Chapter 9 Lecture

Human Geography: Places and Regions in Global Context

Sixth Edition

Wendy A. MitteagerState University of New York, Oneonta

Political Geographies

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Geopolitics• Federal State• Unitary State• North/South divide• East/West divide

• Decolonization• State• Nation• Nation-state• Nationalism

Member states of League of Nations – precursor to

United Nations – after WWI

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Political Geography• Boundaries – land use change• Frontiers uninhabited• Territories – do not have• Same rights as bigger • Federal units like States

Figure 9.3 Boundary between urban and rural land uses

Figure 9.2 Disputed territories in Georgia south of the Caucasus Mts.:Georgia is a “state” while North Ossetia is a territory that is part of the Russian “state”.

Global Governance• Transnational

political integration:• Supranational

organization-European Union result ofMarshall Plan - Post WWII to rebuild Europe following war with Hitler.

Human rights-The Geneva Convention established standards of human rights in connection with research – again result of Hitler’s abuse of European populations.

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Figure 9.1 The changing map of EuropeBefore, afterSoviet UnionTook over Baltic StatesAfter fall of USSR – 1991MAP OF EUROPE - 2011

Political Geography

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Geopolitics and the World Order• Nationalism• Federal state• Unitary state

• Nation-state– State-”recognized”– Nation-”culture”

• Sovereignty-self-ruling• Citizenship-part of “state”

Figure 9.8 English Defense League, “Nationalism vs. Islamic culture of Immigrants

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Figure 9.7 Nested hierarchy of French “de jure” territories:

Region – largest like a “State”• Department• Arrondissement• Canton• Commune

Political Geography

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Geopolitics, (cont'd)

• Imperialism• Colonialism

Figure 9.12 European colonies in Africa, 1496–1912

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Political Geography, (cont'd)Figure 9.4 Boundary between the U.S. and Mexico

Apply your knowledge: Using Google Earth or aerial photographs, compare and contrast the international boundaries between the U.S. and Canada and between the U.S. and Mexico. How do they differ? How are they similar? Why do these differences and similarities exist?

States of South & East Asia, Indonesia & Micronesia, Australia & New Zealand

Figure 9.9 Independent states of the former U.S.S.R.-Soviet Union - 1991

East-West divide between non-Communist & Communist States – Russia since 1917

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Politics of Geography

• Self-determination – nation asserts “self-rule” as new nation-state

• Regionalism – identification of people with a certain region

• Sectionalism• Separatist

movements –• Chechnya wantsto separatefrom Russian rule.

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The Heartland Theory – Mackinder believed whoever controls central Eurasia will hold world power

Figure 9.21 The heartland

Ethnicities of Eastern

Europe

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Figure 9.10 Kosovo War, 1998-1999Serbian warAgainst Albanians,& ethnic Croatians

Bosnian War – resulted in split of Serbia & Croatia into separate “states” after several years of very violent war & war crimes against ethnic Croatians. 1991-1995 Bosnian Serbs perpetrated “ethnic cleansing” against Bosnian Muslim women in rape camps. Alarming scope of human rights abuses against Muslim women.

Eastern Europe – Bosnian Serbian war vs. ethnic Croatians

Afghanistan & Pakistan

in South west Asia

Tribal Territories of Pakistan

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Figure 9.6 Borders btwn.Egypt and Libya and Sudan

Figure 9.5 The Berlin Wall – “relic” now erased, Germany is a unified “state” previously divided into Eastern Germany & Western Germany post - WWII

Political Geography

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Ongoing Israel-Palestineconflict

• Some examples of stateless nations: the Cherokee Nation, the Palestinians, the Kurdish ethnic minority of Iraq & Turkey, no current territorial borders

Nation

Kurdish Region Must a nation be a

place?

Is a Nation a State?

Colonialism/Imperialism• Imperialism-is the

extension of power over political & economic life of other territories.

• Ex.: Belgium in the African Congo

• Colonialism -• European powers

Belgian, Italian, French, German, & Portuguese all colonized African lands for trade routes & natural resources.

British in Middle East

IraqIran

Turkey

• North/South divide persists today:

• Northern colonizers of the U.S., Japan, Europe, Russia dominate southern decolonized states in Asia, Africa, Indonesia, Caribbean, & the Americas.

African Independence

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Figure 9.13 Colonization in South America and the Caribbean, 1496–1667

Portuguese – Eastern coast of Brazil

Spanish – western coast of South American continent

French colonies – French Guyana, northeast coast of continent

Dutch colonies – northeast coast of continents

Colonization of Caribbean & South America

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Figure 9.18 Independent South America

South AmericanIndependentStates

Geographical Systems of Representation,

Figure 9.34 U.S. geographical basis of representation

End of Chapter 9

A federal state is one that brings together a number of different political communities with a common government for common purposes.