Political Geography

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Chapter 8

• Political Geography

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How is space politically organized into States
and Nations?

• Political Geography is the study of the political
  organization of the world.
• Political geographers study the spatial
  manifestations of political processes at various
  scales.
• State A politically organized territory with a
  permanent population, a defined territory, and a
  government.
• Under international law, states are sovereign,
  and they have the right to defend their
  territorial integrity against incursion from
  other states.

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United Nations Members
Fig. 8-1 The UN has increased from 51 members in
1945 to 191 in 2003.
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Nations
The popular media and press often use the words
nation, state, and country interchangeably.
Political geographers use State and Country
interchangeably (preferring state), but the word
Nation is distinct. Nation is a culturally
defined terma group of people with a shared
past.
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Large and Small States

• Large states include Russia, China, Canada, US
  and Brazil
• Microstates (very small states) include
• Monaco and Vatican city.

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Three international geopolitical theories

• Friedrich Ratzel Organic Theory
• States that did not expand their land area would
  disintegrate
• Halford Mackinder Heartland Theory
• Eurasian landmass was the worlds heartland and
  key to world domination
• Nicholas Spykman Rimland Theory
• The rimland surrounding the heartland and
  including the worlds oceans was key to world
  power.

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Development of the State Concept

• The concept of dividing the world into a
  collection of independent states is recent.
  Prior to the 1800sEarths surface was organized
  into
• City-States
• Empires
• Tribes

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Ancient States

• The ancient Fertile Crescent formed an arc
  between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean
  Sea.
• The eastern end, Mesopotamia, was centered in the
  valley formed by the Tigris and Euphrates
  riversin present day Iraq.
• It then curved westward over the
  desertencompassing present day Syria, Lebanon
  and Israel.
• The Nile Valley of Egypt is sometimes regarded as
  an extension of the Fertile Crescent.

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The Fertile Crescent
Fig. 8-3 The Fertile Crescent was the site of
early city-states and a succession of ancient
empires.
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Colonies

• A colony is a territory that is legally tied to a
  sovereign state rather than being completely
  independent.
• European states came to control much of the world
  through colonialism.
• This is an effort by one country to establish
  settlements and impose its political, economic
  and cultural principles on such territory.

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European states established colonies elsewhere in
the world for three basic reasons

• European missionaries established colonies to
  promote Christianity.
• Colonies provided resources that helped the
  economy of European states.
• European states considered the number of colonies
  to be an indicator of relative power.
• The three motives---
• GOD, GOLD, GLORY!

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Colonial Possessions, 1914
By the outbreak of World War I, European states
held colonies throughout the world, especially
throughout Africa and in much of Asia.
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Colonial Possessions, 2003
Most of the remaining colonies are small islands
in the Pacific or Caribbean.
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Boundaries and Boundary Problems of States

• shapes of states
• five basic shapes
• compactThe distance from the center to any
  boundary does not vary significantly.
• prorupted an otherwise large projecting
  extension is a prorupted states
• Eelongatedstates with a long narrow shape
• fragmentedincludes discontinuous pieces of
  territory separated by land or water
• perforateda state that completely surrounds
  another state

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Political Geography
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Microstates
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Tonga-Microstate
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African States
Southern, central, and eastern Africa include
states that are compact, elongated, prorupted,
fragmented, and perforated.
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Why the shape matters
Compact efficient, easier to defend Prorupted
provides state with access to a resource, also as
a buffer boundary Elongated Communication
problems Fragmented Problematic, unity
problems Perforated The state within is
dependent on the state that encompasses it.
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Gerrymandering Florida and Georgia
The dividing of a state, county, etc., into
election districts so as to give one political
party a majority
Fig. 8-11 State legislature boundaries were
drawn to maximize the number of legislators for
Republicans in Florida and Democrats in Georgia.
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Cooperation among States

• Political and military cooperation
• The United Nations
• Regional military alliances
• Economic cooperation
• The European Union (the Euro)

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The European Union and NATO
Fig. 8-12 NATO and the European Union have
expanded and accepted new members as the Warsaw
Pact and COMECON have disintegrated.
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European Boundary Changes
Fig. 8-13 Twentieth-century boundary changes in
Europe, 1914 to 2003. Germanys boundaries
changed after each world war and the collapse of
the Soviet Union.
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Ethnic Groups in Southwest Asia
Fig. 8-14 Ethnic boundaries do not match country
boundaries, especially in Iraq, Iran,
Afghanistan, and Pakistan.
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Terrorism

• The systematic use of violence by a group in
  order to intimidate a population or coerce a
  government into granting its demands.
• Terrorism by individuals and organizations
• State support for terrorism
• Libya
• Afghanistan
• Iraq
• Iran

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Al-Qaeda

• Al-Qaeda
• Founded by Osama bin Laden
• Consists of numerous cells.
• Unites jihad fighters
• Uses fundamentalist Islam to justify attacks

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World Trade Center
Ikonos satellite images of the World Trade Center
June 30, 2000, before the attack.
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World Trade Center Site September 15, 2001
Ikonos satellite images of the World Trade Center
September 15, 2001, after the attack.
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Be happy! Were getting there!
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North Korea Discussion Groups

• Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4
• Destiny Robert Kyler Shalanda
• Collin Tanner Raphael Rami
• Davis Katherine Maddie S Taylor Go.
• Megan Maddy L Henry G Max
• Group 5 Group 6 Group 7
• Melissa Henry H Stanley
• Taylor G Will Nathan
• Catie Pierce Kameron
• Ceara Zach

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North Korea Nuclear Weapons Discussion Directions

• Each person in your group is given a different
  option as to how to respond to North Koreas
  nuclear threat. Each person reads their option
  and reports out to the group.
• Together discuss and complete the pro and con
  list for each solution.
• Together decide which option your group supports
  and why. Be prepared to defend your choice.

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With your group when finished

• Create a poster from the perspective of what your
  group thinks is the best option for dealing with
  North Korea. You should explain
• What your option is advocating for U.S. policy
• Three arguments in support of your option
• At least two arguments against your opinion.