Political Geography

1. Political Geography AP Human Geography

2. Impact of Political Geography • Political Geography sometimes called Geopolitics • Geopolitics – study of human systems, constantly in a state of spatially organizing the land to fit the needs of humans • Also includes distribution of resources and gender/ethnicity • Ethnicity – cultural aspects of a group of people • Race – biological heritage of a group

3. Understanding Political Geography • States – an area with defined boundaries and exercises sovereign control over areas inside and outside its borders • Territorial Ownership – some states extend through colonialism or other forces • Commonwealth – a territory that has established a mutual agreement with another state for the benefit of both parties • Territorial Dispute – conflict that arises when two or more countries vie for control over a territory • Nation – group of people with common cultural characteristics • Nation-State – a state’s boundaries coincide with the cultural boundaries of a particular group – in a perfect nation-state, everyone would be same ethnicity, speak same language, practice same religion, etc • Sovereignty – states regulate their own internal affairs and external affairs • Coup d’etat – a particular group leads a revolt against the current ruling power

4. The Struggle for Sovereignty • Kurds – Middle East • Basques – Spain • Flemish – Belgium • Zulu – South Africa • Palestinians – Israel • Hmong – Mongolia, China, East Asia

5. Boundaries • Geometric Boundaries – latitude/longitude or straight lines • Antecedent boundary – one that existed before human settlement of the area, settlement followed the boundary • Physical Boundaries – natural features • Ethnographic or Cultural Boundaries – cultural factors like language, ethnicity, religions, etc • Berlin Conference – European countries superimposed boundaries on Africa that didn’t fit the cultural boundaries - doomed from the start

6. Boundary Disputes • Ethnic conflicts – disagreements that result in military action or violence of one ethnic group against another • Religious conflicts – violence between members of different religious groups • Balkanization – breakup of an area into smaller independent units and usually involves some degree of hostility • Annexation – adding territory to an already existing state

7. Boundary Disputes • Definitional boundary disputes – arise from legal language of the treaty’s definition of the boundary • Locational boundary disputes – arise when the definition of the boarder is not questioned but the interpretation of the border is • Operational boundary disputes – two countries next to each other disagree on a major issue involving the border • Allocational boundary disputes – do not question the boundary itself but rather the use of it

8. Boundary Disputes • UNCLOS – United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea – 1958 • International Law of the Sea – 1983 • Foreign Countries could not have their military or other ships travel within 12 miles of the coast of any other country • Countries have EEZ • Exclusive economic zones – countries have the right to explore for resources up to 200 miles off their shores • Median-line principle – line is drawn in the water equidistant from each competing party • Global Commons – countries do not have the right to search for natural resources

9. Creation of Boundaries • Antecedent Boundaries – exist before human settlement of an area • Subsequent Boundaries – develop along with the development of the cultural landscape • Superimposed Boundaries – political boundary that ignores the existing cultural organization on the landscape • Relic Boundaries – relic on the landscape, boundary does not exist any longer, but its impact is still felt and seen on the landscape • Reunification – reuniting two areas once apart as one state • Boundary evolution – technical wording of a treaty that legally defines where a boundary should be located • Delimitation – transition or translation of the boundary evolution • Demarcation – process of physically representing a boundary on the landscape • Border landscape – demarcation zone can be a tense area, where the hostilities of two countries come to a head

10. Colonialism • (Geographic) Colonialism – practice of establishing political dominance over a people for economic, political, and territorial gain • Organic Theory – Friedrich Ratzel coined geopolitics – growth of states, state was like a living entity that constantly needed to grow to thrive, states constantly need new territory to meet the demands of growing population • Religious – religions seek to save the unsaved, conversion, also religious freedom • Search for Wealth – quest of wealth • Voyageurs – traders went deep into the wilderness to trap animals and bring back the furs in dugout canoes • Glory – prestige to have colonies around the world • Self Determination – power of a people to establish their own government the way that they see fit • Suffrage – power to vote on issues regarding their welfare • Women’s Enfranchisement – right of women to vote

11. Colonialism • Patterns and Impacts – British, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Belgians, Italians – Europeans • Factors of Success • Europeans had more advanced military technology • Impact of disease on indigenous people • Lack of immunity • Strong industrial base

12. Types of Empires • Land Empire – involves conquest by force – armies will attack, pillage, and plunder their way thru another land, taking resources by force • Sea – sea power to control an area • Forward Capital – capital city that is put in a particular location to show that the home country has the intention of using land that is not in current use • Settlement – not necessarily to send resources back to home country, rather settlers intend to stay for a long time

13. 5 Shapes of Countries • Microstates/Ministates – small area, small population • Territorial Morphology – country can exhibit characteristics of one or more shapes • Compact – borders are equidistant from center of country • Elongated – countries are at least twice as long as they are wide, long and skinny • Fragmented – country is in pieces that are not attached to each other • Exclave – an area separated from its state by another state • Perforated – country has an entire state completely inside its borders • Enclave – country that is completely surrounded by another political state • Landlocked – no access to the sea • Prorupted – country has a protrusion extending out from its main base

14. Political Organization of Space • Humans use space in different ways and have different methods of how to govern that space • Embassies – offices around the world • Ambassadors – lead officials representing their country in other countries • Consulates – secondary offices deal with economic issues as well as granting visas to enter home countries • Federal Government – central government of a country • State Governments – individual states w/in US have gov’t • United Nations • North Atlantic Treaty Organization • SEATO – Southeast Asian Treaty Organization • CENTO – Central Treaty Organization • Satellite states – countries under control of a superpower • Iron Curtain – divided democratic, capitalist Western Europe from totalitarian, communist Eastern Europe during Cold War • Shatterbelt regions – regions caught up in a conflict between two superpowers, boundaries change often as a result • Buffer state – country that lies between two other states but remain neutral in the conflict between them

15. Heartland Theory • Sir HalfordMacKinder, British political geographer – 1904 • Whoever owns Eastern Europe and Western Asia has the political power and capital to rule the world • Hitler believed in this theory – why he invaded Eastern Europe

16. Rimland Theory • Nicholas Spykman – Netherlands political geographer – theory on world domination and politics – used MacKinder’s ideas • Believes that forming alliances is necessary to keep the heartland in check, because heartland is so powerful no individual country can contain it by itself

17. Domino Theory • CIA developed – US adopted in 1960-70s • When one country experiences rebellion or political disunity, other countries around it will also experience turmoil as a result, leading to a domino effect of political instability in the region • Irredentism – attempt by one country to provoke coups or separatist movements in another country

18. Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces • Centrifugal forces – forces that break up a state • Centripetal forces – forces that tend to unite a state • Nationalism – focuses on a people’s religion, language, or ethnicity rather than the state, potentially leading to the breakup of the state • Devolution – giving up of power by the central or federal government to the different regions of a country • Regionalism – breaking up an area into autonomous regions • National iconography – centripetal forces might be symbolized thru art – flag, painting, inspires patriotism • Theocracies – one particular religion is intertwined with the political structure • Supranationalism – method of extending state borders thru the assistance and/or establishment of other organizations to further economic and/or political cooperation

19. Historical Geography of the US • Historical geography – analyzes geographic patterns thru history • Immigrant state – comprised primarily of immigrants and their descendants • Confederation – loose grouping of states for a common purpose • Unitary – style of gov’t where all decisions are made by the national gov’t • Representative – leaders are elected from the individual states to be representatives and senators in two houses of congress • Senator – serves the entire state • Representative – serves their district • Gerrymandering – redrawing of political boundaries for political gain by one of the major political powers • Frontier – area that is not yet under the control of a state but where people from the state are migrating • Manifest destiny – belief that the US gov’t was meant to rule the land between the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean

20. Issues of Geopolitics • Ethnicity and Culture – Concepts and Issues • Ethnicity vs race • Globalization – movement toward one common culture across the world, interconnectedness of ideas, goods, and info around the earth • Cultural shatterbelt – area where people are aught between the globalization or modernization of their culture and the traditional cultural identity • Cultural adaptation – transition of a varied cultural environment into one culture, means that local cultures are dying out and new ones are emerging

21. Issues of Geopolitics • Immigration – people moving into a country • Acculturation – adaptation to a new culture from the old culture of the original location (ethnic homeland) • Assimilation – gives immigrants a sense of belonging to their new country • Chain migration – immigrants here save money and send it to family members so they can come here too • Voluntary segregation – newly arrived immigrants do not speak the language choose to live in an area where they can communicate and feel comfortable culturally • Ethnic neighborhoods – share the same language and sometimes dominant religion • Barrios – spanish speaking urban neighborhoods in the US • Ethnic landscape – evidence of an ethnicity on the features of the landscape – public buildings, commercial businesses • Plural society – characterized by two or more ethnicities living in the same area but each keeping their own identity and characteristics

22. Issues of Geopolitics • Oppression of minorities • Forced segregation is the separation of a group of people by law • Ghettos – walled holding pens within the cities where minorities were kept before eventually being taken to concentration camps • Ethnic enclave – ethnic neighborhood that is surrounded by people of a different ethnicity • Ethnic conflict – two different ethnic groups vie for the same territory • Ethnic cleansing (genocide) – dominant ethnicity will try to eliminate the less powerful group • Ethnic diversity – gov’t needs to see diversity as a strength and enact measures to preserve the different ethnicities and cultures within a society; when gov’t sees as a weakness, the less powerful ethnicity will be suppressed or even eliminated