Political Geography

an area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government that has control over its internal and foreign affairs.(must be recognized by other states)

having recognized right to control a territory both politically and militarily

What event in European history marked the beginning of the modern state system?

World’s largest state?

What states have large land areas?(besides Russia)

a state with large land area

countries with very small land area

State with smallest land area?

What is a common characteristic of microstates?

What 2 states challenge the state concept?

a sovereign state that controls a town and surrounding suburbs(Singapore)

a large group of people who are united under common cultural characteristics such as language, ethnicity, or by shared history

a state that’s characteristics also represent a nation

the concept that humans have the right to govern themselves

What is a common characteristic of nation-states?

Most ethnically diverse states are found where?

What is a good example of a multi-national state?

Whats state’s breakup causes the creation of 15 nations?

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia

Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania

Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia

Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan,Uzbekistan

What economic assets does Ukraine have?

What area did Russia seize in 2014?

a countries invasion based on ethnic distribution

a nation whose control extends across more than one state

examples of Stateless Nations

citizens elect leaders and can run for office

a country is run in the interest of the leaders

a combination of democracy and autocracy

Democracy: citizens can express preferences about politics and leaders

Autocracy: leaders are selected according to clearly defined rules of succession from established elite

Democracy: institutionalized constraints on exercise of power by the executive

Autocracy: citizens participation is restricted or supressed

Democracy: guarantee of civil rights to all citizens in their daily lives and in all acts of political participation

Autocracy: Leaders exercise power with no meaningful checks from legislative, judicial, or civil society institutions

power is placed in central government, local governments exist but are still ruled over their central governments and all decisions are made by the central government. This system works best in a nation-state with few cultural characteristics and a strong sense of nationality

Strong power is put into local units this is the best in large states because the capital may be too remote to provide effective control over isolated areas

Why has there been a trend towards federal government in recent years?

the change from central government to local governments

what 3 forces stimulate devolution?

process in which a state breaks down through conflicts among its ethnicities

What place represents devolutionary pressure?

What strengthens devolutionary pressure?

a state whose government cannot exercise sovereignty and maintain territorial inegrity(Dem. Rep. of the Congo, Somalia, Afghanistan)

a state that cannot be organized into states because ethnicities reside there that antagonize eachother

distance from boundary is consistent. Examples are France, Poland, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda. Short borders to defend, good communication(especially if the capital is in the center)

compact state with a large projecting extension. Examples are Dem. Rep. of the Congo, Namibia, Thailand, Namibia, Afghanistan. Access to resource, separate 2 states can evolve from separatists, isolated from capital

a state that completely surrounds another. Examples are South Africa and Lesotho,Italy and San Marino. Surrounding states can interfere or dominate the enclave and enclave has to depend on the outside for resources

long and narrow shape. Examples are Gambia, Malawi, Italy, Chile, and Vietnam. Communication is weak and it is hard to maintain national unity. Separation uprises can happen in enclaves.

several discontinued pieces of territory separated either by water or another state. Examples are Angola, Tanzania, U.S. and Alaska, Russia and Kalingrad, and Indonesia. Can make communication weak and hard to maintain unity, separatists movements

a state that lack direct access to to the sea because they are surrounded by other countries(15 of 55 African states have this characteristic)

a territory tied to another state rather than independent(modernly they are most commonly islands)

an effort by a country to establish settlements in a territory and try and impose its political, cultural, economic principles on the territory

What way of establishing a boundary requires agreeing to a boundary in a treaty or legal document?

What way of establishing a boundary involves cartographers drawing a boundary on a map?

what way of establishing a boundary involved marking the border visually?

an area where no state has complete control

boundary that follows the distribution of cultural features

boundary that is bases on human constructs such as straight lines and parallel lines of latitude

boundary that coincides with significant features of the natural landscape

Territorial Waters- 12 nautical miles

Contiguous- 12-24 miles, state can enforce pollution and tax customs

Executive econ zone- 200 miles, state has right to fish/resources

what country is challenging the Convention on the Law of the Sea?

A process in which districts are moved between states according to population shifts to that each districts encompasses aprox the same amount of people

redrawing legislative districts in benefit to the party in power

like minded voters are spread across districts(unconstitutional in the United States to disfranchise voters)

like minded are stacked into 1 district to lessen effects elsewhere

Focus on the legal language of the boundary agreement

focus on the delimitation of the boundary. For example, the area between Saudi Arabia and Yemen has no formal agreement on the placement.

focus on how a boundary should function, what paperwork is needed or what taxes or tarrifs should be issued

focus on resources and neighbors must neogotiate how much of a common resource each side gets to access

type of origin of a border where it has existed before human settlement(often physical)populations may full in both sides of the border but may reflect cultural or economic differences

type of origin of a border where borders are drawn as a result of a war or circumstances on the ground

type of of origin of a border that are established without regard to cultural situations

type of origin of a border that only exists culturally or economically but no longer exists legally

an entity composed of 2 or more states that can force an association and form an administrative structure for mutual benefit and in pursuit of shared goals

year the UN was organized

How many members originally composed the UN?

16 countries joined the UN, mostly countries liberated from Nazi Germany

17 new members were added to the UN that were mostly former colonies of France and Britain

26 countries joined the UN due to the collapse of the USSR and Yugoslavia

Made up of China, France, Russia, UK and the U.S. They can veto UN decisions.

established in 1558 in Europe to heal from WW2 and was originally made up of 6 members. It’s purpose was to promote development within member states through economic and political cooperation

promoted trade and the sharing of natural resources in communist Eastern Europe, fell in 1991.

European parliament is elected by peace of each member, subsidies are provided to formers and economically depressed regions, goods move across borders without stopping, EU citizens can live anywhere in the EU

a dramatic action taken by the EU that established common currency(euro) between members. Policies that resulted were common central bank sets interest rates and minimizes inflation in the zone.

What problems have arose from Eurozone?

What regions have recently found greater attachment to the EU than their state?

Opposed the Warsaw Pact of Eastern Communist Countries. It was designed to maintain a condition of roughly equal strength between opposing alliances. Is composed of former Soviet countries and former members of Warsaw

the interplay among geography, power, politics, and international relations on the Earth’s surface

A german theorist Friedrich Ratzel compared a state to a biological organism that needs territory to survive and prolong its life. He compared this to the United States in the 19th century and was used to justify Nazi expansionism.

Sir Halford J Mackinder proposed this and he said a land based power would rule the world. This power would arise from Eurasia, extending from east Europe to Eastern Siberia(heartland). The Soviet Union gave this theory attention.

Alfred thayer Mahan argued that control of the seas paved the way for Great Britain’s emergence of dominant power. He believed that most power lied in the seas and gave advantages.

Nicholas J Spykman published the theory that Mackinder’s inner crescent or Rimland was the heartland and had more resources than the theorized heartland in Eurasia and control of this and other theorized sea powers would ultimately be dominant.

world order in which 1 state is in a position of domiance with allies following rather than joining the political decision-making process

a terrorist group founded by an Afghan son of a billionaire-Osama bin Laden, which had a goal of opposing to U.S. troops being stationed in Saudi Arabia and also attacked troops in Somalia

banned western education, founded in 2002 in northeast Nigeria and seeks to transform Nigeria into an Islamic state and is responsible for 20k deaths and displacing 2.6 million people

gained power in Afghanistan and was at first welcomed until they enforced harsh Islamic laws that banned many western activities as well as harsh punishments for men shaving and women committing adultery like stoning and beating. As well as strong violence against gay people and hanging of prostitutes

Affiliated with the AI-Qaeda, known as the Islamic state if Iraq and Syria. Sunni Muslims who want to impose strict Islamic Laws in SW Asia. They maintain control through beheadings, massacres and torture

Palestinian Islamic Political organization and militant group that waged war on Israel since 1987, it seeks to replace Israel with a Palestinian state. It governs Gaza out of government authority.