political geography Flashcards
State
- often referred to as a country
- politically organized territory with : a permanent population, defined territory and a government
Sovereignty
states right to exercise final authority over ones own social political and economic matters
international law says that:
States are sovereign and have a right to defend against incursion from other states
boundary vs border
boundary is a vertical plane dividing one state from another it includes the rocks below and the air above a border is the official line that separates two countries, states, or areas, or the area close to this line e.g. US and Canada
territory
a country or communities property
nation
community of people who all share a common bond of language ethnicity religion and other shared cultural attributes
- not a legal term and is highly contested
- also can be defined as other than another nation e.g. Canada is other than US
- nation is identified by its own membership
Nation State
politically organized area that has a nation and a state occupying the SAME space
- assumes there are stable nations which well defined and live distinctly separate and do not have overlapping territory
- traditionally the “ideal” way to organize world+people but does not actually exist
Closest real examples to a Nation State
France because of french identity/ language
Japan because 98.5% of the Japanese population are ethnic Japanese, who share the same history and culture.
Haida Gwaii because they were a nation state until colonizers cam and called Queen Charlottes now they have retaken name Haida Gwaii and are mostly Haida people and culture present there
three countries never colonized
Antarctica, West China, Thailand, Tibet
Major Colonizers in history besides France/Britain?
Japan, Russia
JBNQA stands for
James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement
JBNQA: what was the governments plan for James Bay
build a large hydroelectric dam and flood parts of the Cree’s and Inuit’s land
What resulted after the Agreement was hastily signed in 1975?
three categories beneficiary land (residents), non-benificiery land (non-aboriginal lands), crown lands. The traditional laws of the inuit which had governed and defined land use up to then were neatly and silently suppressed and contained
what is a dissident community
community who did not agree to relinquish their land and resources to the state
Centripetal
forces that unify a country e.g. widespread commitment to culture common faith shared ideology and objectives countries’ identity
Centrifugal
forces that divide a country e.g. internal religious, ideological, and linguistic differences Canada French and English
tensions between centripetal and fugal forces can be impacted by what? (2)
- type of government
- changes in location of power in state
unitary
government is centralized and exercises power equally over all parts of the state
federal system
organizes state territory into regions substates or provinces which then have a degree of autonomy
centralism
power becomes concentrated in central government (usually in unitary type of government) e.g. China former USSR
devolution
movement of power from central government to regional government (strategy used to keep state together )
ultimate expression of devolution is
separatism (Quebec, Scotland)
what leads regions to seek devolution
ethnocultural, economic and spatial reasons
multinational state
a state with more than one nation inside its borders (apples to nearly every state in the world) textbook e.g. former Yugoslavia
multistate nation
a nation that stretches across borders and states e.g. Kurdistan (stretches over Iraq, Turkey, Syria, Iran, Armenia)
Stateless Nation
a nation that does not have a state e.g. Palestinians
When was the UN formed?
1919 after WW1
How many states are there currently in the world?
193 however are constantly changing due to views
How is a new state recognized?
1) application submitted to UN
2) security council considers application; 9/15 Council members, provided none of its five permanent members (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America) — have not vetoed it.
3) General Assembly considers. two-thirds majority vote is necessary for admission of a new State.
4) Membership becomes effective the date the resolution for admission is adopted.
Do you believe that devolution is a stronger force around the world than centralization at the current time? Please explain your answer using examples.
Yes because there is a lot of fighting on going, more centrifugal than centripetal, Palestine, Quebec EU and Britain Scotland, also there are more multination states than nation-states which could contribute as well
How does political geography help us to understand the current conflict in Iraq?
Multinational state: three main groups Sunni Shia and Kurdish (multistage nation) ongoing civil war and outside influences and wars too (9/11 and terrorism crisis with US)
