Erosion Of Sovereignity And Loss Of Territorial Integrity Flashcards
What is the current system of nation states based on?
Westphalian model
Established in C17th and are founded on the prinicple of sovereign equality for all states. Sovereign equality is reinforced by the UN charter (no state can violate the sovereignity of another state because all states are equal)
Why is the control of political boundaries in international law contested?
Destabilising forces which have interacted to erode long established Westphalian concepts
Legacy of colonialism
Arbitrary political boundaries caused ethnic partitioning in the ‘scramble for Africa’ also forced conflicting ethnic groups together like Azawad and Tuareg in Mali
Contested maritime barriers
Disputes over natural resources and the exploitation of rights e.g. dispute with Ivory Coast and Ghana over maritime oil reserves
Separatism
Secession movements in Basque and Catalan national groups in France and Spain respectively
Positives of TNCs
Become a driving force in global economic intergration e.g. many LIDCs are reliant on TNCs to intergrate their economies into the global eeconomy/ encourage development
Negatives of TNCs
They have such a large amount of economic power that some nation states have lost territory, workforce etc.
TNCs decisions to invest/not invest impacts the lives of many people
Exploitation of local workforce, low wages, poor working conditions and child labour in many TNCs like Primark
Peripheral economies are dependent on socio economic benefits like multiplier effect (can lift people out of poverty though!)
Define supranational institutions
A tier of governance above an individual state e.g. UN (global scale), EU and ASEAN (both of which are regional trading blocs)
Features of the EU
Economic and political integration allows countries to collectively deal with issues like pollution, international crime etc.
LIMITED SOVEREIGN POWER: All states must implement EU laws even if they do not vote for them and they cannot pass laws in interests of their own state if they conflict with those of the EU.
Does the distribution of ethnic groups always coincide with political borders? Give examples
No
In S. Sudan, there are 60 ethnic groups but the largest are the Dinka and Nuer who were fighting a civil war fuelled by the President and Vice President
The Tuareg in Mali claim independence and right to self determination in Azawad
Basque nation
Straddles N. Spain and SW. France
Basque people have their own distinctive culture, language and traditions
Nationalists have demanded full independence but ETA has carried out violent acts to prevent this because the French and Spanish view this as a large threat to their territorial integrity
