Unit 8: Vocabulary Flashcards
Antecedent Boundary
A political border that was established before significant human settlement in the area. These often follow natural features (such as rivers, mountain ranges, or deserts).
Balkanization
The process of a country breaking up into smaller, often hostile, political units. Balkanization is often a result of ethnic differences, but is also connected to other political movements (like nationalism, independence, imperialism, and anti-colonialism).
Boundary
An invisible line that separates one state or political entity from another.
Buffer state
A neutral (typically smaller) country situated between two larger, potentially hostile powers, acting as a barrier to prevent direct conflict between them.
Cohesion
The degree to which a group of people, a region, or a nation is united and held together by shared cultural traits, values, or political interests, essentially creating a sense of unity and belonging within a defined area.
Colonialism
Essentially, it’s the act of one nation taking over and dominating another for their own benefit. Often imposing their own culture/systems upon the native population, which leads to changes in the political, social, and economic landscape of the colonized area.
Consequent Boundary
A political boundary that is actively created to separate existing cultural differences between populations, like language, religion, ethnicity, or economic activity, essentially dividing areas with distinct cultural landscapes from one another.
Core area
A region within a country or on a global scale that holds the most economic power, characterized by high levels of wealth, innovation, advanced technology, and overall development-a central hub of economic activity/influence.
Cracking
Spreading votes of a particular type among many districts in order to deny them a sufficiently large voting bloc in any particular district.
Cultural Boundary
An invisible line that separates areas with distinct cultural characteristics, such as different languages, religions, ethnicities, or social practices. Not clearly defined on the ground and can be fluid.
DMZ
DMZ, or ‘Demilitarized Zone’ is a geographical area where military activity is officially prohibited, often established as a buffer zone between two opposing nations to reduce tensions and prevent conflict.
Democratization
The process of a fundamental shift in a nation’s political structure towards democratic principles, where citizens have greater political participation and the government is led by popularly elected officials, essentially establishing representative and accountable forms of governance.
Devolution
A state stays together, but experiences serious instability, tension, and/or violence.
East/West Divide
Essentially, it signifies a division based on political and economic ideologies between these two regions of the world; predominantly democratic and capitalist countries of the West (mainly Western Europe and the Americas) and the communist and socialist countries of the East (primarily Eastern Europe and parts of Asia).
Enclave
A piece of land belonging to one country that is entirely surrounded by the territory of another country.
Ethnonationalism
Essentially, a form of nationalism with the belief that national borders should align with the boundaries of a single ethnic group. A nation which is defined primarily by a shared ethnicity, meaning that national identity is strongly tied to a specific ethnic group (shared cultural traits like language, religion, and ancestry) and can sometimes lead to the marginalization of other ethnic groups within that territory.
EU
EU, or ‘European Union’ is a political and economic alliance of 27 European countries that aims to promote peace, democracy, and stability in Europe
Exclave
Essentially, a piece of a nation that is completely cut off from the rest of the country by foreign land.
Failed State
A state that is unable to perform the two fundamental functions of the sovereign nation-state in the modern world system: it cannot project authority over its territory and peoples, and it cannot protect its national boundaries.
Federal State
A decentralized government, where power is shared between central, regional, and local (subnational) governments.
Frontier
A zone of territory where no state has governing authority.
Gerrymandering
The practice of manipulating electoral district boundaries to favor a particular political party or group.
Geometric boundary
A political border that is created using straight lines based on lines of latitude and longitude, essentially ignoring natural features on the landscape and often appearing as a straight line on a map.
Geopolitics
The study of how geographical factors like location, topography, and natural resources influence political relationships between countries.
Heartland theory
A geopolitical concept proposed by Halford Mackinder, stating that whoever controls the central region of Eurasia (considered the “Heartland,” primarily encompassing Eastern Europe) will hold significant power. Essentially, control of this area is key to global dominance.
Imperialism
The policy of extending a country’s power and influence through colonization, military force, or other means.
Irredentism
Essentially, it’s a political movement to “unredeemed” land based on national, ethnic, or historical grounds, often leading to territorial disputes and conflict.
Multinational State
A sovereign state that is home to multiple nations, often facing unique challenges as they try to balance equality for all nations.
Multistate Nation
A nation that spans multiple states or state borders.
Nation
A group of people with a common identity through shared cultural traits such as language, religion, ethnicity, and heritage.
Nation-State
A state with sovereignty but its citizens have the same characteristics as a nation because they all have similar cultures (language, descent, or history)
NAFTA
“North American Free Trade Agreement,” a trilateral trade agreement between Canada, Mexico, and the United States that aims to eliminate trade barriers and promote economic integration between the three countries by removing tariffs on most goods produced within the region.
NATO
“North Atlantic Treaty Organization,” a military alliance established in 1949 between countries primarily from North America and Europe with the primary goal of collective defense against potential threats.
North/South Divide
The socio-economic and political disparities between the wealthier, industrialized countries located primarily in the Northern Hemisphere (“Global North”) and the less developed countries situated mostly in the Southern Hemisphere (“Global South”).
OPEC
“Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries,” which is an intergovernmental organization composed of major oil-producing nations that collaborate to manage global oil production and influence oil prices, essentially acting as a cartel to stabilize the market and secure fair prices for its members.
Packing
Concententrating many voters of one type into a single electoral district to reduce their influence in other districts.
Physical Boundary
A naturally occurring geographic feature, like a river, mountain range, ocean, or desert, that acts as a border between two political entities, effectively separating them due to its inherent physical barrier qualities.
Political Geography
The study of how political power is distributed across geographic space, essentially, it examines how the world is divided and organized politically based on territorial boundaries and sovereignty.
Public Lands
Parcels of land that are owned by the government (federal, state, or local) and not privately owned.
Reapportionment
Determining the amount of representative seats, connected to the Census/amount of population change.
Redistricting
Redrawing district lines.
Relic boundary
A border that no longer exists, but still has significance.
Rimland Theory
Developed by Nicholas Spykman, states that the coastal regions of Eurasia, known as the “Rimland,” are strategically more important than the central Eurasian landmass (Heartland) and that controlling this peripheral zone provides greater power to influence the continent.
Self-determination
The principle where a similar group of people have the right to decide their own political status, and form their own government.
Semiautonomous region
An area that has partial control over the region, but doesn’t have full sovereignty yet. Allows only partial control of a region.
Shatterbelt
The areas where cultural or political divisions collide and cause conflict.
Sovereignty
The right of a government to control and defend its territory and determine what happens within its borders.
State/Country
Has a defined territory with boundaries, permanent population, government, and recognition from other states.
Stateless Nation
A nation of people lacking a sovereign state, or a state that considers it home. Can occur due to historical factors (colonization, political boundaries not considering ethnic groups).
Subsequent Boundary
Borders drawn in areas that have already been settled by people, typically due to political change.
Terrorism
Organized violence aimed at government and civilian targets to create fear in order to accomplish political aims. Most common with non-government groups with no army, (ethnic separatists) in order to achieve
Unitary State
Strong centralized government, with regional/local’s purpose is to carry out policy, not make their own.
Supranationalism
The process of nation states organizing politically and economically into one organization or alliance
UN
“United Nations”, an international organization established after World War II, aimed at promoting global peace, security, and cooperation between member states.
UNCLOS
“United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” which is an international treaty that defines maritime boundaries, including territorial seas, exclusive economic zones, and the continental shelf.
USSR
“Union of Soviet Socialist Republics,” referring to a large socialist state that existed from 1922 to 1991, encompassing much of Eastern Europe and northern Asia, and is often studied as an example of a multinational state due to its diverse ethnic populations within its borders.
