EQ2: how are nation states defined and how have they evolved in a globalising world?

Question 1

define sovereignty

Answer 1

the legal right to govern a physical territory

Question 2

what are the four aspects of sovereignty

Answer 2

1. a government, organised within a territory, has authority over that territory
2. the government controls movement of people and goods across the territory’s borders
3. the government and territory are recognised by other governments
4. other organisations, outside the territory, do not have higher authority

Question 3

define sovereign state

Answer 3

legally recognised government that exerts sovereignty over a territory

Question 4

define nation state

Answer 4

refers to the people and the political institution that governs them

Question 5

give an example of a nation without a state

Answer 5

Kurdish people

Question 6

define linguistic

Answer 6

the language spoken in a nation state, which can range from diverse to more universal

Question 7

give examples of places that vary culturally and linguistically

Answer 7

Iceland: most people are ethnically Icelandic- it is a physically isolated island with a very harsh climate not suited to most immigrants
Singapore: Indigenous ethnic group of Singapore are Malays but they are outnumbered by Chinese due to migration in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries due to trade.

Question 8

define national border

Answer 8

a geographic boundary with legal status as the recognised limit (or start) of sovereignty over a territory

Question 9

what are the three types of borders

Answer 9

physical: a river, lake, mountain range or other landscape feature that provides a natural, recognisable dividing line
evolved: complex, sometimes intricate borders that have changed through history as territory has been fought and bargained over. many European nation states have this type of border, and some have enclaves
arbitrary: drawn on a map at a set point in time, often using lines of longitude or latitude, with little or no regard for the cultural or physical geography of a place. most date from the colonial era.

Question 10

define enclaves

Answer 10

part of one sovereign state surrounded by another sovereign state

Question 11

which of the types of border are legitimate and why

Answer 11

physical and evolved borders are legitimate due to the border being agreed upon as part of a treaty, negotiations or settlement after conflict- or may just be widely understood as the historical border between nations.
arbitrary borders often lack legitimacy as they were usually imposed on a place by outsiders e.g European colonisers

Question 12

define separatist movements in relation to nation states and give and example

Answer 12

groups which wish to split a nation state , and so create their own nation state- usually on ethic and/or religious grounds
Nigeria: predominantly Muslim whereas the south is christian or Animist

Question 13

define secessionist movements in relation to nation states

Answer 13

the act of separation

Question 14

why are there disputed borders around the edge of Russia?

Answer 14

increasingly aggressive since 2008 due to:
-1991 collapse of the communist USSR where many former parts of the USSR became independent nation states
-Russian speaking populations live in parts of Estonia, Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova
Russia has sought to protect these Russian-speaking areas- increasingly aggressively since 2008- which it sees as part of Russia.

Question 15

give two examples where conflict over borders have lead to large-scale migration because one group has been forced out

Answer 15

• Ukraine have fled Crimea and eastern Ukraine and moved west- possibly up to 2 million of them
• about 2 million Rwandans fled the country to neighbouring Congo, Tanzania and Uganda in 1994 following the conflict between the Hutu’s and the Tutsis- a war about which ethnic group have the right to live in Rwanda

Question 16

describe Taiwan’s contested border

Answer 16

-1949 victory by Chinese communists in chinese civil war forced the defeated nationalists to flee to the island of Taiwan
-the nationalists , protected by anti-communist USA, set up government in Taiwan
-China refuses to accept the Taiwanese government as legitimate, and refuses to have diplomatic relations with any other country that does
-Taiwan has not declared independence or sovereignty because China has threatened invasion if it does
china considers Taiwan a region of China not a ‘country’ and it appears as such on Chinese maps

Question 17

define nationalism

Answer 17

a political viewpoint that promotes the interests of your nation state above any other interests

Question 18

define an empire

Answer 18

territory beyond a nation state’s borders that has been taken by force, or purchased in some cases, over which the nation state has direct control and sovereignty

Question 19

explain how the expansion of empires in the 19th century was justified

Answer 19

Mercantilism: direct control of colonies meant trade could be controlled, and other states excluded from trade, therefore maximising profit
civilising influence: the view that some cultures and nations were ‘better’ than others in terms of intelligence and level of ‘civilisation’, so conquering them was justified
missionary purposes: widespread view that Christianity was the only acceptable religion, and non christians should be converted to it
environmental determinism (discredited theory) : the ‘scientific’ theory that hot, tropical climates caused people to be less intelligent than cold, northern Europe climates

Question 20

As European countries expanded their empires, conflict formed, what two kinds?

Answer 20

1. in Europe, the UK, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Austro-Hungarian Empire fought each other to determine who was the most powerful ‘Great Power’
2. conflict over territory that was being colonised in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Caribbean between European powers and with the nations being colonised.

Question 21

when did the British Raj happen

Answer 21

began around 1612 and lasted over a period of several centuries

Question 22

describe the events of the British Raj

Answer 22

• up to 1857, India was run by the British East India company
• by 1803, it had it own army of about 250,000 men
• following the Indian rebellion in 1857 (unsuccessful revolt against the rule of the East India company), the governance of India was transferred to the British gov
• India was run, from 1858 to 1947, more like a ‘country’ than a colony in some ways
• territory was directly controlled or took the form of a Princely state- these were run by an Indian Prince who was a vassal of the British government.

Question 23

explain why the era of empire came to an end between 1945 and 1980

Answer 23

European countries gave their colonies independence

• European countries could no longer afford to run empires, which required huge military forces to police
• independence movements became increasingly powerful and resisting them became to costly
• the nineteenth century justification for empire were increasingly seen as unethical and in breach of human rights.

Question 24

define decolonialisation and what was it referred to in the late 1950’s&60’s

Answer 24

the process of granting independence to former colonies.

‘Winds of change’

Question 25

give two examples of post-colonial conflicts that were exceptionally costly

Answer 25

> Sudan: became independent from Britain in 1956. Here followed the first Sudanese Civil war (1955-72) and the second (1983-2005) which claimed 1-2 million lives. the 2011 referendum saw the nation state split into north and South Sudan. since 2013, there has been a civil war displacing up to 3 million refugees.
Vietnam War: in 1955-75 claimed the lives of 1-3 million people. Vietnam was the colony of the French Indochina. it depended into conflict between the northern communist Vietminh and southern, nationalist state of Vietnam gov in Saigon. China and USSR backed communist north while USA France and UK baked capitalist south. conflict quickly became a Cold War proxy war, turning into a brutal geopolitical power struggle.

Question 26

other than human costs, what were some other costs of the Sudan and Vietnam war?

Answer 26

-economic development in both countries was halted by the war, leading to widespread poverty and reliance on a few sectors that did manage to develop i.e oil in Sudan and post-war tourism in Vietnam
-environmental costs were high. In Vietnam, a defoliant called agent orange was used to clear the vast areas of jungle, so communist forces could be spotted by US troops-this lead to a toxic legacy of pollution.
in Sudan, internally displaced people led to widespread deforestation as migrants cleared trees for firewood and new farmland.

Question 27

since 1945, why has there been migration from former colonies to the country that was once colonial master

Answer 27

• refugee crises: in 1972 about 60,000 Ugandan Asians were expelled by president Idi Amin, and 27,000 cameo the UK as refugees.
• economic migrants: Indonesian migrated to the Netherlands to work in the 1950’s. About 3% of the Dutch population today are Indonesian.
• Family reunification: migrants from the 1950’s and 60’s were later joined by family members.

Question 28

define imperial core countries

Answer 28

refers to the colonial power e.g Britain as the colonial ruler of India, Ghana and Jamaica.

Question 29

define cultural heterogeneity

Answer 29

the term to describe a nation state with diverse ethnicity , and therefor many people from different cultural backgrounds. cultural diversity is a similar term.

Question 30

what evidence is there that Britain is has gained cultural heterogeneity

Answer 30

in 2016, 13.1% of the UK population were born abroad

Question 31

what usually defines a tax haven?

Answer 31

• very low personal income tax and corporation tax rates, or no taxes at all
• laws make it hard to find out which companies are based in the country i.e secrecy
• the legal use of shell companies to hide the ownership of companies or assets.

Question 32

define shell companies

Answer 32

businesses that exist on paper, but have no employees or premises. They are used as devices to avoid paying taxes.

Question 33

define expatriates

Answer 33

people from one country e.g the UK who live in another country, e.g the Bahamas sometimes to avoid paying tax in the UK. It is often shortened to ‘expats’

Question 34

what is the growth of tax havens linked to?

Answer 34

• deregulation of capital markets since the late 1980’s, meaning businesses, banks and investors can move money around the world- from nation state to nation state-with few controls or questions.
• globalisation and the rise of truly global TNC’s with parts of their businesses all over the world, with complex and hard-to-investigate internal structures
• globalisation and the rise of billionaires, who have an interest in hiding some of their wealth to protect it from taxation, and buying expensive homes in those place .

Question 35

explain some costs to nation states of tax havens

Answer 35

• governments are deprived of tax income, so have less to spend on public services
• transfer mispricing is used to reduce tax paid, which affects developing and emerging countries the most.
• the reputations of TNC’s may be negatively affected if they are thought to be avoiding paying tax

Question 36

explain some benefits to nation states of tax havens

Answer 36

• provides income, through business and legal services, to micro-states that often have few other income streams beyond tourism
• Allows TNC’s to maximise profits, which are reinvested and therefor create more jobs and economic growth
• wealthy expats spend large sums of money living lavish lifestyles in tax havens and employ local people

Question 37

what is the global economic system

Answer 37

refers to the dominant capitalism model of free markets, free trade, the profit motive and the dominance of large global TNC’s.

Question 38

what have been the reaction of some nation states against the aspects of the global economic system?

Answer 38

• social and economic inequality, seen to be caused by globalisation, creating a widening gap between rich and poor
• the unfairness resulting from companies and individuals using tax havens, denying government of vital revenue for public spending
• the lack of sustainability in terms of environment leading to widespread deforestation, extinction of species, rising carbon emissions and climate change
• the rights of indigenous people being ignored in terms of traditional lands, culture and language

Question 39

provide examples of alternative state models

Answer 39

Bolivia under Evo Morales
-reduced influence of the USA
-distance Bolivia from world bank and IMF
-increased taxes on oil from 18-82%
-spent additional taxes on education and health and improved literacy rates
-protected the rights of indigenous people
-left wing government
Costa Rica since 1990
-a stable multi-part democracy
-very high 7% of national budget is spent on education
-has no army and spends nothing on defence
-prioritises the protection of rainforests and promoting eco-tourism
-often said to be ‘the happiest place on the planet’
-unusually high HDI for a country of such low income.