Power and Borders definitions

What is a state?

What is a state?

-there is a politically organised group of people under a single government

What social factors give a state power?

-demographic structure

-human resources

-events in history

What economic factors give a state power?

-trade strength

-wealth

-industrial development

-ability to regulate its economy

What political factors give a state power?

-international relations

-government policy

-events in history

What physical factors give a state power?

-ability to exploit natural resources

-geographical location

What is a nation?

-a large group of people with strong bonds of identity (shared history, culture and language)

-a nation does not have to be confined to one country

What is a nation-state?

-a state that has sovereignty over a single nation (state boundaries = geographical area the nation lives in)

-OR area of land (of an independent country) that has well-defined boundaries

What is nation-building?

-promoting nationality + constructing a national identity using state power

What is sovereignty?

-the absolute authority which independent states exercise in the government of the land + people in their territories

What is internal sovereignty?

-where a state has exclusive authority within its territory

What is external sovereignty?

-a state has to be mutually recognised among other sovereign states

What is territorial integrity?

-State exercises sovereignty within a specific territory (nation-state) + the boundaries are recognised within international law

What are norms?

-moral principles, customs, and behaviours which are universally acknowledged

What does intervention mean?

-actions that can be taken by international organisations to resolve conflicts or humanitarian crises

-examples: economic sanctions, military intervention (authorised by UN)

How do we measure state fragility?

-State fragility index → uses data from 12 categories (eg economic decline, human rights, refugees and IDPs, group grievance)

What are different types of threats to borders?

-contested territory → Russia’s annexation of Crimea

-contested maritime boundaries → the South China Sea

-separatism → Scottish nationalists in the UK

What are the problems with TNCs for state sovereignty?

-many TNCs expand their operations without caring about state boundaries

-some nation states have partially lost control of their territory, work force and environment because TNCs have so much economic power

-disrespect for human rights (exploitation, low wages, poor working conditions + use of child labour)

Example of Nike causing problems for state sovereignty

-Nike - Hytex factory in Malaysia - uses forced labour, workers had very bad living conditions (26 men in one room) → abusing human rights

Example of Coca Cola causing problems for state sovereignty

-Coca Cola - water shortages in areas surrounding factories bc groundwater is extracted to be used in factories - groundwater levels dropped by up to 8m in first 7 years Coca Cola was there → impacts quality of life for civilians

What are supranational institutions?

-a tier of governance above that of an indiviual state eg UN, NATO and trading blocks

Who are the permanent UN Security Council members?

-UK

-USA

-France

-China

-Russia

How does the distribution of ethnic groups affect state sovereignty?

-internal conflict between ethnic groups results in the government being unable to protect all its citizens (eg Dinka and Nuer conflict in South Sudan)