A subfield within the human branch of geography The study of the interaction of geographical area...
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Transcript of A subfield within the human branch of geography The study of the interaction of geographical area...
• A subfield within the human branch of geography• The study of the interaction of geographical area and
political process• It is the formal study of territoriality.
POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY
Political geography
• Economics supposedly eroding significance of borders.
• Ethnic minorities feel they deserve states of their own.
• States under attack from above (global economics) and from below (ethnic communities).
• Yet states are still powerful, and can respond.
• A politically organized territory
• Administered by a sovereign government
• Recognized by a significant portion of the international community.
A state must also contain:
– a permanent resident population
– an organized economy
STATE
Nationality and Ethnicity
• Nationality = tied together through a legal status
• Ethnicity = groups with distinct ancestry and cultural traditions
• Race = groups defined narrowly by skin color and other physical characteristics
• A country whose population possesses a substantial degree of cultural homogeneity and
unity.
NATION - STATE
Classic Example Classic Example of of
a Nation-State:a Nation-State: JapanJapan
Must a nation be a place?
• Some examples of stateless nations: the Cherokee Nation, the Kurds, the Palestinians
NATION
Every U.S. citizen = American nationality
Every American = belongs to a race
Some Americans = identified with ethnicity
Multi-ethnic States
State-nationstate-multinational state
Geographic Characteristics of States
• SIZE– What role does size play?– What are the most powerful nations on earth
today?– What were the most powerful nations on earth
200 years ago?
Geographic Characteristics
Shape• Compact• Prorupt• Elongated• Fragmented• Perforated
Types of territorialityState
Ethnic
Religious
Racial
Fears of“Balkanization”(splitting state)
But commondefiance ofoutsiders
Pan-isms(Uniting same group from different states)
Ethnic: Pan-Arab, Pan-Kurdish
Religious: Pan-Islamic
Racial: Pan-African
States: Pan-American
Kurds
Ethnic group in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria.
Many Kurdsfor state ofKurdistan.
States pit Kurdsagainst each other
Iraq
Ethnic:Arabs vs.Kurds
Religion:Sunnis vs.Shi’as
Rulers wereSunni Arab
IRAN (Shi’a Persian) vs.IRAQ (Sunni Arab)
Yet Iraqi Shi’as fought for Iraq,Iranian Arabs fought for Iran
(State territoriality won)
Iran-Iraq War, 1980-88
Iranians
Iraqis
ARMENIA (Christian) vs.AZERBAIJAN (Shi’a Muslim)
Yet Shi’a Iran stayed neutral,fearing ethnic Azeris in NW Iran (Ethnic territoriality won)
Armenia-AzerbaijanWar, 1988-94
Armenian (above) and Azeri views
Kashmir conflict(CHINA)
INDIA
PAKISTAN CHINA
KASHMIR
INDIA (Hindu) vs.PAKISTAN (Muslim)
British India partitionedinto two states, 1948.
Kashmir had Muslimmajority but Hindu ruler.
Wars split Kashmirbetween India,Pakistan, and China(all now have nukes)
Indian andPakistanipropagandamaps
Cold War propaganda map: “Red menace”
View of Communist “Red Bloc” during Cold War
Lumping failed to recognizedifferences among Communists,
or local causes of conflict
Samuel Huntington theory of Western, Islamic, Slavic, etc. “blocs” in conflict with each other.
“Clash of Civilizations” theory
Fails to recognize differences within each “bloc.”
Most sources of conflict are local (often ethnic), not religious.
Often blames the victimfor the conflict.
The West shares responsibilityfor conflicts
(military aid arms both sides)
“Clash of Civilizations” theory
Lumping Arabs or Muslims after Sept. 11
How Many Americans View the World
Cartoon:
Bush’s Viewof the World
Problem:some formerallies laterseen as “evil”
GEOPOLITICSGEOPOLITICSGEOPOLITICSGEOPOLITICS
State’s power to control State’s power to control territory, shape international policyterritory, shape international policy
and other states’ foreign policy and other states’ foreign policy
State’s power to control State’s power to control territory, shape international policyterritory, shape international policy
and other states’ foreign policy and other states’ foreign policy
Growth of Russian Empire
Africancolonies
Decolonization, 1940s-1990s
Divide-and-conquer
Ethnic nations split betweenand within colonial empires
(British, French, Russian)
But “clean” ethnicboundaries also not possible
BerlinConferencedivides mapof Africa, 1884
Mackinder’s Heartland Theory(Whoever controls Pivot Area can control the world)
The “Great Game” between Britain and Russia, 1800s-1900s
Enlargement ofSoviet bloc after
World War II
BerlinWall,
1961-89
NATO and Warsaw Pact, 1945-89
Changes in Europe, 1990-93
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 2002
Kosovomilitaryzones
EuropeanUnion
Began as EuropeanEconomic
Community(EEC), 1957.
Stronger in 1994
10 new membersto join, 2004
euro
United Nations member states
Switzerland 2002
Other international alliances
POLITICAL GEOGRAPHYPOLITICAL GEOGRAPHY
Interaction of politics and place Interaction of politics and place
Geography of PoliticsGeography of Politics
Effect of politics on place Effect of politics on place
U.S.-Canadaboundary
Alberta-Montana
U.S.-Mexicoboundary
Calexico, California-Mexicali, Mexico
Politics of GeographyPolitics of Geography
Effect of place on politicsEffect of place on politics
ExampleExample::Making political boundariesMaking political boundaries
Congressional reapportionment
Levels ofadministrativeregions
ELECTORAL GEOGRAPHY ELECTORAL GEOGRAPHY
Political Geography of ElectionsPolitical Geography of Elections
Variation of voting districtsVariation of voting districtsand voting patternsand voting patterns
U.S.congressional
delegationredistricting
Reapportionment :allocating seats toa geographic area
(after every census)
“Gerrymandering”
Redistricting forpartisan purposes
1860 Presidential Vote
Led to Southern secession, Civil War
1996 Presidential Vote
2000 Presidential Vote
Davis (D) 48%Simon (R) 42%Camejo (G) 5%Copeland (L) 2%
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