Political Geography

1. Political Geography

2. Political Geography • Geographic concepts helps us to understand the changing political organization of Earth’s surface • Can use geographic methods to examine the causes of political change and instability and to anticipate potential trouble spots throughout the world • When looking at earth, it’s easy to distinguish places • What we cannot see are boundaries • One of Earth’s most fundamental cultural characteristics is the division of our planet’s surface into a collection of spaces occupied by individual countries

3. Political Geography • Study of human political organization of the Earth at various levels • Studied at three scales • Supranational scale • Ex. United Nations • Country/nation scale • How government is organized • Sub-national (local) scale • Boundaries for voting districts • Political geographers also study the changing role of the country in the world’s political affairs • Geopolitics • The state’s power to control space or territory and shape international political relations

4. Political Geography • Today Globalization means more connections among states • Individual countries have transferred military, economic, and political authority to regional and worldwide collections of states • Power is exercised through connections among states created primarily for economic cooperation

5. Human Territoriality • Territoriality is creating ownership over a defined space • Territoriality can apply to your bedroom or an entire country • Often evokes emotional response • Ex. Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait triggered the Gulf War • Ex. Germany’s invasion of Poland triggered WWII • Personal Space • Territoriality can also be applied to personal space • Personal space is the area we claim as our own territory into which others may not enter without our permission • How much is personal varies

6. Sovereignty • Definition: • Internationally recognized control a place has over the people and territory within its boundaries • Nearly 200 countries on earth with sovereignty • Disputes • Sovereignty of Taiwan • Sovereignty of Kurdistan • Sovereignty of Kosovo • Oceans

7. States and Nations • State refers to: • Arguably most powerful institution in globalization • To be a state: • Political unit with permanent population • citizenship • Territorial boundaries that are recognized by other states • Effective government • Working economy • Sovereignty • Nation refers to: • a group of people who share a common culture and identity as a cohesive group • Needed: • Language • Religion • Shared history • Territory (not always) • Example: Jewish nation

8. Multinational States vs. Nation-States • Multinational state • Country that includes more than one nation within its borders • Ex. Soviet Union • Nation-state • State with only one nation in its borders • Ex. Japan, Iceland • Stateless nation • When a nation does not have territory to call its own • Assyrian Christians of Iraq • Kurds of Iraq, Turkey, Iran • Ughirs of Western China

9. History of Nation-State Concept • Humans have organized political space in different forms throughout their existence • Early humans organized into clans • When conquered became kingdoms and empires • Ancient Greeks and Romans created city-states • Political space revolved around a central city and surrounding farmland • After fall of Roman Empire, Western Europe was divided into a feudal structure • Mainly based on religion • Eventually faded, strong monarchies emerged • Stronger monarchies led to more internal cohesion and rise of nation-states • More cohesive group of people linked to their territory through a shared government and common goals • Pattern diffused throughout Europe • Goal of WWII • Idea of linking people who share strong send of unity a way to prevent ethnonational violence

13. Ethnonationalism and Conflict • Definition • A powerful emotion attachment to one’s nation that occurs when a minority nation within a state feels different from the rest of the state’s people • When a minority feels that they do not have enough self-determination, or the power to control their own territory and destiny, ethnonationalism can lead to conflict • Example • The Chechen people comprise a minority nation that live in Russia and have a strong sense of ethnonationalism that has led to violent conflict with the Russian government.

14. Ethnonationalism and Conflict • Irredentism • Members of a nation do not always live in just one place • The Serbs are a nation, but they exist in several countries, not just the land that is considered Serbia • Conflict can arise when a nation’s homeland is spread into the territory of another state or several states • Definition • A movement by a nation to reunite its parts when they have spread across other borders • Ex. Irredentism occurred when Hitler believed that the German nation had spread into Czechoslovakian territory, he wanted to take control of that land to reunite Germans into one state

15. Examples of Ethnonational Conflict

16. Ethnonationalism and Conflict • Buffer States and Zones • A buffer state is an independent country located between two larger countries that are in conflict • Russia and China have warred over boundaries for centuries, but Mongolia, a buffer, has helped reduce direct confrontation between the two states • Satellite States • Countries controlled by another, more powerful state • During the Cold War, the Soviet Union worked to dominate the Eastern European buffer zone and install Communist satellite states there • Called the “Iron Curtain” • Shatterbelts • State or group of states that exists within a sphere of competition between larger states and is often culturally, economically, and politically fragmented and splintered • Eastern Europe • Existed as a sphere of competition between U.S.S.R. and western powers

17. Types of Boundaries • Three types of boundaries • Geometric • Physical • Cultural • Best boundaries are those to which all affected states agree, regardless of the rationale used to draw the line • Geometric • Straight-line boundaries that do not related to the cultural or physical features of the territories involved • Ex. North/South Korea 38th parallel • Physical (or natural) • Separate territories according to natural features in the landscape, such as mountains, deserts, or rivers • Ex. France and Spain are divided by the Pyrenees

19. Types of Boundaries • Cultural Boundaries • Mark changes in the cultural landscape, such as boundaries that divide territories according to religion or language • Sometimes drawn according to geometric straight lines • Religious • Only a few cases where religion has been used to select the actual boundary line • Example: • South Asia, partition of India and Pakistan • Ireland and North Ireland • Language • Europe best example • Idea spread during 20th century • Versailles Conference

21. Cyprus “Green Line” Boundary • Contains two nationalities • Turkish= north, eastern • 18% of population • Greek= south • 78% of population • Cyprus gained independence in 1960 • Constitution guaranteed Turkish minority rights • Cyprus never peacefully integrated the Greek and Turkish nationalities • Series of Coups led to Turkish section declaring itself independent in 1983 • no one except Turkey recognizes independence • Wall constructed between two areas • Buffer zone patrolled by UN • Accepted to EU in 2004

22. Frontiers • Frontier: • Region where no state exercises complete and political control or boundaries are weakly developed • Antarctica • Saudi Arabia and Yemen • Tangible geographic area whereas a boundary is a infinitely thin, invisible, imaginary line • Frontier provides an area of separation but a boundary brings two neighbors into direct contact • A frontier area is uninhabited or sparsely settled by a few isolated pioneers • 19th Century (1800s) • Vast amounts of frontiers • Australia • American West • Canadian North • Sub-Saharan Africa

23. Boundary Evolution • Evolution • Another way to classify boundaries depends not on how they were created, but how they evolved over time • Antecedent boundaries • Existed before humans cultures developed into current forms • Subsequent boundaries • Grow to divide space as result of human interaction • Superimposed boundaries • Forcibly put on the landscape • Relict boundary • No longer functions has a boundary • Boundary Creation • Several steps on the growth of boundaries into final form • Definition • Phase in which the exact location of a boundary is legally described and negotiated • De Jure • De Facto • Delimitation • Is the step when the boundary’s definition is drawn onto a map • Demarcation • Is the visible marking of a boundary on the landscape with a fence, line, sign, wall, or other means • Administration • Is the enforcement by a government or people of the boundary that has been created

25. Boundary disputes • Conflicts over boundaries are divided into different categories • Can include mix of categories • Type of Disputes • Definitional disputes • Fight over the language of border agreement in a treaty or contract • Japan and Russia • Locational disputes • Occur when conflicting parties agree on the definition but not on where the boundary exists on a map • Operational disputes • Conflicts over the way a boundary should operation or function • Allocational boundary disputes • Fights over resources that may by

26. Territorial Morphology • Territorial Morphology • Relationship between a state’s geographic shape, size, relative location, and it’s political situation • Shape of states • Controls the length of its boundaries with other states • Shape affects potential for communication and conflict with neighbors • Shape is part of its identity • Shape can determine the difficulty or ease of internal administration and social unity • 5 basic shapes • Compact • Elongated • Prorupted • Perforated • Fragmented

27. Compact States • Definition: • the distance from the center to any boundary does not vary significantly • Theoretically would be shaped in a circle or square • Capital at center and shortest boundaries to defend • Often the political ideal • Compactness is a beneficial characteristic for most smaller states • Good for communications • Does not necessarily means peace

28. Elongated States • Definition: • states with long and narrow shape • Problems: • May suffer from poor internal communications and transporation • Region at north or south end may be isolated • Capital may lose influence over one end of the elongation • Examples: • Chile, Malawi, Italy, Gambia

29. Prorupted States • Definition: • Also called protruded • compact state with large protruding extension • Proruptions created for two reasons • Can provide access to a resource • Separate two states that would otherwise share a boundary • Problems • Protruding piece might be separated from core • Examples: • Congo, Namibia, Afghanistan, Thailand

30. Perforated States • Definition: • A state that completely surrounds another one • “has a hole punched out” • Problems • Relationship between the perforated state and perforating state can cause tension • Example • South Africa • Completely surrounds state of Lesotho • Depends entirely on South Africa for import and export of goods

31. Fragmented States • Definition: • includes several discontinuous pieces of territory • Most extreme example • Indonesia • Problems • Maintaining unity • Two kinds of fragmented states • Those with areas separated by water • Tanzania, Indonesia • Those separated by an intervening state • Angola, Russia, Panama, India

32. Panama • Was an example of a fragmented state until US signed a treaty with Panama turning over the canal zone to the country of Panama

33. Landlocked States • Lacks a direct route to the sea because it is completely surrounded by several other countries • Most common in Africa • 14 countries landlocked • Remnant of colonial era • Built railroads, but now they run through several independent countries • Direct access to ocean is critical for trading • Must use another country’s seaport

34. Internal Political Organization of States • A state’s size and cultural composition are also factors in its political situation and internal organization • States are smaller in geographic size and population may be more politically unified, but not always • Microstate is a very small state • Such as Singapore • Often have a unitary government structure • The governments of states are organized according to one of two approaches • Unitary state • Power is concentrated in the central government • Federal state • Allocates strong power to units of local government within the country

35. Unitary vs. Federal • Unitary state • Works best in nation-states with few cultural differences • Strong sense of unity • Requires effective communications • Smaller states more likely to adopt it • Common in Europe • Some multinational states have adopted it • Can impose value of nationality • Kenya, Rwanda • Federal state • Federal states have local governments that adopt their own laws • Can empower nationalities in multinational states • Different names • States, provinces, estados • Suitable for larger states • United States, Russia, Canada, Brazil, India • Where capital is far away • Size doesn’t matter though • Belgium= federal • China= unitary

36. Confederation Structure • Definition • Structure in which a weak central government exists with regional governments holding the majority of power • Or a group of states united for a common purpose • Articles of Confederation was the first document binding together the 13 American colonies • Confederacy during Civil War

37. Trend toward Federal Government • In recent years there has been a strong global trend toward Federal government. • France • Good example of nation-state • Long tradition of Unitary government • Recently giving more authority to departments and communes • Poland • Switched from Unitary to Federal government after fall of Communist rule • Lack of local government led to breakdown of infrastructure • 1999 adopted a three-tier system of local government • Transition difficult • Lack of experience • Thousands of positions

38. Political Enclaves and Exclaves • Enclaves • Territorial enclave is a state, or part of a state, surrounded completely by another state • Lesotho is an enclave surrounded by South Africa • West Berlin was an enclave within the state of East Germany • Exclaves • When an enclave is land that is a political extension of another state, then it is called an exclave • Alaska is an exclave of the United States because it is cut off from the rest of the country by Canada