Ch.8 Key #4

Supranational Organizations

A separate entity composed of three or more states that forge an association and form an administrative structure for mutual benefit in pursuit of shared goals.

Ex. NATO, NAFTA, EU, UN

Devolution

• Devolution – Movement of power from the central government to regional governments within the state.

• What causes devolutionary movements?

a)Ethnocultural forcesb)Economic forcesc)Spatial forces

Ethnocultural Devolutionary Movements

Eastern Europedevolutionary forces since the fall of communism

Economic Devolutionary Movements

Catalonia, SpainBarcelona is the center of banking and commerce in Spain and the region is much wealthier than the rest of Spain.

Spatial Devolutionary Movements

Honolulu, Hawai’iA history apart from the United States, and a desire to live apart in order to keep traditions alive.

Political Models

• The Heartland Theory by Halford Mackinder

• The Rimland Theory by Nicholas Spykman

• The Organic Theory (geopolitics) by Friedrich Ratzel

Geopolitics

• What is geopolitics? – Geopolitics is the study of spatial and territorial dimensions of power relationships within the global political-

territorial order.

• Examples of Geopolitics– How does Chinese Trade affect American Interests?– How does the European Union affect the individual governments of members?– How does the conflict in the Middle East affect relationships between UN countries.

Mackinder’s Heartland Theory (1904): “Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland

Who rules the Heartland commands the World Island Who rules the World Island commands the world”

Mackinder’s Heartland Theory: -Early 20th c. theory that claimed whichever state controlled the

resource-rich “heartland” of Eastern Europe could eventually dominate the world. It would suggest that not the United Kingdom

(an ocean-based empire), but Russia (which was becoming communist) would be in a position to achieve this dominance.

-At the time when this theory was developed, new technologies caused society to look at geography and military strategies in a new light. For instance, the railroads, a relatively new technology, meant

that the army was no longer dependent on the navy for transportation. The railroad was the new and more efficient means

of transportation that shifted the focus away from the coast, ( “Rimland”) and allowed armies to travel all throughout the land rather than solely on the sea. Military attacks by sea remained a serious threat, however, and for this reason MacKinder further

believed that greater political power lay in the Heartland as it was easier to defend than a coastal territory.

Spyman’s Rimland Theory (1942): Countered Heartland theory by stating that Eurasia’s

rimland, the coastal areas, is the key to controlling the World Island. Whoever would control the rimland, would eventually control the World Island. Whoever controlled

the World Island would soon control the world.

Friedrich Ratzel Organic Theory-postulated that a country, which is an aggregate of organisms

(people), would itself function and behave like an organism … to survive, a state requires nourishment – in the global context, this

means territory – to gain political power.

Gained a negative reputation when Hitler and the Nazis embraced geopolitics to justify their right for lebensraum (living space)

because of their racial superiority

http://www.scoop.it/t/geography-education?tag=terrorism

http://www.choices.edu/resources/surveys.php

Powerpoint from: http://msfraker.weebly.com/political-organization-of-

space.html