Unit 4 : political geography Flashcards
Sovereignty
principle of international relations that holds that final authority over social, economic, and political matters should rest with the legitimate rulers of independent states
Nation
tightly knit group of people possessing bonds of language, ethnicity, religion, and other shared cultural attributes (only in very few states)
Nation-state
recognized member of the modern state system possessing formal sovereignty and occupied by a people who see themselves as a single, united nation
ex: japan, slovenia, iceland
Multinational state
state with more than one nation within its borders
ex: canada, russia, usa, belgium
Multistate nation
nation that stretches across borders and across states
ex: koreans in north and south korea
Stateless nation
nation that does not have a state
ex: kurds, palestinians
Colonialism
physical process whereby the colonizer takes over another place, putting its own government in charge and either moving its own people into the place or bringing in indentured outsiders to gain control of the people and the land
Core
processes that incorporate higher levels of education, higher salaries, and more technology, generate more wealth than periphery processes in world-economy
ex: usa, uk, japan, s korea
Periphery
processes that incorporate lower levels of education, lower salaries, and less technology, generate less wealth than core processes in world-economy
ex: honduras, bolivia, s. saharan africa
Semi-Periphery
places where core and periphery processes are both occurring, places that are exploited by the core but in turn exploit the periphery
ex: india, vietnam, thailand
Capitalism
economic model wherein people, corporations, and states produce goods and exchange them on the world market, with the goal of achieving profit
Berlin Conference (1881-1885)
meeting between European nations to create rules on how to peacefully divide Africa for colonization
compact state
distance from geometric center is similar, easy transportation/communication, high nationality
ex: poland, germany, hungary
fragmented state
2 or more separate pieces, no center, lots of nations
ex: philippines, indonesia
elongated state
stretch out, no cohesion, separation between endpoints (different nations)
ex: chile, vietnam
prorupted state
has area that extends from a more compact core , the prorupted part might have access to a good resource, but could have different nation
ex: namibia, with access to water
perforated state
surrounds another state(called landlocked), parts around landlocked state could have another nation, limited trade and transportation
ex: south africa perforated around lesotho
italy perforated around vatican city
core-periphery model4
- core sells high profit goods to periphery and semipheriphery
- core financially exploits semi periphery
- core exploits periphery for labor, raw materials, resources
- semi periphery exploits periphery for manufacture, cheap labor
Centripetal force
forces that tend to unify a country
ex: national sports teams, common culture (religion, language), economic success
Centrifugal force
forces that tend to divide a country
ex: civil war, politics, different religion /language
Unitary government
nation-state that has a centralized government and administration that exercises power equally over all parts of the state
Federal system
political-territorial system where a central government represents the various entities within a nation-state where they have common interest, but allows the entities to have their own laws, politics, and customs
Devolution
process when regions within a state demand and gain political strength and growing autonomy at expense of the central government
Reapportionment
process where representative districts are switched according to population shifts, so that each district encompasses approximately the same number of people
Majority-minority district
process where a majority of the population is from the minority
Gerrymandering
redistricting for advantage or dividing areas into electoral districts to give one political party an electoral majority while concentrating the voting strength of the opposition as few as possible
Geometric boundaries
political boundaries defined as a straight line or arc
ex: boundary between arizona and new mexico
Physical-political boundaries
political boundary defined, delimited and occasionally demarcated by a prominent physical feature in the natural landscape (river)
ex: boundary between chile and argentina (mountains)
Geopolitics
the interplay of geography, power, politics, and international relations on Earth’s surface
Unilateralism
one state is in a position of dominance with allies following, rather than joining the political decision-making process. Decision taken by just a single party, either without consulting, or against the wishes of other parties.
Supranational organization
3 or more nation-states in formal political, economic, or cultural cooperation to promote shared objectives (EU)
Deterritorialization
movement of economic, social and cultural processes out of the hands of the states
Territoriality
country’s sense of property and attachment toward its territory
superimposed boundary
lines laid down for political reasons that ignore pre-existing cultural boundaries
ex: boundaries in africa (rwanda) were arbitrarily made by colonizers (british)
subsequent boundary
lines resulting from conflict or cultural changes such as war or migration
ex: curzon line defined areas that were annexed by soviet union, us/mexico
relic boundary
former state boundaries that still have political or cultural meaning
ex: berlin wall between west and east germany
antecedent boundary
boundary lines that predate the current cultural landscape
ex: malaysia/indonesia
consequent boundary
a border that coincides with a cultural divide
ex: north ireland with distribution of protestants
effects of building wall between us and mexico3
- economic: expensive, limits trade, less seasonal labor, creates jobs, decrease smuggling, limits undoc immigrants
- political: tensions between states, isolationism, nationalism
- social: split families, creates social movements, xenophobia, less cultural interaction
definitional border disputes
focus on legal language (e.g. median line of a river: water levels may vary)
locational border disputes
interpretation of border, or if border changes (lake dies up)
operational border disputes
neighbors differ over the way the boundary should function (migration, smuggling) (e.g., US/Mexico)
allocational border disputes
disputes over rights to natural resources (gas, oil, water)
territorial sea3
- sovereign territory in the area of sea from shore to 12 nautical miles, also in air above
- within this, all laws of country apply
- foreign ships (both military and civilian) are allowed innocent passage through it
exclusive economic zone2
- exclusive economic rights are granted to countries from shore to 200 nautical miles
- state controls all aspects of resource development and extraction (fishing, whaling, etc., as well as the raw material resources)
contiguous zone
-beyond territorial sea (12n.m.) there is another 12 n.m. where state can continue to enforce laws in customs, taxation, immigration, and pollution (buffer zone)
stages to create boundaries4
- definition: boundaries negotiated between parties
- delimitation: putting boundary on maps
- demarcation: putting visible marker on boundary
- administration: how will it function?
before peace of westphalia3
- most policies in europe were ruled by an emperor, clergyman, or feudal lord
- no solid borders
- where you’re at shows who you are
peace of westphalia2
- marked beginning of modern state system when the states of roman empire negotiated end to their religious war
- “where society lives forms its territory”–> “territory defines society”
after peace of westphalia5
- beginning of nation-state sovereignty (state able to chose religion practiced)
- weakened papal authority(roman catholic church will never have as much political power)
- balance in power
- states become more territorial
- territory boundaries show who you are
heartland theory
proposed by Mackinder(british) that any political power based in the heart of Eurasia could gain sufficient strength to eventually dominate the world
cold war and effect on geopolitics4
- 2 supranational organizations created: NATO (U.S. and allies) and Warsaw Pact (Soviet Union and their allies)
- US wanted to contain the spread of communism and influence of the Soviet Union(by financial aid, military aid, proxy wars)
- U.S. fought a war in Vietnam based upon the domino theory–>if Vietnam fell to communism the rest of Southeast Asia would fall like a bunch of dominoes.
- The breakup of the Soviet Union and the fall of communism brought about significant changes to the political map (newly independent states created in Eastern Europe and Central Asia)
nafta4
- north american free trade agreement
- us, canada, mexico (central american countries added)
- purpose: make trade free, without tariffs, make movement and sale of products easier, improve economies
- signed in 1992, recently has been debated that it has cost job loss
imf4
- international monetary fund
- members: 189 states
- purpose: global monetary cooperation, financial stability, facilitate international trade, high employment, economic growth, and reduce poverty
- founded 1945, helped low income countries during 2008 depression
oas4
- organization of american states
- members: all states in western hemisphere
- purpose: promote economic, social, and cultural development of american states
- “International Union of American Republics” made in 1889 led to OAS, recently been defending democracy in venezuela
opec4
- Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries
- purpose: coordinate and unify the petroleum policies, stabilization of oil markets in order to secure an efficient, economic and regular supply of petroleum
- members: Ecuador, Venezuela, Angola, Gabon, Nigeria. Algeria, Libya, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Iran(south america, africa, middle east)
- signed in 1960, recently opec countries have tensions with non-opec countries
asean4
- association of south east asian nations
- members; south east asia
- purpose: promote peace and collaboration between Southeast Asian countries
- founded 1967, the 1976 treaty of amity made all states in asean equal
nato4
- north atlantic treaty organization
- members: north america, western europe
- purpose: political and military alliance with members
- formed in 1949, helped crisis manage in 1995 bosnia and herzegovina
eu4
- european union
- members: western europe (now minus britain)
- purpose: economic policy to foreign affairs, defense, agriculture and trade for europe
- formed after WWII, recently brexit, poorer countries want to join, wealthier countries have to bail poorer countries (germany–> greece)
waves of colonialism from europe2
- 2 waves:
1. ) spain/portugal/britain/france–>americas
2. ) britain/france/netherlands/belgium/germany–>africa - laid ground rules for international state system, affected cultural landscape
world systems theory3
- world economy began with capitalist exchange (goods/services–>profit), has 1 market and global division of labor
- almost everything takes place in world market
- 3 tiers: core, periphery, semiperiphery
german vs american school of geopolitics2
- german: sought to explain why and how certain states become powerful
- american: offer strategic advice by identifying parts that were important for projection of power (heartland theory)
UN3
- united nations
- 5 original members: US, UK, Russia, France, China
- established after WWII after League of nations
rimland theory
based off of heartland theory by spykman. believed both land and sea power were important, “Who controls the Rimland rules Eurasia; who rules Eurasia controls the destinies of the world”
yalta conference5
- FDR, Churchill, and Stalin (U.S., Great Britain, Soviet Union)
- Formation of the United Nations
- Germany would be divided into four occupations zones
- Agree to allow free elections in liberated states (Poland, Hungary, Romania, etc. )
- Germany to pay war reparations
characteristics of a state6
- recognized space/territory
- population
- economy
- transportation
- sovereignty
- external recognition
european imperialism causes and effects2
- causes: MONEY, land, labor, capital, strategic location,
- effects: labor exploitation, conflicting nations when colonizers leave, forced migration to get to right side, formations of new governments
balkanization
when a state breaks into other states (yugoslavia)
devolution in slovakia3
- border disputes: slovakia wanted to use danube river for energy but hungary refused
- economic problems: not in good position for trade, not very industrialized
- nationality problems: tensions between slovakians and hungarians and czechs
gerrymandering methods2
- packing: Grouping as many voters of the opposite party that you can into the same group
- Cracking: Voters of the opposing party are scattered and divided of the opposite party among many districts, spreading them out in the hope that your party has the majority in all the districts
enclave
an enclosed territory that is culturally distinct from the foreign territory that surrounds it
exclave
a part of a country that is separated from the rest of the country and surrounded by foreign territory.
