Chap 6 The Geography Behind War and Terror

What was the major point of chapter 6?• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MLykso9hHU

Thought Quiz

• Name a major point of each of these chapter• Chap 1 – Why Geography Matters• Chap 4 – Geography and Climate Change• Chap 5 – Climate Place and Fate

Why Geography Matters?• Terrorist attacks around the world• Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan• International economic crises• Growing prominence of China and India• Nuclear concerns in North Korea and Iran• Collapse of Soviet Union and Yugoslavia• Re-emergence of Russia• Democracy in South Africa vs Arab Spring• NAFTA & Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)

Free Trade Agreement

“As the economic and cultural forces of globalization and the impacts of global environmental change are felt by everybody everywhere, the case for geography seems both obvious and inescapable” –Roger Downs

Four Trends…1. Decline in economic might of the West2. Aging population in the West3. Youth and Islam in the Developing World4. Spread of industrialization and urbanization

Historic Connections

• Geopolitics became increasingly complex after WWII and the start of the Cold War

• Cold War: Democracy in West / Communism in East

• Post Cold War – rise of Islam (starts with Iran) and China

What Is Terrorism?• “intimidation through violence” (Cutter et al 2003)• “any action intended to kill or seriously harm

civilians or non-combatants , with the purpose of intimidating a population or compelling action by a government or international organization” (Annan, 2004)

• “an unprovoked attack against civilian noncombatants away from any theatre of war by men or women not working for a power openly at war with the victims’ country” (Harvey 2003)

Modern Terrorism’s Geographic Incubators

• Failed or seriously malfunctioning states provide opportunities for terrorist cells to organize and operate

• Remote, rugged, rural environments provide a place of refuge to terrorist cells

• Likewise, large, chaotic cities provide cover, anonymity and amenities for terrorist cells

Modern Terrorisms Non-Geographic Factors• Historically “terrorists” were seeking control/autonomy over a

geographic area• Modern terrorists see a larger clash of “civilizations” or cultural/

ideological/religious paradigms

Cold War: Vietnam-- Setting The Stage• March 11, 1945 Vietnam

declares “independence”• Repelled France in 1954• North supported by USSR and

China• South supported by US• War years 1956-1976• 54 ethnic groups• Still communist…• Traditional Nationalism and

autonomy

However

Was de Blij correct??? Or should we be looking at religious movements and communism instead?

New World Order? -- Iraq• State of Iraq created by British mandate in 1920• Granted independence as Kingdom of Iraq in 1932• 32 million people

• 25 million Arabs• Others mostly Kurds

• Arabs are divided along religious lines• Sunni Muslims, 35%• Shia Muslims, 65%

• First Gulf War 1990-1991 – Kuwait liberation• Second Persian Gulf War 2003• ISIS Uprising 2014 – clash of civilizations???

Note the topography of the nation

Compare topography to ethnic distribution

Geography of Rage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTO8mDPA2Wk

Where is Islam today?

Historic Extant

Afghanistan• At war with the Soviets 1979-

1989• Mujahedeen received support

from the US• Madrasas “Schools” in

Pakistan• Money from Saudi Arabia• Taliban control during post-

Soviet era• Al-Qaeda found an ally• 2001 US Invasion• 2015 Taliban resurgence???

Note Topography of Afghanistan and Ethnic Distribution

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Afghanistan/@35.0481899,63.1804885,7z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x38d16eb6f8ff026d:0xf3b5460dbe96da78

http://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/the-fall-of-kunduz

During the Athens summer Olympics of 2004, the Bush administration ran advertisements boasting that it had liberated 50 million people. It meant 25 million each in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most people in the world, according to opinion polls, thought Bush had occupied 50 million people.

This just happened. Why???

Why did Kunduz fall?

More careful look at ethnic patterns in Afghanistan

Nationalism and Ethnicity?• Nationalism indicates loyalty and devotion to a

particular nationality• Ethnicity (also tribalism) describes an identity with a

group of people who share the cultural traditions of a particular homeland

• These concepts have been instrumental in driving conflicts around the world (particularly LDCs)

• Does Kunduz demonstrate that Afghan Nationalism and Ethnicity trumps American Nation-State Building?

What is a Failed State?• To start, we need to define the characteristics of a

state:• Specific territory (boundaries)• Permanent population• Government and political systems with sovereignty• Organized economy regulated by government

• Hence stability, control and security based on rules

What is a Failed State?• Sovereignty is a state’s

independent control of internal matters

• Also independent foreign policy• Exercised by a national

government (laws)• The most defining trait of a

‘failed state’ is the loss of the monopoly of violence by central government

What is a Failed State?

Erosion of authority to make collective decisionsRefugees and involuntary population movementInability to provide public servicesWidespread corruption and criminalitySharp economic decline

Exercise Chap 6 – Please Respond To…

1. “Our misjudgment of friend and foe alike reflected our profound ignorance of the history, culture, and politics of people in the area. We underestimated the power of nationalism to motivate a people…and we continue to do so in many parts of the world” (McNamara, 1995)

2. “In the early 1990s Muslims were engaged in more intergroup violence than were non-Muslims, and two-thirds to three-quarters of intercivilizational wars were between Muslims and non-Muslims. Islam’s borders are bloody, and so are its innards” (Huntington, 1996)

3. “One person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter” (de Blij, 2012)

4. Is it possible to reconcile such different religious, language, ethnic, political and cultural backgrounds so that we can minimize the impetus for war and terror? Why or why not?

5. “Well you don’t have the kind of ethnic division there [in Afghanistan] as you have in Iraq”. Senator Carl Levine (2009)