World Regional Geography political trends

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World Regional Geography political trends

• The world of nations and states
• 192 countries are members of the United Nations
• Largest in population China 1.36 Billion
• Smallest in population Liechtenstein 31,000
• Largest in size Russia 6.6m sq. miles
• Smallest in size Monaco 1 sq. mile
• (leaving out Vatican City)

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World Regional Geography political trends (cont)

• Sovereign States are the basic legal entity into
  which the world has been divided
• De jure boundaries defined by and
  internationally recognized borders
• Many are a product of conflict and territorial
  competition
• rather than natural boundaries defining
  individual cultural groups
• In particular, most of the boundaries of Africa,
  Asia and the Middle East (e.g., Iraq)
• defined during the last decades of the 19th
  century and the first decades of the 20th
  century,
• e.g., Conference of Berlin in 1888

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World Regional Geography political trends (cont)

• Boundaries imposed on those peoples for the sake
  of
• Administrative control
• Avoid conflict between Europeans as they
  colonized much of the rest of the world
• After independence most of those boundaries
  remained the same
• Have resulted in considerable conflict since then

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World Regional Geography political trends (cont)

• De Jure boundaries are relatively stable
• Most of the worlds countries dont like to see
  country boundaries change
• Why?
• Some dynamism in boundaries also (e.g.,)
• Break up of the Soviet Union into 15 countries
• Joining of North and South Vietnam
• Boundary changes between Morocco and Mauritania
• Boundary conflicts
• Greece and Turkey
• France and Italy
• Israel and Palestine

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World Regional Geography political trends (cont)

• De facto boundaries
• Much more complex and difficult to identify and
  can occur within or across countries
• Two or more groups of people that consider
  themselves radically different from each other
• Perpetuated through time
• May go back hundreds of years
• Very difficult to solve

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De Facto Boundaries

• Defined by
• Ethnic, cultural or ideological differences and
  historical conflict between similar peoples
• E.g., Northern Ireland (unionists and
  nationalists)
• Lebanon (different religious groups)
• Belgium (cultural)

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Political Graffiti in Northern Ireland
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Cultural-Political Graffiti in Northern Ireland
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World Regional Geography political trends (cont)

• Nations and Peoples
• 192 countries maybe 3,000 to 5,000 nations or
  peoples
• From small to large Bretons in France to Oromo
  in East Africa (20m)
• Other examples
• Karen in S.Asia
• Palestinians in occupied territories (Israel)
• Mayans in Guatamala
• Indian nations in U.S.
• Kurds in Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq

Karen People calling for independence from Burma
(Myanmar)
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World Regional Geography political trends (cont)

• Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces
• Centripetal bind a country together and define
  a people(s) into a single national identity
• Often common language or religion
• Most importantly a sense of shared history
• Some countries have strong centripetal forces.,
  eg., U.S., Rep. of Ireland, France, Argentina
• Nationalism
• Key centripetal force
• Socially constructed
• Via primary school system
• Shared myths, heroes, triumphs, tragedies etc.

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World Regional Geography political trends (cont)

• Nationalism
• History of the victor
• Whos history
• Centrifugal forces (break a country apart)
• More than one religion, language (sometimes)
• More than one cultural group
• Attempt by one cultural group to dominate

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World Regional Geography political trends (cont)

• New world order
• Triumph of capitalism over communism
• U.S. as sole superpower
• New forms of conflict
• Radical Islam versus modernism
• Terrorism
• Violent acts directed at civilians
• State terrorism

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World Regional Geography political trends (cont)

• Supranational groups
• Political e.g., NATO
• Economic, eg., ASEAN, NAFTA
• Political/Economic, EU
• Global
• United Nations