unit 2 exam study Flashcards
ideology
set of opinions or beliefs of a group or an individual
authoritarian regime
a concentration of power in a leader or an elite not constitutionally responsible to the people”. Unlike totalitarian states, they will allow social and economic institutions not under governmental control, and tend to rely on passive mass acceptance rather than active popular support
empire
an extensive group of states or countries under a single supreme authority, formerly especially an emperor or empress
league
League: a collection of people, countries, or groups that combine for a particular purpose, typically mutual protection or cooperation.
confederation
Confederation: any league or union of people or bodies of people. The term in modern political use is generally confined to a permanent union of sovereign states for certain common purposes—e.g., the German Confederation established by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. It’s a union of sovereign states in which the stress is laid on the autonomy of each constituent body.
federation
Federation: implies a union of states in which the stress is laid on the supremacy of the common government
real life examples of superimposed borders
Armenia and Azerbaijan both had many of their boundaries drawn for them by Soviet Union and were superimposed (with no regard to cultural traits) (lead to political issues and conflict)
The border between North and South Sudan is also superimposed because a superimposed border is forced upon a landscape by an outside power, ignoring local cultures, and this is what the British did when they were ruling Sudan. They separated Sudan into two entities (North and South) and ruled them separately without paying attention to the ethnic populations already there and displaced thousands of people
Problems associated with theoretical borders:
War/conflict due to unclear boundaries
enclave
Enclave: a portion of territory within or surrounded by a larger territory whose inhabitants are culturally or ethnically distinct. E.g. Vatican City and San Marino (both enclaved by Italy), and Lesotho (enclaved by South Africa) are completely enclaved sovereign states.
tribalism
Tribalism: the state of being organized by, or advocating for, tribes or tribal lifestyles
post colonialism
Post-colonialism: a study of the effects of colonialism on cultures and societies. It is concerned with both how European nations conquered and controlled “Third World” cultures and how these groups have since responded to and resisted those approaches.
development gap
the widening difference in levels of development between the world’s richest and poorest countries. There are many different measures used to assess the development gap.
economic legacy of colonialism
-The policies of colonialism forced the demise of African industry and created a reliance on imported goods from Europe
-Had native industry been encouraged and cultivated by the colonizing powers, Africa would probably be in a much better economic and technological position today
-Had colonialism never been imposed on Africa, its development would be significantly different and many of the problems that plague it today would not exist
role of the UN in global conflicts
due to security council and veto power… not helpful in conflicts. E.g. Rwandan genocide
nation vs state vs country
A nation is a group of people with a common language, history, culture, and (usually) geographic territory. A state is an association of people characterized by formal institutions of government, including laws; permanent territorial boundaries; and sovereignty (political independence). A state may comprise one or more nations (as did the Roman Empire and Austria-Hungary). A country may be an independent sovereign state or part of a larger state or a physical territory with a government
Problems with nation-states:
Nation-state: clearly defined cultural group (a nation) occupying a defined territory (a state)
E.g. Lesotho
Idea of it arose from nationalism (belief that the nation and the state should be in the same congruent)
When the entire population of a state is not bound by the same sense of nationalism but is split among local primary allegiances, then that state is said to suffer from cultural subnationalism.
This can lead to civil war or even international disputes (e.g., India helping the Tamil population of Sri Lanka).
Subnationalism is one of the centrifugal forces that pull nations apart, as compared to centripetal forces (like a strong sense of nationalism) which tend to act to bind a state together.
Subnationalism has led to strong authoritarian rulers in some states, especially in Africa, who argue that authoritarianism is the only alternative to tribalism tearing the countries apart.
- how these countries got this way is a function of colonialism.
nationalism and examples
Nationalism is an intense form of patriotism or loyalty to one’s country. Nationalists exaggerate the status, value or importance of their country, placing its interests above those of other countries. These sentiments were prominent in early 20th century Europe, particularly in the so-called Great Powers (Britain, France and Germany), leading many Europeans to believe their nation occupied a position of cultural, economic and military supremacy.
-e.g. b/w afghanistan and pakistan
neonationalism
Neo-nationalism is adapted to anti-globalization or de-globalization. It attempts to restore the nation-state era by deconstructing the nation-state-based supranational governance
globalization
Globalization is a term used to describe how trade and technology have made the world into a more connected and interdependent place
also captures in its scope the economic and social changes that have come about as a result. It may be pictured as the threads of an immense spider web formed over millennia, with the number and reach of these threads increasing over time. People, money, material goods, ideas, and even disease and devastation have traveled these silken strands, and have done so in greater numbers and with greater speed than ever in the present age.
political autonomy
Political autonomy exists when a group of persons or a territory are self-governing, thus not under the control of a higher level of government
how is globalization impacting borders in today’s world?
Globalization has blurred the economic distinctions between countries, creating a “borderless world” in which economic decisions are made without reference to national boundaries
Now that countries are more developed and have access to more resources like gold and oil, it’s started to make countries fight over borders to get access to these resources. E.g. North and South Sudan
negative impacts of colonialism on countries that were colonized
-Colonialism’s impacts include environmental degradation, the spread of disease, economic instability, ethnic rivalries, and human rights violations—issues that can long outlast one group’s colonial rule.
impact of colonialism on developing countries
Colonialism’s fundamental effects on development in the global-south have been a disruption of indigenous attempts at state-building. The imposition of colonial rule and its associated industry dislocated local agency of development and robbed societies of indigenous efforts to develop at their own pace
Legacy of Colonialism on Africa and the creation of it’s modern borders and country lines and why that was/is problematic to place down straight lines and superimposed borders
The policies of colonialism forced the demise of African industry and created a reliance on imported goods from Europe. Had native industry been encouraged and cultivated by the colonizing powers, Africa would probably be in a much better economic and technological position today.
Superimposed borders split up cultural groups and caused a divide between cultural groups, families
north/south gap
The global north includes the richest countries that have the most up to date technology and resources, whilst the global south are countries that usually have less resources and money, so therefore their citizens are more likely to suffer from poverty.
hard vs soft power
Soft power is voluntariness to consent, which explains why soft power solutions tend to last longer than hard power solutions.
