State requirements
A permanent population, defined borders and a sovereign government recognized by other states
Soverignty
A state’s authority to govern its own affairs, including domestic and international
Nation
A group of people with a shared culture, language, history, homeland and self-determination
Self-determinism
The right or desire for a nation or group to govern themselves
Nation-state
A sovereign state with a homogenous population (ex. Japan, Iceland, South Korea)
Multinational state
A state with multiple nations in it’s borders (ex. Soviet Union, Russia, Canada)
Multistate nation
A nation that is spread across multiple sovereign states (ex. Kurdish Nation, the Basques)
Stateless nation
A nation with a history of self-determinism that does not have a recognized state (ex. Catalonia, Kurds, Basques, Palestinians)
Colonialism
Acquiring territory and settling there to exert political, economic and social control over the area (ex. colonization of the Americas)
Imperialism
The idea of growing a state by exerting force over other nations to gain economic and political power WITHOUT establishing settlements (ex. British expansion in India)
Decolonization
A process by which a colony becomes independent of the colonizing country
Irredentism
a desire by one state to annex a territory of another state claiming it’s theirs based on historical or cultural ties
Devolution
the process where political power is transferred from central to local governments (ex. Scottish Parliament)
Supranationalism
the process of nation states being organized politically and economically into an alliance or organisation, EU
Nationalism
the belief that one nation is superior to all others
shatterbelts
a region endangered by local conflicts within states or between countries (ex. Ukraine and Russia)
territoriality
how people use space to communicate ownership of territory that connects to their culture, economy or political interests
choke points
locations where the flow of people and goods can be constructed in the event of a conflict, like a mountain or bridge (ex. Panama Canal)
protectionism
when a country seeks to limit trade through various ways
neocolonialism
the use of political, cultural or economic power to influence or control other countries but doesn’t involve direct military rule (ex. China in African countries)
demilitarized zone
an area between two states that cannot be occupied or used for military purposes
frontier
a geographic area over which no state has direct power or control
Law of the Sea
treaties and agreements that decide where a country has rights in the sea
Gerrymandering
the process of redistricting a voting district to favor one political party over another
Cracking
the process of spreading like-minded voters out across multiple districts
Packing
the process of stacking like-minded voters into just a few districts to reduce the impact of their vote in other districts
Ethnic separatism
When a person or group starts to identify more as their own ethnic group than as a citizen of the state
Irredentism
A movement by a nation to unite other parts of its nation that are located in another state
Supranational Organizations
UN, African Union, NATO, EU, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Arctic Council
Subnational political territorial units
a result of devolution where a region is given greater autonomy from the central government