Migration - EQ2 8.4 Nation States & Borders Flashcards
Define state
- A territory over which no other country holds power or sovereignty.
- Based on this definition, the UN recognized 196 states in 2016, with South Sudan being the most recent addition (in 2012).
Define nation
- A territorialized group of people who may lack sovereignty.
- This includes the Scottish and Welsh nations that are part of the UK, which is a sovereign state
Define dependent territory
- Dependencies,
- including Greenland (belongs to Denmark), Hong Kong (belongs to China) and Jersey
- have autonomy for many aspects of governance but lack full sovereignty
Define sovereignty
- The ability of a place and its people to self-govern without any outside interference:
- this might relate global flows (people, ideas, commodities); and participation in global agreements
What is a nation state
- Aterritorially bound sovereignstate of which most of the citizens are united also by factors which define a nation, such as language or commondescent.
- The community identify as a nation.
What distinguished nation states from other types of states
The term “nation-state” implies that the two geographically coincide, and this distinguishes the nation state from the other types of state
Under what circumstances do the geographic boundaries of an ethnic population and a political state largely coincide?
- When there is little immigration or emigration, few members of ethnic minorities, and few members of the “home” ethnicity living in other countries
What is nationalism based on and how does this relate to nation states
- Nationalism is based on people’s identification with a nation, fueled by the belief that they share a common identity, language, history, and customs that bind them together
- a nation state has this shared identity, aswell as being a political identity and having soverignty
Explain how physical features have caused natural borders to merge
- natural borders consist of physical features that once created natural obstacles,
- such as rivers - Niagara River between the USA & Canada
- lakes - Lake Titicaca between Bolivia & Peru
- mountains - Pyrenees between France & Spain
Explain how colonial history has caused borders to merge
- 14 countries at conference in Berlin 1884-5 - divide up the continent of Africa into 50 separate countries
- At that time 80% of the continent was still under indigenous control,
- divided up along geometric boundaries and turned into colonies by the major European powers.
- the new country borders were superimposed onto the existing indigenous regions of Africa, with no account taken of tribal or linguistic boundaries.
- no African peoples any say over partitioning their homelands and turning them into European colonies
Explain how cultural factors can cause borders to merge
- some borders are cultural marking the divide between ethnic groups or those that have a different cultural identity
Explain how resolving political crisis can cause borders to merge
- the heavily militarised border between North & South Korea was created as part of the ceasefire to the Korean War 1950-53
What are the characteristics of soverign states
- The highest authority over its territory
- A permanent population
- Defined territorial boundaries
- A government not ruled by another - is independent
- The ability to interact with other sovereign states
Explain in the context of the United Kingdom who is nation states
- E.g. Wales and Scotland are nations which are part of the UK
- The UK is a sovereign state, but Wales and Scotland, whilst devolved from the UK government, do not hold full autonomy and cannot therefore, be considered independent sovereign states (yet)
- However, Ireland is divided into Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland (Éire)
- Republic of Ireland is a sovereign state but Northern Ireland is a nation of the UK
What factors account for differences in Ethnic Mix
- Remoteness
- Colonialism
- Immigration policies
- Assimilation policies
- Trade
What is Iceland’s ethnic mix
- Homogeneous mixture of descendants of Norse and Celts 94%, population of foreign origin 6%
What is the ethnic mix of the UK
- White - 92.1% –> English 83.6%, Scottish 8.6%, Welsh 4.9%, Northern Irish 2.9%)
- black 2%
- Indian 1.8%
- Pakistani 1.3%
- mixed 1.2%
- other 1.6%
What are the geographical reasons for Icelandic diversity
2200km from mainland Europe
located in the mid-Atlantic Ocean
What are the historial reasons for Icelandic diversity
Indepedence from Denmark in 1944 - laws and society fiercely protect heritage and national identity
What are the lingusitical reasons for Icelandic diversity
- All children’s names must come from an approved list, to preserve the language of Icelandic
- sagas
- The Icelandic language has remained unchanged since the 870s AD although Nordic languages plus English and German are widely spoken
What are the literature reasons for Icelandic diversity
- Icelandic Sagas are an intrinsic part of national idenity
- trace legends of the Viking Ancestors of modern day Icelanders 950-1050AD
Why is there conflict about Signapore national identity
- it is a very diverse population
- Singaporean government has tries to generate a national identity, largely based on Asian values but
- many Singaporeans have their own ideas about this issue that can contradict the government’s
describe signapores past
- small city state that was a british trading post from the 19th century
- 2014 - 5.47 million in 2014
- frst established in 1819 by Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (a British colonial trading post)
- Singapore’s subsequent growth was largely due to immigration - particularly from China but
- also from India and Malaysia
Describe signapores multiculturalism
- After brief periods of Japanese and Malaysian rule Singapore became independent in 1965
- Its population today reflects its globalised present and its multicultural past -
- 74% are Chinese,
- 13% Malay
- 9% Indian
- and with others of European descent or ex-patriots working overseas.
- This small country possesses a vibrant mix of languages, cultures, religions, festivals and foods.
Describe signapores intentional ethnic divisions
- divided Singapore into distinctive ethnic areas:
- e.g European town for Europeans and wealthy asians
- this divided settlement along ethnic grounds but encouraged groups to retain their language, religion and culture.
Why is Iceland so isolated
- Only 8.9% of the country’s small population is from elsewhere;
- this is probably because Iceland has few economic opportunities for others,
- the language is very difficult to learn,
- much of the country has no settlement and it has a harsh climate, particularly in winter.
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Give Ukraine Crimea context pre 2000s
- Crimea was part of Russia for 168 years - 1783-54
- 1954 it became part of Ukraine
- Ukrained declared indepedndece from the USSR during teh collapse of the soviet union in 1991
What happened with Crimea Ukraine in 2014
- Ukraine’s pro Russian resident was driven from power bya new westen facing government that favoured Ukraine membership of the EU & NATO
- Russian speaking majority voted to jpin Russia in a snap refferendum that Ukraine & the West consdiered illegal
- this led to 850,000 Ukrainians fleeing Crimea as a result
How does Russia Ukraine affect Superpower status
- Crimea is a strategic area of the Black Sea with vast reserves of oil & gas
- Stevastopal has long been the base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet
Which factors have conetsted national borders in Russia Ukraine
- recently political - with NATO & EU and voting
- however this is all based on historial entitlements to territories as seen with Putin’s invasion of UKraine in 2022 - special military operation”, saying that it was to support the Russian-backed breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk, whose paramilitary forces had been fighting Ukraine in the war in Donbas
- it is all rooted in historial disputes
What is Taiwans country status
- Taiwan has effectively been an independent state since 1950,
- but China still claims sovereignty over it
- regards it as a rebel province that should be united with the mainland
What is China’s stance on Taiwanese foriegn policy
- China insists that other nations should not have official relations (e.g. recognition through embassies
- and diplomatic services)
- with both Crimea and Taiwan, so Taiwan has few formal ties with other countries
What is prosperous about Taiwan
- top producer of technology
- Twsi Ing-wen became Taiwan’s first female president in 2016 - She recognises the importance of Taiwanese identity
How does Taiwan China affect superpower status
- female president risks antagonising china by pursuing soverignty & formal independence
- China retains economic power through Taiwanese manufacturing
- thus political is the most important in the case of Tawian, yet histori
Which factor is the most signficant when talking about Chinese Taiwan contested borders
- political - only now are they pushing agianst this it wouldnt be contested without newfound economic prosperity and so on
- historical - since 1950s
Which factor is the most signficnat in terms of the Rwanda contested national borders
- political
- cultural unity was a thing until the berlin conference
- cultural disunity has been reason for conflict but without the political damage and colonial interefrences this may not have resulted in genocide
What was the political and social structure of Rwanda before the Berlin Conference?
- Rwanda was a unified region home to the Tutsi, Hutu, and Twa people,
- where the Tutsi held control and disputes were resolved through a council of elders including both Tutsi and Hutu members
How did colonial rule lead to borders being contested in Rwanda
- After the Berlin Conference 1884-5, Germany established colonial rule over Rwanda;
- following Germany’s defeat in World War I, Belgium took over the administration
How did Belgian colonial policies affect ethnic relations in Rwanda?
- The Belgians favored the Tutsi minority (14% of the population) over the Hutu majority (85%),
- instituting ethnic identity cards in 1926 to officially distinguish between them
What challenges did Rwanda face upon gaining independence in 1962?
- The independent government was contested and seen as illegitimate by some;
- rebellion by the Hutus against the Belgian-supported Tutsi elite led to thousands of Tutsis fleeing and killings during the 1960s and 1970s
What changes occurred in the 1970s and 1980s regarding ethnic favoritism in Rwanda?
- In the 1970s and 1980s, the Hutu majority began receiving preferential treatment in public services and the military
What significant political development stalled in Rwanda in the early 1990s?
- Plans to introduce a multi-party government
What event in April 1994 escalated Rwanda’s conflict?
- In April 1994, the plane carrying the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi was shot down, which triggered a genocide
What were the consequences of the April 1994 incident in Rwanda?
- The incident led to the genocide, during which an estimated 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu were killed
How did the conflict affect the Hutu government and refugees in July 1994?
- In July 1994, the Hutu government fled to Zaire (now the DRC) with 2 million Hutu refugees,
- & an interim government of national unity was established
What international action followed the events of 1994 in Rwanda?
- Later in 1994, the UN Security Council established an international tribunal to prosecute those involved in the genocide
