Chapter 8
“Political Geography”
Political Geography or Geopolitics involves …
How the ‘geography’ (climate, raw materials, rivers,
lakes, mountains, arable land etc.) of a country affects
the economics and politics of that country. How a
countries location (including the country’s it borders)
influences it’s economics and politics.
The term geopolitics also describes how nations exert
their influence over their own people and over other
nations in order to achieve greater international
power.
A nation's political stance is often dictated by that
countries geographical situation.
Most of the international news these days deals with
issues such as war, conflict, disputes, terrorism,
peacekeepers, and the involvement of international
organizations ie. UN, G8/G20.
Political Geography or Geopolitics involves examining
the political, environmental, social, and economic
interactions within and among countries. Studying the
geopolitics of an issue helps us to understand specific
world events.
Innovative communication technologies, high tech
weapons and surveillance devices, international
agreements and the emergence of globalization is
constantly changing the face of geopolitics.
These changing forces can shape foreign policy and
government decisions. Sometimes these forces can
lead to conflict within or between states as we have
seen in the last few years.
Sometimes these forces lead to extreme frustration
among people that feel they have to take things into
their own hands to achieve a certain goal. This
frustration can take the role of civil war, coup d'état
(overthrow of a government) or terrorism.
We begin by trying to clearly distinguish between a State, a Nation
and a Nation-State.
Define and give examples of countries:
• Nation
• State
• Nation State
•Multi-nation State
•Multi-state Nation
• Ethno-Nationalism
• Regional Autonomy
• Irredentism
• Diaspora
• Unitary State
• Federal State
• Nationalism
• Patriotism
• Homeland
• SupraNationalism
• Devolution
Unitary State: a country that places most of its
power in the hands of a central government China
Federal State: a country that allocates most
powers to units of local government - Canada
A. Multi-State Nation: Eg. Palestinians have no
nation. They are spread over Israel, Jordan and
Syria.
B. Nation State: Eg. Iceland is a country entirely
comprised of Icelanders.
C. Multi-Nation State: Eg. Belgium is made up of
Flemings (north) and Walloons (south). Canada
can also be considered a Multi-Nation State.
D. Albanians live in Albania, but a number of
Albanians also live in a new state called
Kosovo (recently part of Serbia)
E. Most of Hungarians live in Hungary, but there is
a group that lives in the middle of Romania.
F. Multi-Nation State: Eg. Russia has over 100
different nationalities. The USSR ceased to
exist in part because a lot of these nationalities
wanted their own country.
G. Eg. The majority of people in France are
French but there are two small groups the
Bretons and Basques.
H. Eg. There are two German states; Germany
and Austria but 70% of Switzerland is German
speaking.
How Boundaries are made:
1. Definition - Identify the boundary
- Physical Barrier – mountains, rivers etc.
- Religious, Language, Ethnicity, Historical event
- War
2. Delimitation – Survey the boundary
- Bordering countries have to agree
3. Demarcation – Build an actual marker – start drawing it on
a map
- Fences, Flags, Pillars etc.
4. Neighbouring countries have to agree and accept the new
boundary
5. Global Community (eg. UN) has to recognize it.
6. Administration Defending – Border guards
- Begin administering the area – impose rules and laws
What is the difference between a boundary and a
frontier? What is a DMZ?
There are 6 types of boundaries (on a map) that can
establish a state:
•Mountain – the Andes – Argentina/Chile
•Desert – Sahara – Niger/Algeria
•Water – Great Lakes – Canada/USA
•Geometric – 49th Parallel – Canada/USA
•Religious – India/Pakistan
•Language – Italy/France
What is a landlocked country?
Arabian Desert:
A Desert
Boundary
The Andes:
A Mountain
Boundary
Lake Victoria:
A Water
Boundary
Aozou Strip: A
Geometric Boundary
Cyprus: An Ethnic
Boundary
Once boundaries have been incorporated –
they are 5 shapes that countries can have:
•
•
•
•
•
Compact
Prorupted
Elongated
Fragmented
Perforated
See the next slide for examples.
Elongated
Fragmented
Perforated
Compact
Prorupted
What is
a
Frontier?
You can even classify how history plays a role in describing
the boundaries in the following way:
Antecedent – The boundary was set up before a settlement –
Land was surveyed first. Ontario and it’s Concession System.
Subsequent – The boundary was set up after the settlement
established itself. Most of the borders in the world were
established after the fact so to speak.
Superimposed – Another country puts down the boundary.
Colonial powers. Most of Africa was done this way – this is
one of the reasons why Africa has issues
Relict - Boundaries that are no longer there, but still exist in a
cultural sense. French Canada is somewhat like this.
Ever heard of the game called Risk. Geopolitics
sometimes refers to how countries, especially
world powers are concerned about what other
countries are doing in the sense of political
ideology and the allies they keep.
Countries will strategically align themselves with
others so that they can have influence on other
countries.
There are a number of theories (they are old now),
that try and explain why countries do what they do
in terms of allies, enemies, trade, embargoes,
expansion, influence and conflict.
Heartland Theory - Halford Mackinder (1861-1947)
• Eurasia (Europe and Asia) is considered the World Island
- it is the largest in area and in population (in the world). Its
interior is called the Heartland - it is the most inaccessible
area in the world - by water. It’s coastlines are vulnerable but not the interior which is dominated by Eastern Europe.
• Who rules Eastern Europe commands the Heartland. The
Heartland would be the base for world conquest.
• Who rules the Heartland commands the entire World
Island.
• Who rules the World Island rules the rest of the World.
The Heartland Theory
• The Heartland Theory is based on Land Power!
• Not valid today since we can attack with Air Power and
ICBM’s (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles)
• But think of History - Think of Napoleon Bonaparte and Adolf
Hitler. They both went after Eastern Europe first.
• Think of the U.S.S.R. and their attempt to expand by taking
over Eastern Europe (Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia etc.)
Think of Vietnam, think of North Korea.
• The USSR tried to set up an Iron Curtain. The USA used a
plan called Containment. When the Soviets moved to North
Korea the US contained them by moving into South Korea.
The Soviets moved to North Vietnam and the US moved into
South Vietnam
Rimland Theory - Nicholas Spykman (1894-1943)
• Eurasia was the key to world domination, but the coastal
regions were more important than the interior (heartland) –
based on Land and Sea Power.
• The Coastal regions had a large population, resources,
ports and access and control over the seas.
• Control the coast and your control the interior - this was the
Rimland Theory.
• Again the Soviet Union has always been desperate to have
control over land that has access to water, especially a warm
water port. That is why they tried Korea, Vietnam, Cuba and
Afghanistan. They wanted Eastern Europe to have access to
the Black Sea.
Rimland Theory
Rimland Theory
Domino Theory
The USA believed that countries and their adjacent
neighbours are lined up like dominoes and if one fell to
communism (or any type of oppressive rule) the others
would follow. Think of Northern Africa today – Egypt, Tunisia,
Libya, Syria?
Again that is why the US has intervened in Vietnam, Korea,
Central America, The Balkans and now the Middle East. By
the way if you look at Iraq - it is in the center of the Middle
East - the heartland of the middle east.
Also to maintain the Balance of Power.
This is interesting stuff!
Let’s discuss the following terms from your chapter reading:
•Nationalism/Ethno-Nationalism
•Patriotism
•Supra-Nationalism
•Annexation, Separation, Succession
•Sovereignty
•Regional Autonomy
•Microstate
•Irredentism
•Imperialism/Colonialism
•Diaspora
•Balance of Power
•Unitary State
•Federal State
•Centripetal Force
•Centrifugal Force – Devolution
•Balkanization
•Gerrymandering
Red – words not defined earlier
What is Ethnic Cleansing?
Proceed to view some maps……..
Kosovo went
Independent
in 2008
What makes
up Ethnicity?
-Language
-Religion
-History
-Race
-Culture
Ethnic groups of Southwest Asia
Devolution and
today –
Supranationalism
Supranationalism
-ODA?
-CIDA?
-NGOs?
-Foreign Aid?
-Unilateral Aid?
-Multilateral Aid?
-Boomerang
Aid?
-Blowback Aid?
Members of the United
Nations
1. Antarctica – not a
sovereign state
2. Korea – One or Two
states
3. Taiwan – a sovereign
state?
Terrorism: Systematic use of violence by a group in
order to intimidate a population or coerce a government
into granting its demands. State Terrorism is where the
actual government resorts to terrifying their own citizens.
First Wave - Anarchist - overthrow established order
Second Wave - Achieving independence from colonial
powers
Third Wave - Political Ideology of Communism vs.
Capitalism
Fourth Wave - Religious Fundamentalism
Read “History of Terrorism’
Environmental scarcity is a scarcity of renewable natural
resources that, if not addressed by technological, social, or
economic means, may cause social disruption or violent
conflict
Thomas Homer-Dixon has identified three main types of
environmental scarcity:
Demand-induced: due to population growth or
increasing per capita consumption
Supply-induced: due to degradation or depletion of
natural resources
Structural scarcity: due to an unbalanced distribution of
resources that affects less powerful groups in society
Vocabulary List
Unit IV. Political Organization of Space—Basic Vocabulary
and Concepts
Annexation
Antarctica
Apartheid
Balkanization
Border landscape
Boundary, disputes (definitional, locational, operational,
allocational)
Boundary, origin (antecedent, subsequent, superimposed,
relic)
Boundary, process (definition, delimitation, demarcation)
Boundary, type (natural/physical, ethnographic/cultural,
geometric)
Buffer state
Capital
Centrifugal
Centripetal
City-state
Colonialism
Confederation
Conference of Berlin
(1884)
Core/periphery
Decolonization
Devolution
Domino theory
EEZ (Exclusive Economic
Zone)
Electoral regions
Enclave/exclave
Ethnic conflict
European Union
Federal
Forward capital
Frontier
Geopolitics
Gerrymander
Global commons
Heartland/rimland
Immigrant states
International
organization
Iron Curtain
Irredentism
Israel/Palestine
Landlocked
Law of the Sea
Lebanon
Mackinder, Halford J.
Manifest destiny
Median-line principle
Microstate
Ministate
Nation
National
iconography
Nation-state
Nunavut
Raison d’être
Reapportionment
Regionalism
Religious conflict
Reunification
Satellite state
Self-determination
Shatterbelt
Sovereignty
State
Stateless ethnic groups
Stateless nation
Suffrage
Supranationalism
Territorial disputes
Territorial morphology (compact,
fragmented, elongated, prorupt, perforated)
Territoriality
Theocracy
Treaty ports
UNCLOS (United Nations Convention on the
Law of the Sea)
Unitary
USSR collapse
Women’s enfranchisement
The End