AP HUG Chapter 8: Political Geography

● Geopolitics

The interplay among geography, power, poolitics, and international relations ● Classical geopolitics ○ German School (Ratzels organic state theory) ■ Lebensraum and Nazi Germany ■ A state needs similar things to that of a living organism-life, space, ability to produce ○ British / American School (Mackinders heartland theory) ■ He who control Eastern Europe control the world *Ratzels Organic State Theory ● Based on Darwins theories of evolution ● Ned of a state for territory and overseas connections in order to survive ● Described expansion of empires and large states in the 19th century ● Eventually contributed to Nazi expansion *Mackinders Heartland Theory ● Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland ● Who rules the Heartland commands the World Island ● Who rules the World Island commands the world Us versus Them ● Cold War (1945-1991) ○ Evil Empire (Soviet Union) ○ Shining city on a hill (United States) ● Replacement of Soviet Union as "them" by terrorists What Are Supranational Organizations, and What Is the Future of the State

● Supranational organization

A sperate entity composed of 3 or more states that forge an association and form an administrative structure for mutual benefit in pursuit of shared goals

Political Geography

Study of the political organization of the world

Territoriality

The attempt by an individual or group to affect, influence, or control people, phenomena, and relationships, by delimiting and asserting control over a geographic area

Sovereignty

Having the last say over a territory — legally

Territorial integrity

The right of a gov to keep the borders and territory of a state intact & free from attack

State

A politically organized territory with a permanent population, a defined territory, and a gov, and recognized as such by other states

Modern State Idea

The idea of a state that is tied to a particular territory with defined boundaries

Nation

A culturally defined group of people with a shared past & a common future who relate to a territory & and have political goals

Nation-State

A politically organized area in which nation and state occupy the same space

Democracy

People as sovereign

Nationalism

Strong sense of loyalty to the state

Stateless Nation

A nation with no state

Colonialism

A physical activity in which one state takes over control of another, ruling the territory as its own

world system

refers to the inter-regional and transnational division of labor, which divides the world into core countries, semi-periphery countries, and periphery countries

Core country

Processes that incorporate higher levels of education, higher salaries, and more technology
Generate more wealth in the world economy

Periphery country

Processes that incorporate lower levels of education, lower salaries, and less technology
Generate less wealth in the world economy

Semi-periphery country

Places where core and periphery processes are both occurring
Places that are exploited by the core but then exploit the periphery
Serves as a buffer between core and periphery

Capitalism

The system whereby people, corporations, and states produce goods and services and exchange them in the world market with the goal of achieving profit

Commodification

The process of placing a price on a good and then buying, selling, and trading the good

Colonialism

Brought the world into the world economy, setting up an interdependent global economy

Unitary government

Highly centralized government where the capital city serves as a focus of power

Federal government

A government where the state is organized into territories, which have control over government policies and funds

Devolution

Movement of power from the central gov to regional govs within a state

Compact State

The distance from the center does not vary much

Elongated State

have a long and narrow shape

Prorupted State

otherwise compact state with a large projection extension

Fragmented State

includes several discontinuous pieces of territory

Gerrymandering

Drawing voting districts to benefit one group over another

Majority-minority Districts

Drawn so that the majority of the population in the district is from the minority

Boundary

A vertical plane that cuts through the rocks below and the airspace above, dividing one state territory from another

Geometric boundaries

Based on grid systems

Physical-political boundaries

Follow an agreed-upon feature in the physical geographic landscape

Geopolitics

The interplay among geography, power, politics, and international relations

Ratzel’s organic state theory

A state needs similar things to that of a living organism- life, space, ability to produce

Mackinder’s heartland theory

He who control Eastern Europe control the world

Supranational organization

A separate entity composed of 3 or more states that forge an association and form an administrative structure for mutual benefit in pursuit of shared goals