Geopolitics
Canadian & World Issues
“A Key Study in Geography”
 Politics: The practice of decision-making by society as
a whole, usually formalized at the government level.
 Political topics concerned with Geography:
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Trade
military alliances
foreign aid
Immigration / emigration
territorial control
economic systems
areas of land suitable to support society and distribution of
wealth
“A Key Study in Geography”
• Examples of how Politics and Geography are
related:
– Geographical factors can cause political changes
• e.g. When Switzerland restricts immigration because it, as a
nation, already has a high enough population.
– Political factors can cause Geographical changes
• e.g. An increase in oil prices has led to an expanded search
for oil in the Arctic and North sea, thus causing
Geographical changes.
“A Key Study in Geography”
• Geopolitics: The study of the two-way
relationship between political beliefs and actions
on one side and any of the usual concerns of
geography on the other.
Classification of Political Systems
• Supranational Political Systems
• National Political Systems
• Other Ways of Classifying Governments:
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Governments by Mode of Succession
Governments by Type of Rule
Governments by Structure
Levels of Government
Branches of Government
Supranational Political Systems
• Empires
• e.g. British, Roman, and Ottoman
• a major political unit having a territory of great
extent or a number of territories or peoples under
a single sovereign authority
Supranational Political Systems
• Leagues
• e.g. Baltic, Arab; also League of Nations
• an association of nations or other political entities
for a common purpose
Supranational Political Systems
• Confederations
• e.g. European Union
• is a large state composed of many self-governing
regions
• has a very weak central government with little
influence over the actions or policies of the
member regions
Supranational Political Systems
• Federations
• e.g. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
• formed by a compact between political units that
surrender their individual sovereignty to a central
authority but retain limited residuary powers of
government
Supranational Political Systems
• United Nations
• voluntary association of most of the world's
nation-states
• not a world government and it does not make
laws
National Political Systems
• Unitary Nation-States
• e.g. Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Great Britain, The
Netherlands, Japan, Poland, Romania, the
Scandinavian countries, Spain, and many of the
Latin-American and African countries
• basically a single tier of government with varying
degrees decentralization - some are decentralized
so much as to resemble federal states, some
allow limited regional rule, others have only token
decentralization
National Political Systems
• Federal Systems
• e.g. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, India,
Russia, and the United States, Austria, Germany,
Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Switzerland, and
Venezuela
• political authority is divided between two
autonomous sets of governments, one national
and the other sub-national, both of which operate
directly upon the people
World Governments in 1900
World Governments in 1950
World Governments in 2000
World Governments in 2050
Canada and the European Union
Canada and the European Union
Canada and the European Union
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Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
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Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom
• Croatia
• Macedonia
• Turkey
Canada and the European Union
Canada and the European Union
• Other European Countries (non EU members)
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Albania
Andorra
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Georgia
Iceland
Liechtenstein
Moldova
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Monaco
Montenegro
Norway
Russia
San Marino
Serbia
Switzerland
Ukraine
Vatican City State
Canada and the European Union
Canada
European Union
Government
Leader
The Rt. Hon.
6 month rotation
Stephen Harper
Government Type
Parliamentary
Democracy
Supranational
Union
Formation
July 1, 1867
May 9, 1950
Population
33 million
495 million
Canada and the European Union
Area
Divisions
Canada
European Union
9 984 670 sq km
4 325 675 sq km
10 provinces,
3 territories
27 countries
Capital
Ottawa, Ontario Brussels, Belgium
Gross Domestic
Product
$1.1 trillion US
$13.4 trillion US
Canada and the European Union
• EU Council President Rotation
– Current Head of Government of country identified
assumes additional duties of President of EU for term
– 2007 Jan-Jun
Germany
– 2007 Jul-Dec
Portugal
– 2008 Jan-Jun
Slovenia
– 2008 Jul-Dec
France
– 2009 Jan-Jun
Czech Republic
– 2009 Jul-Dec
Sweden
– 2010 Jan-Jun
Spain
– 2010 Jul-Dec
Belgium
Canada and the European Union
• 15 countries use the Euro as their currency:
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Austria
Belgium
Cyprus
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Ireland
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Italy
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Portugal
Slovenia
Spain
Canada and the European Union
• EU Currency (Bills)
– Multi-coloured
– Archways and Bridges
– NOT specific sites (i.e. not
country-specific)
– € 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and
500 denominations
Canada and the European Union
• Canadian Currency (Bills)
– Multi-coloured
– Prime Ministers (& Queen)
and “themes”
• $5 Laurier Children at Play
• $10 Macdonald
Remembrance and
Peackeeping
• $20 Elizabeth II Arts and
Culture
• $50 King Nation Building
• $100 Borden Exploration
and Innovation
Canada and the European Union
• EU Coins
– Uniform front, national back
– All coins are valid in all countries
– 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 cent pieces plus €1 and €2 coins
Canada and the European Union
• Canadian Coins
– Maple leaf, beaver, bluenose, moose, coat of arms,
loonie, and polar bear are regular images on front,
Queen on back
– 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 cent coins plus $1 and $2 coins
• How will different people
view the same
place differently?
Sharing Spaces
• Nile River Basin
Sharing Spaces
• Antarctica
Sharing Spaces
• The Arctic
Sharing Spaces
• Grand Banks of
Newfoundland
Sharing Spaces
• Indian Ocean