Political Geography

Political Geography a. Contemporary political map has been shaped by events of the past

Scramble for Africa

What criteria determines the boundary lines on this map?

Which set of boundary lines seems more logical? • Which

State Sovereignty Nation Nation-state Binational State Multinational State Multistate Nation Stateless Nation Nationalism Functional Region MDC LDC Postindustrial Sectors of the Economy Primary Secondary Tertiary Vocab Review

Territoriality • The modern state is an example of a common human tendency: the need to belong to a larger group that controls its own piece of the earth, its own territory. • This is called territoriality: a cultural strategy that uses power to control area and communicate that control, subjugating inhabitants and acquiring resources.

Nature, meaning, and function of boundaries • State shapes/boundaries homework

Landlocked States • No access to major sea or ocean • Must negotiate rights to move resources through other countries – problems exist when countries do not agree on fundamental policies

Location • Relative location: Some states are landlocked.

The nation-state concept – • Nation state is a • European idea that the • map of states should look like the map of nations • aspiration of governing elites around the world; • a politically organized space in which • nation and state occupy the same space, • in reality few states are perfect nation states (textbook example: Japan, why?)

Nation-state: ancient history… • Ancient states – city-states: • sovereign state that comprise a town and the surrounding countryside, walls clearly delineated the boundaries, land outside the walls is controlled and used for agriculture, where a society lived constituted its territory, • Empires were created when one state or tribe would gain military dominance over the other cities (in Mesopotamia) • Egypt was a separate empire, a narrow region along the banks of the Nile…

The nation-state: Early European States around CE100– CE1500 • Roman Empire – height of political unity in the ancient world (Europe, N Africa, SW Asia), same set of laws, 38 provinces, massive walls, one official language, one currency … • Fall of the Roman Empire – decentralized, competing estates • Powerful kings emerge in Europe beginning CE1100 – basis for modern England, France, Spain • (German and Italy – not consolidated until 19th century)

The nation state concept: 1st emerged • Modern state system – • Peace of Westphalia, 1648, recognized defined, demarcated territories, • now the territory defines the society • territory is a fixed element of political identity, exclusive, non overlapping territories…

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Across the Aisle Question • What is the difference in Colonialism & Imperialism?

Colonialism (1400s – early 1800s) • A colony is a territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state and not completely independent, the sovereign state controls the colony’s military and foreign policy and sometimes internal affairs also • Colonialism – effort by one country to establish settlements on previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land and to impose political, economics, and cultural principles on such territory, • Europe (Spain and Portugal first) colonized for glory, gold and God • organizing the flows of raw materials for their own benefit, affecting the cultural landscape with plantations, ports, ………. mines, RR.

Imperialism 1800s-1900s • control of territory already occupied and organized by an indigenous society • Berlin Conference 1884-1885, projected European power to organizing political space into the non-European world, became the model adopted around the world, • Europe designed the rules of capitalist world economy, created a system of economic interdependencethat persists today, • Former colonies, now politically independent remain economically dependent – • infrastructure is organized to get raw materials out

Berlin Conference (1884): European countries decided they could claim African colonies just by setting up government offices in African territory. This set off a Great Scramble as Europeans rushed to colonize Africa. Why???

Europeans: Carving up a Continent Who is missing from this picture???

Berlin Conference 1884 • Divided Africa with no consideration for culture • Results of superimposed boundaries • African nations divided • Hostile nations within state • Historical trade routes disrupted • Migration routes disrupted

By 1914, there were only two independent countries left in all of Africa. What new countries were growing empires? “We do not want to put anyone in the shade, but we also demand our place in the sun” –Germany Where do these lines come from???

African colonies

Decolonization, 1940s-1990s

Imperialism 1800s-1900s control of territory already occupied and organized by an indigenous society • UK - largest colonial empire, on every continent, including E and S Africa, S Asia, Middle East, Australia, Canada • created different government structures and policies for various territories • decentralized approach protected diverse cultures, local customs, educational systems • possibility of peaceful transition to independence in some colonies • Commonwealth

Imperialism 1800s-1900s control of territory already occupied and organized by an indigenous society • France – 2nd largest – W Africa and SE Asia • assimilated its colonies into French culture, educated an elite group to provide local administrative leadership, colonies often retained close ties after independence • Portugal, Spain, German, Italy, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium • Most African and Asian colonies become independent after WWII • Most of the colonies that remain are islands in the Pacific or Caribbean

Democratization • Process began as land/nobility power declined due to increasingly powerful wealthy middle class, upheavals in the 1780s, the French Revolution, political authority will rest with citizenry not with a hereditary monarch • Also the idea that people are sovereign, the nation has ultimate say over what happens within the state, • true democracy exists when the nation has its own sovereign territory • 1800s quest to form nation-states in Europe associated with a rise in nationalism as well as democratization • Most African and Asian colonies become independent after WWII and attempted democratization

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Forms of Government Source: Matthew White, 2003. http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/othergov.htm Adapted from FreedomHouse.org

Source: Matthew White, 2003. http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/othergov.htm Adapted from FreedomHouse.org

Fall of communismlegacy of the Cold War –post WWII • The Soviet Union and the • Iron Curtain • Countries behind the former Iron Curtain deal with developing economics and ZPG or lower, as well as environmental degradation due to lack of pollution controls

Fall of communismlegacy of the Cold War –post WWII • China and the Bamboo Curtain

Collapse of the Soviet Union

The World in 1977

Europe in 1977

Changes in Europe, 1990-93

Balance of Power Changes

Political ecology: impacts of law and policy on the environment and environmental justice

“They’re growing houses in the fields between the towns.”- John Gorka, Folk Singer

Political Geography