POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY

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

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

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

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

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

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:LanguageReligionShared historyTerritory (not always)

Example: Jewish nation

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

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

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.

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

Examples of Ethnonational ConflictPlace Conflicting Parties Reason

South Asia India and Pakistan Two parties are fighting over control of Kashmir

Palestine, Southwest Asia

Jewish Israelis vs Muslim Palestinians and Arab allies

The stateless nation of Muslim Palestinians and their Arab allies are warring against the Jewish-controlled state of Israel for autonomy

Southeast Asia

Mainland China and Taiwan

Taiwan founded in the 1940s. China does not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state

Former Yugoslavia

Serbs vs all the other nationalities that were once part of “Yugoslavia”

In the 1990s different nations in the multinational state of Yugoslavia warred to break away from the Serb-dominated government in Belgrade.

Russia Russia vs Chechnya Chechnya is a state in the Russian republic, governed by Moscow.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 statesShape 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 statesUnited States, Russia,

Canada, Brazil, IndiaWhere capital is far away

Size doesn’t matter though• Belgium= federal• China= unitary

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

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

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