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POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY Chapter 8 Slide 2 Thinking Geographically Imagine you are the new leader of a newly independent state in Africa or Asia. Determine what your government can do to build a nation that corresponds with the borders of your state. Consider the roles of education, government, military, and culture in your exercise in nation-building. Slide 3 How Is Space Politically Organized into States and Nations? Political geography: The study of the political organization of the world Territoriality: The attempt by an individual or group to affect, influence, or control people, phenomena, and relationships, by delimiting and asserting control over a geographic area Robert Sack Slide 4 Political Organization of Space Sovereignty: Having the last say over a territory legally Territorial integrity: The right of a government to keep the borders and territory of a state intact and free from attack Slide 5 State A politically organized territory with a permanent population, a defined territory, and a government, and recognized as such by other states Slide 6 The Modern State Idea The idea of a state that is tied to a particular territory with defined boundaries Came out of Europe Diffused through Mercantilism Colonialism Slide 7 Nations Nation: A culturally defined group of people with a shared past and a common future who relate to a territory and have political goals Constructed by people to make sense of themselves Imagined communities (Benedict Anderson) Imagined = you will never meet all the people in your nation Community = you see yourself as part of it Nations perceived as natural and always existing but really a relatively recent phenomenon Slide 8 Nation-State A politically organized area in which nation and state occupy the same space Rare in practice An ideal for governments as source of political loyalty and unity Origins in French Revolution Democracy: People as sovereign A territorial state for each nation Nationalism Strong sense of loyalty to the state on the part of its people Government that promotes the nation within the state Promotion of loyalty to the state in multinational states Slide 9 Europe in 1648 Slide 10 A state with more than one nation Multinational State Slide 11 Stateless Nation A nation with no state Slide 12 European Colonialism and the Diffusion of the Nation-State Model Colonialism: A physical action in which one state takes over control of another, taking over the government and ruling the territory as its own Two Waves of European Colonialism: 1500 1825 1825 1975 Slide 13 Some places were colonized by more than one power in this time period. Dominant Colonial Influences, 1550 1950 Slide 14 The Capitalist World Economy Result of colonialism Construction of a world order based on differences in economic and political power Immanuel Wallersteins World-Systems Theory 1.The world economy has one market and a global division of labor. 2.Although the world has multiple states, almost everything takes place within the context of the world economy. 3.The world economy has a three-tier structure. Slide 15 Construction of the World Economy Capitalism: The system whereby people, corporations, and states produce goods and services and exchange them in the world market, with the goal of achieving profit Commodification: The process of placing a price on a good and then buying, selling, and trading the good Colonialism: Brought the world into the world economy, setting up an interdependent global economy Slide 16 Three-Tier Structure Core Processes that incorporate higher levels of education, higher salaries, and more technology Generate more wealth in the world economy Semi-periphery Places where core and periphery processes are both occurring Places that are exploited by the core but then exploit the periphery Serves as a buffer between core and periphery Periphery Processes that incorporate lower levels of education, lower salaries, and less technology Generate less wealth in the world economy Slide 17 The Three-Tier System Slide 18 How Do States Spatially Organize Their Governments? Forms of government Unitary: Highly centralized government where the capital city serves as a focus of power Federal: A government where the state is organized into territories, which have control over government policies and funds Slide 19 Allows states within Nigeria to determine whether to have Sharia laws (legal systems based on traditional Islamic laws) Nigerias Federal System Slide 20 Allows states to determine moral laws such as death penalty, access to alcohol, and concealed weapons U.S. Federal System Slide 21 Movement of power from the central government to regional governments within a state Causes Ethnocultural forces Economic forces Spatial forces Devolution Slide 22 Ethnocultural Devolutionary Movements in Eastern Europe Slide 23 Devolution in Europe Slide 24 DEVOLUTION Slovakia: New Sovereignty www.learner.org/resources/series180.html#p rogram_descriptions Slide 25 Thinking Geographically Choose an example of a devolutionary movement and determine whether autonomy (self-governance) for that region would benefit the autonomous region, the country in which it is located or both. Slide 26 Electoral Geography Part of a states spatial organization of government In the United States Territorial representation Reapportionment Voting rights for minority populations Slide 27 Voting Districts Gerrymandering : Drawing voting districts to benefit one group over another Majority-minority Districts: Drawn so that the majority of the population in the district is from the minority Slide 28 How Are Boundaries Established, and Why Do Boundary Disputes Occur? Boundary: A vertical plane that cuts through the rocks below and the airspace above, dividing one state territory from another Slide 29 Boundaries often divide resources, such as oil between Kuwait and Iraq Boundaries Slide 30 Establishing boundaries Define Delimit Demarcate Administrate Types of boundaries Geometric boundaries: Based on grid systems Physical-political boundaries: Follow an agreed- upon feature in the physical geographic landscape Slide 31 Boundary Disputes Definitional boundary disputes Locational boundary disputes Operational boundary disputes Allocational boundary disputes Slide 32 How Do Geopolitics and Critical Geopolitics Help Us Understand the World? Geopolitics: The interplay among geography, power, politics, and international relations Classical geopolitics German School (Ratzels organic state theory) British /American School (Mackinders heartland theory) Slide 33 Ratzels Organic State Theory Based on Darwins theories of evolution Need of a state for territory and overseas connections in order to survive Described expansion of empires and large states in the 19 th century Eventually contributed to Nazi expansion Slide 34 Mackinders Heartland Theory Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland Who rules the Heartland commands the World Island Who rules the World Island commands the world Slide 35 Critical Geopolitics Ideas of intellectuals of statecraft about places Influence and reinforce their political behaviors and policy choices Affect how ordinary people process notions of places and politics Slide 36 Us versus Them Cold War Evil Empire (Soviet Union) Shining city on a hill (United States) Replacement of Soviet Union as them by terrorists Slide 37 Geopolitical World Order Temporary periods of stability in conduct of politics at the global scale Bi-polar Multi-polar Unilateralism Slide 38 What Are Supranational Organizations, and What Is the Future of the State? Supranational organization: A separate entity composed of three or more states that forge an association and form an administrative structure for mutual benefit in pursuit of shared goals Slide 39 Global Scale: The United Nations Slide 40 Regional Scale: The European Union Slide 41 Supranationalism and the European Union As you watch the video clip, answer the following questions: 1.What is unique pr special about the city of Strasburg? 2.What role doe sit play in the governance of the European Union? 3.Discuss Strasburg in term of its site and situation. 4.Contemplate the achievement of the European Union in terms of its porous borders; would such a model be good for North America? 5.Should the NAFTA countries have equally porous borders that allow for free movement of people as well as goods and services? 6.Can you imagine a future World Union or United States of Earth scenario (think of Star Wars) in which there would be one global currency and complete freedom to move from one region to another? Strasburg: Symbol of a United Europe https://learner.org/resources/series180.html#program_descriptionshttps://learner.org/resources/series180.html#program_descriptions