1050 Political Geography

1. 1050 Political Geography State cohesiveness and the role of nationalism

2. Part 3 - Outline • State cohesiveness and the role of nationalism • Centripetal • Centrifugal • Mythic • Examples: • Canada • Peacekeeping • Quebecois nationalism • Land entitlement • Israeli-Palestinian conflict

3. Defining nationalismDictionary of Human Geographyhttp://www.xreferplus.com/letter_picker.jsp?vol=85 • Nationalism: • A feeling of belonging to the nation • Shared cultural characteristics e.g., language, religion, ethnicity. • A corresponding political ideology which holds that the territorial and national unit should be allowed to co-exist in an autonomously congruent relationship.

4. Centrifugal Nationalism Size of state Shape of state Iconography / symbols e.g., flags, architecture, art Institutions e.g., schools, military, church Centripetal Nationalism Size of state Shape of state Iconography / symbols e.g., flags, architecture, art Institutions e.g., schools, military, church Strong state state Weak state Factors

5. State Cohesiveness Strong Strong, but stressed Weak • France (increasingly) • Migration , ethnic mix • Laws restricting expressions of cultural and religious diversity • Poverty, unemployment • Canada ? • Multiple ethnic/ cultural groups • Japan • Few ethnic/cultural groups French riots of 2005 blamed on “a racist society that has marginalized the children and grandchildren of North African immigrants” by the media (CBC)

6. Iconography - symbols (e.g., flags, architecture, art, images, figures used to represent the nation/nationalism) Institutions e.g., schools, military, church

7. Nationalism as mythic force Peace Keeper Memorial, Memorial Square, St, John’s • Myth: “a false or factually inaccurate version of states of affairs that have come to be widely believed … blueprint that lays down fundamental categories of meaning for the organization and interpretation of experience” (Ferguson, 1999: 13) http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/attachment.php?s=319ad0bd706ff59260d4ae2d54630878&attachmentid=11277&d=1155936002

8. Nationalism as mythic force • Myth: “a false or factually inaccurate version of states of affairs that have come to be widely believed … a cosmological blueprint that lays down fundamental categories of meaning for the organization and interpretation of experience” (Ferguson, 1999: 13) http://www.militaryphotos.net/forums/attachment.php?s=319ad0bd706ff59260d4ae2d54630878&attachmentid=11277&d=1155936002

9. UN Budget 2005 reforms/streamlining Core budget nearly $1.9 billion per year States of the UN obligated by the Charter - an international treaty - to pay a portion of the budget Contribution based on share of the world economy Overall spending $15+ billion (voluntary + assessed) Peacekeeping contributions discussed further below (separate budget - $3.55 billion)

10. Nationalism as mythic force Where is Canada? http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/

11. Nationalism as mythic force http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/

12. Nationalism as mythic force http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/dpko/

13. Canadian Peacekeepers • UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti - 4 • UN Disengagement Observer Force (disengagement of Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights) – 2 • UN Truce Supervision Organization, Jerusalem – 13 • UN Forces in Cyprus (monitor the cease-fire between Greek and Turkish Cypriots) – 1 • UN Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – 10 • UN Mission in Sudan, Darfur (W. Sudan) – 45 • Sierra Leone (British-led advisory and training initiative) - 11 • Multinational Force and Observers, non UN peacekeeping mission (since 1979 Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt) - El Gorah, Egypt/Sinai – 28 = 114 www.forces.gc.ca Nov. 2007

14. As of Nov. 1st 3,127 Canadian soldiers, sailors and Air Force personnel are deployed overseas on operational missions. About 8,000 Canadian Forces members - one third of our deployable force - are preparing for, engaged in or returning from an overseas mission. War on terror – “peacekeepers not expected to fight with fire” • Afghanistan: 2,537 • Contribution of Canadian warships to the U.S.-led coalition fleet conducting anti-terrorist operations in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea: 250 = 2,787

15. Afghanistan, Iraq and the U.S. “war on terror”: peacekeeping missions? U.S. attempts to secure domination? oil supply? NATO Combat Mission “Nation-building” - DND 2007 Confusion between military role and role of humanitarian actors and aid workers

16. Canada: Liberals and Conservatives join forces to extend intervention in Afghan war By Guy Charron 6 March 2008

17. Responding to repeated demands from the Canadian establishment, the minority Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the official opposition Liberals have agreed to extend the Canadian Armed Forces’ (CAF) mission in southern Afghanistan for another two-and-a-half years. • Under conditions where the Canadian public is overwhelmingly opposed to Canada’s leading role in the Afghan war, the country’s two principal parties claim to have set aside their differences in the name of the “national interest”—in other words, to jointly pursue a policy opposed by the populace.

18. Nationalism as mythic force: Canada’s role in Afghanistan “In Canada we can proudly boast peacekeeping is a major national tradition in Canada.” David Kilgour, MP for Edmonton Southeast “The appalling transformation of Canada into a lap dog of US imperialism” Murray Dobbin, the Tyee

19. Nationalism as mythic force Quebec separatism http://archives.cbc.ca/270s.asp?IDLan=1

20. Ink shed Question • In your opinion, does Canada have a strong or weak sense of nationalism? Give reasons to support your position. • Is Newfoundland a nation? Justify your answer.

21. Conflicts are increasingly within States rather than between them (between nations vs. States)

22. Modern Land Claims: • 600+ First Nations, more than 800 unresolved land disputes in Canada (June 2007) • it takes an average of 13 years to process a claim, ongoing dissatisfaction 1990 Train blockade Ont. April 2007

23. Labrador Inuit Land Claims Agreement • Filed 1977, negotiations began 1988, • Agreement-in-Principle 2001, federal assent2005 • First modern day treaty in Atlantic Canada • Settlement Area totalling approx. 72,500 sqr km, including 15,800 sqr km of Inuit-owned lands (Labrador Inuit Lands) • includes an adjacent Ocean Zone of 48,690 sqr km Nunatsiavut: Our Beautiful Land

24. establishment of the Torngat Mountains National Park Reserve, approximately 9,600 sqr km in the Settlement Area • transfer $140 million as well as $156 million for implementation + ongoing agreements on programs and services such as health care and education • self-government provisions: Nunatsiavut Government, five Inuit community governments , Inuit community corporations representing Inuit outside the Settlement Area

25. Centripetal Nationalism Size of state Shape of state Iconography / symbols e.g., flags, architecture, art Institutions e.g., schools, military, church Centrifugal Nationalism Size of state Shape of state Iconography / symbols e.g., flags, architecture, art Institutions e.g., schools, military, church Nationalism as a mythic force

26. Israel and Palestine: Geohistories of conflict • A long geohistorical, religious, and political process • Biblical: Abraham and Ishmael • European strategic geopolitics: oil, trade routes [e.g Suez Canal], colonialism • Anti-Semitism (pogroms, Nazism) • Nationalism: Jewish and Palestinian desires for self-determination • Contemporary geopolitics • Cold War: US Doctrine of containment; domino theory • ‘Western’ interests: energy [oil] security; economic security • US financial support for Israel http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/US-Israel/U.S._Assistance_to_Israel1.html • http://www.globalissues.org/TradeRelated/Debt/USAid.asp

27. Who are the Palestinians and Israelis? • Palestinians include Muslims, Christians, and Druze • Currently a ‘state-less’ nation and therefore ‘citizenship-less’ • Israelis include Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze • Became a political state in 1948 • The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not simply Jews vs. Muslims, though it is often represented that way Wailing Wall (Jewish) and Dome of the Rock (Muslim)

28. Biblical promise of land to Abraham and his decedents [begets Isaac, begets Jacob a.k.a. Israel] Historical site of the Jewish Kingdom of Israel Need for haven from European anti-Semitism Jewish Claims Several hundred years of continuous residence Demographic majority Bible is not a legitimate basis for modern claim to territory Palestinian Claims Jewish and Palestinian Claims to Land

29. Zionism and Jewish immigration to land of ‘Palestine’, c. 1882 • Zionism = Jewish nationalism; a modern political movement • Palestine does not yet exist as a state; land still part of Ottoman Empire • Up to 20 C. most Jews living in area known as Palestine were not Zionist • Zionism brought to Palestine by European Jewish immigrants (more secular; committed to creating Israel as a modern state)

30. Europe and Palestine 1915 - WWII www.jerusalem-archives.org/ period3/3-4.html • 1915-16 British High Comissioner [Sir Henry McMahon] convinces Arabs to revolt against Ottomans • Ottomans supporting Germans in WWI • British promised Arabs establishment of Arab state [later renege on agreement] T.E. Lawrence and Emir Abdullah ibn-Hussein el Hashimi, 1921

31. Europe and Palestine 1915 - WWII • 1917: in addition to British promise of Arab nation, British Foreign Minister Arthur Balfour calls for establishment of Jewish “national home in Palestine” • Balfour Declaration • Simultaneously, Britain and France [victors of WWI] secretly agree to carve up Arab provinces of former Ottoman Empire for themselves • Britain and France convince League of Nations to grant them quasi-colonial authority: called mandates • 1921: Britain divides its mandate in two: Palestine becomes political entity for first time in modern history www.us-israel.org/jsource/ myths/mf1.html

32. Europe and Palestine 1915 - WWII • Why are British and French interested in region? • Oil • Trade routes [Suez Canal] • Territory • Arabs oppose British and French Mandates • Violates rights for self-determination and self-rule [as promised by British] • Jewish immigration from Europe threatened Palestinian Arab position in their country www.us-israel.org/jsource/ myths/mf1.html

33. Formation of State of Israel • Post-WWII, UN appoints committee to find political solution to Palestinian Arab and Jewish claims • As of 1946, Mandate Palestine populated by 1,269,000 Arabs [Muslim, Christian, Druze] and 608,000 Jews [many European immigrants] • Jews had purchased 6-8% of total land area from absentee Arab land lords; accounted for 20% of available arable land • November 29th 1947, UN General Assembly votes to partition Palestine into two states, one Arab and the other Jewish

34. Formation of State of Israel • Division of land • 43% allotted to Palestinian Arabs • 56% to Jews [to accommodate future immigration] • Jerusalem and Bethlehem to be international zones • May 15th, 1948, British mandate officially ends, evacuate Palestine • Neighbouring Arab states [Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq] immediately invade • ‘Save’ Palestine from Jewish control, but also had own territorial plans e.g. control of ports, trade, oil • Results: • country once known as Palestine divided into 3 parts: Israel, West Bank, Gaza Strip • Palestinian state envisioned in UN plan never established • Creation of 700,000 Palestinian refugees

35. Palestinians Today • Palestinians are Arabs [Muslim, Christian, Druze] with historical roots to the territory of Palestine defined in the British Mandate • 3 million live within this area divided among Israel, West Bank, and Gaza Strip • 700,000 are Israeli citizens • 1.2 million live in West Bank • 1 million in Gaza Strip • 3 million in diaspora • The diaspora community is without citizenship; Jordan only Arab state to grant citizenship www.cnn.com/.../mideast/stories/ history.maps/accords.html

36. Key Event: June 1967 War and the “Occupied Territories” • Spring 1967: Israel and Syria clash [Palestinian commando attacks from Syria] • May 1967: Syria requests Egyptian military assistance • Egyptian troops enter Sinai, blockade Israeli ports • June 5th 1967: Israel launches preemptive strike against Egypt, Syria, and Jordan • Decisive defeat of Arab nations • Israel withdraws from Sinai under international pressure, but maintained military control of Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Golan Heights [the Occupied Territories] http://www.passia.org/palestine_facts/MAPS/

37. Key Event: October 1973 War • 1970: Egyptian President [Anwar Sadat] indicates willingness to negotiate peace treaty with Israel via UN • Both Israel and US ignore • October 1973: Egypt and Syria decide to attack • Israel eventually thwarts invasion • Prompts direct US political intervention and major increase in US military funding to Israel • $1.5 billion US in military grants 1974 alone • recall: OPEC, oil shock, Cold War

38. The Occupied Territories • Consequences for Palestinian residents of Israeli military control of Gaza, West Bank, and Golan Heights: • Denial of freedom of expression • Denial of freedom of press • Denial of freedom of political association • Expression of Palestinian nationalism [e.g. national colours] is criminalized • “Palestinian terrorism” is defined by Israel as any form of opposition to Israeli occupation, including non-violent actions www.un.org/Depts/dpa/ qpal/pal_maps.htm

39. Key Event: The Intifada and Palestinian Militancy, 1987-1991 • December 1987: Beginning of popular uprising of Palestinian population of Gaza and West Bank • Arabic for “shaking off” • Begins as civil disobedience • Demonstrations, strikes, refusal to pay taxes, boycotts of Israeli products, graffitti, underground schools • 1987-1991 sees increasing escalation of violence on both sides • Involvement of PLO and various factions • Prior to Intifada, Israelis encouraged formation of radical Islamic groups to engender internal divides in Palestinian populations

40. Key Event: The Intifada and Islamic Militancy, 1987-1991 • PLO initially a more moderate group [seeking political solution] • However, as Intifada continues, rise in popularity of more radical Islamic groups occurs [willingness to use force] • Recall: Israel initially encouraged formation of such groups to cause internal divisions amongst Palestinians • To maintain legitimacy amongst Palestinians, PLO shifts away from political moderation • Tacit and direct support for groups such as HAMAS [Islamic Resistance Movement]

41. Key Event: Initiation of “The Peace Process” beginning 1991 • Major issues left unresolved: • Extent of territories to be ceded by Israel • Nature of PA’s governmental power • Future of Israeli settlements • Israel has continued to build settler colonies in Occupied Territories • Direct violation of Fourth Geneva Convention • New road networks connect settlements with Israel while by-passing and dividing Palestinian settlements • Infrastructure projects mark out territory to be annexed in whatever final agreement is reached • Direct violation of Fourth Geneva Convention http://www.un.org/Depts/dpa/qpal/pal_maps.htm

42. Israeli Settler Colonies: Political Control through Spatial Control www.poica.org/casestudies/ geopolitical%20situation/

44. http://www.auphr.org/thewall/