Cultural Boundaries

Additional Types of Boundaries• Antecedent Boundary: boundary established

before a region is populated• Subsequent Boundary: boundary established after

a region is populated, respects existing cultural patterns

• Superimposed boundary: boundary created by outside force, typically by treaty, may not respect existing cultural patterns

• Relict Boundary: boundary no longer used but signs of boundary still exist on cultural landscape

• Fortified Boundary: boundary marked with physical barrier (wall, fence, berms)

Common Types of Boundary Disputes

• Definitional: dispute regarding legal description

• Locational: dispute regarding delimiting and demarcation

• Operational: dispute regarding strict or lenient administration of the boundary– migration, smuggling, etc.

• Allocational: dispute regarding resources that straddle the boundary– coal, natural gas, oil, water

Frontier Regions• Frontier: zone where no country exercises

complete political control

Example: Federally Administrated Tribal

Areas (FATA) between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Example: Antarctica

Antarctic Treaty (1961 - signed by 47 countries) establishes freedom of scientific investigation, bans military activity.

Majority of Antarctica is claimed, but most countries don’t recognize those claims.

Example: Arctic Seafloor

Berlin Conference of 1884-85

Africa After Berlin Conference of 1884-85

Geometric, Not Cultural Boundaries = Trouble

Determining # Seats in U.S. House of Representatives per State

Reapportionment

Determining Boundaries of U.S. Congressional Districts and State Legislative Districts

Redistricting

Each Representative is to represent approximately 710,767 people.

Gerrymandering

R and R NOT ONLY Reflect Population Changes THEY ALSO Reflect Changes in Regional Political Power

So What?

U.S. Presidential Electoral Votes by State

Presidential Election 2016

Electoral Votes = # Senators + # U.S. Reps

Winner of popular voteIn each state gets ALL of that state’s electoral votes (with exception of

ME and NE).270 electoral votes

required to win.

Clinton WON popularvote, but LOSTelectoral vote.

GeopoliticsThe relationship between geography

and international relations

G7 Meeting June 2015

German School

• Ratzel’s Organic State Theory – German professor Friedrick Ratzel

(1844-1904)– State is a living organism, surviving by

“eating” less powerful neighbors and gaining territory

– Later used as justification for Nazi Germany’s territorial expansion

British / American School• Mackinder’s Heartland Theory:

– British geographer Halford Mackinder (1861-1947)

– Land-based power would rule the world, as it would have ample natural resources

• Spykman’s Rimland Theory:– Dutch geographer Nicholas Spykman– Sea-based power would rule the world– Rimland must “contain” the Heartland

Post WW II Geopolitical World Order

• Bipolar - Cold War - 1945 to 1991 – 2 superpowers: U.S. & Soviet

Union– 2 military alliances: NATO &

Warsaw Pact

• Multipolar - “New World Order” - 1991 to 2000– More International cooperation

• Unilateral - 2000 to 2008– Individual States, particularly U.S.,

taking individual action– Example: Invasion of Iraq

Cold War Allies

NATO and Warsaw Pact Countries

Warsaw Pact Disbanded In 1991

Domino Theory• When one country experiences rebellion or

disunity, so will others around it– Term coined by President Eisenhower (1953-

1961)– Used to justify U.S. intervention in Southeast Asia

in the 1960s and Central America in the 1980s

Critical Geopolitics• Statements by leaders about places

influence foreign policy and citizen attitudes– “Evil Empire”: Reagan’s term for Soviet

Union– “Axis of Evil”: George W. Bush’s term for

Iraq, Iran and North Korea

“Axis of Evil” and Beyond …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0NXs_uWPgg&safe=active

Supranationalism - U.N.

United Nations - 193 Member States Taiwan, Vatican City, Kosovo non-members

Supranationalism - EU

28 European Member States - 19 use EURO

Supranationalism - African Union

54 Member States

Supranationalism - NATO

North Atlantic Treaty Organization 28 Member States

Supranationalism - Arab League

22 Member States

(Syria currently suspended due to civil war)