• Political Geography-the study of political activity in a spatial context.
• Over 200 countries and territories in the world
• Greatly Diverse– inequality of size, relative location, population,
resources and potential– landlocked or have little coastline– surrounded by hostile nations
Rise in New States
• Over last 30 empires have collapsed– has added to
the number of independent states.
– Many newly independent nations have problems
Political CulturePolitical Culture• Some state systems separate church & state
while others are theocracies-governments led by religious leaders.
• Land ownership– communal ownership va individual ownership.
(Africa-imperialism, Indians of N. America).
• Challenges to political territory provides a strong motivation for warfare.
Theory of human territoriality
Assignment
• Find and example of Human Territoriality in action.
• Take a Photo
• Print the photo or send it to Ms Anderson in an e-mail along with a description of WHY this is human territoriality.
StateStateState – a politically organized territory with a permanent
population, a defined territory, and a government. To be a state, an entity must be recognized as such by other states.
How many states do you see?
The StateThe State• A state provides services for
its citizens.• It demands taxes• It demands adherence to the
laws.• It demands military service• Periods of adversity can
increase a sense of nationalism-but can backfire
• A state is possible only if a national attitude or emotional attachment to the state develops.
Geographic Characteristics of StatesGeographic Characteristics of States• States vary greatly in Size-some huge like Russia 6.6 m.
sq. miles, others large with 3 m. sq. miles like US, China, Brazil, Canada-some are microstates-Vatican, Monaco, Andorra, Grenada.
• Shape-some are compact while other are elongated or fragmented.
• Demography-some have huge populations like China’s 1.3 billion or tiny like Iceland with 250,000.
• Organization-monarchy, democratic, dictatorship, theocratic.
• Resources-natural and skilled population• Development-subsistence to tertiary• Power-both economic and military
NationsNations• Nation – a culturally
defined group of people with a shared past and a common future who relate to a territory and have political goals.
• People construct nations to make sense of themselves.
• Nations are “imagined communities”
Stateless NationsStateless Nations• Sovereignty-complete control
over a territory’s political & military affairs. Some nations do not have their own state-this can lead to conflict.
• Palestinians are the most well known example-a stateless nation in conflict with Israel over territory.
• Kurds-about 20 million people live in Kurdistan-which covers 6 states-since the 1991 Iraq War-Kurdish Security Zone has been virtually independent.
Defining the Nation-StateDefining the Nation-State
• A Nation should have– A single language– A common history– A similar ethnic
background– Unity from a common
political system.
• Cultural homogeneity not as important as “national spirit” or emotional commitment to the state.
• A Nation-State has:– Clearly delineated
territory– Substantial population– Well-organized
government– Shared political and
cultural history– Emotional ties to
institutions or political systems or an ideology.
Nation State Examples
Ethnic groups make up more than 95% of the population:
• Albania
• Bangladesh
• Egypt
• Estonia11]
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Japan
• Lebanon
• Lesotho.• Maldives• Malta• Mongolia• North Korea• Poland • Portugal • San Marino• Swaziland
Ethnicity, Geography, Politics and Tension…
• Case study of how Rwanda was impacted by these forces.
European Colonialism & the European Colonialism & the Diffusion of the Nation-State ModelDiffusion 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
Colonialism
“We must find new lands from which we can easily obtain raw materials and at the same time exploit the cheap slave labor that is available form the natives of the colonies. The colonies would also provide a dumping ground for the surplus goods produced in our factories.”– Cecil Rhodes, British colonialist, southern Africa
Devolution –Devolution –Movement of power from the central government to regional governments within the state.
What causes devolutionary movements?
Ethnocultural forcesEconomic forcesSpatial forces
The Forces of Devolution-Cultural ForcesThe Forces of Devolution-Cultural Forces• Yugoslavia
– Civil War in the 1990s
– Thrown together after WW I • 7 major, 17 minor ethnic groups, 3 religions & 2 alphabets
• North-Croats & Slovenes-Catholic
• South-Serbs are Orthodox, Muslim enclaves
• Rwanda– Belgian Colonialism
– Historic ethnic tension between tribes• Hutu & Tutsi – capitalized on by Belgian colonialists
– Post-Colonial Devolution• Power sharing in government fails
• Quebec and Parti Quebecois in Canada
• Sudan-Muslim north & Christian south
• Sri Lanka-Tamils, a Hindu minority fight for independence from the Sinhalese a Buddhist majority
The Forces of Devolution-Cultural ForcesThe Forces of Devolution-Cultural Forces
Genocide Genocide • Genos, greek for tribe or
family, -cide from Latin to kill.
• Last 100 years over 50 million people were murdered due to race, ethnicity, religion or political persuasion.– Mao Zedong-30 m.
Chinese
– Stalin-20 m. Soviets
– Nazis-11.4 m. Jews, Slavs, etc.
– Japan 10 m. Chinese, etc.