AP HUG Unit 4 Vocab/Concepts

State

A defined territory with a permanent population, a sovereign government, and recognition from other states (synonymous with country)

Ex: Canada, China

Nation

A group of people defined by cultural similarity and often have ties to a homeland and goals of autonomy (self-rule) in that homeland

Ex: Barcelona in Spain, the Kurds in the Middle East

Autonomous region

A place with a high degree of self-government separate from parent state

Ex: Vatican City, Native American reservations

Self-determination

The idea that certain peoples (specifically ethnicities) should have the right to govern themselves

Ex: Ideas of the Balkan countries

Nation-state

A state that has border matching that of a nation

• Usually rules are created there supporting that specific nation’s needs

• Tend to be small and somewhat isolated

• This is the form nations prefer

Ex: Japan

Multinational state

A state comprising of multiple nations

Ex: Former Yugoslavia and technically any modern state

Balkanization

The breaking up of a multinational state, named after the Balkan Peninsula where former Yugoslavia broke apart

Multistate nation

A nation that extends beyond the borders of one state

Ex: Dodgers Nation, Lakers Nation

Stateless nations

Nations spread across multiple states with little power and minority status in each state

Ex: Kurds, Palestinians

Territoriality

The connection of people, their culture, and their economic systems to the land

(can be expressed by control over the area)

Ex: The US has territoriality over Puerto Rico and Guam

Sovereignty

The right of a state to rule over itself

Ex: Popular sovereignty = people have the power = democracy

Territorial integrity

Protecting our state from other states

Mercantilism

An economy based on trade (Some states made bank by this)

Imperialism

The larger idea of creating an empire by taking over another nation from afar

Ex: The Roman Empire, the British Empire

Colonialism

Taking control of another country and settling there for economic and social control/gain

Ex: American Colonies, Berlin Conference

Neocolonialism

Modern colonialism, developed countries use economic power on less-developed countries and corporations control resources and labor, often from afar

Ex: Foreign countries dominate oil extraction in the Middle East

Capitalism

Free market economy, supply and demand

Decolonization

The creation of sovereignty for former colonies (often as a result of war)

Ex: UN helps coolonies become sovereign

Chokepoint

The often-narrow area that allows access to people, land, and resources and is crucial for countries to control

Ex: Strait of Gibraltar, Strait of Bosporus

Elongated state

Geographically long but relatively narrow

• Advantages:

  • Transportation fairly simple

  • Typical cultural variations (like North and South, East and West)

• Disadvantages:

  • Difficult to defend, communicate, and govern

Ex: Chile, CA

Compact state

Distance from the geographic center of the state to any of the borders does not vary greatly

• Advantages

  • Difficult to invade

  • Easier cultural uniformity

  • Transportation fairly simple

Ex: Colorado, Wyoming, Macedonia

Fragmented state

Divided from other parts by land, other states, or water

• Advantages:

  • Difficult to invade

  • Allows for cultural diversity

  • Access to varied resources

• Disadvantages:

  • More difficult to defend

  • Difficult to unify culturally and politically

Ex: Hawaii, Greece, USA

Perforated state

A state that completely surrounds another state

• Advantage: Able to dicatate actions of enclosed state more easily

• Disavantage: Can lead to internal tension and problems in enclosed state

Ex: South Africa

Prorupt state

Has one portion that is more elongated than the rest of the state

• Advantage: Can “grab” resources like water and minerals

• Disadvantage: Fairly easy to cut off by neighboring states

Ex: Afghanistan, DRC

Microstate

Very small state

• Advantage: Typically extremely homogenous cultural communities

• Disadvantage: Easy to take over

Ex: Monaco, Singapore, Liechtenstein

Landlocked state

A state without direct access to the ocean

• Disadvatages:

  • Reliant on neighbors for majority of international trade

  • Dependent on land-based agriculture

Core Periphery Model

A model that represents the development of states, with higher development being core and lower development being periphery

Core states

States that are extremely developed with higher education, salary, and technology (generates wealth)

Ex: USA, Japan, Australia

Semi-periphery states

States that display aspects of core and periphery states

Ex: Mexico, China, Brazil

Periphery states

States that have a low level of development (The opposite of core)

Ex: DRC, West Africa, Zimbabwe

Centripetal forces

Forces that bring people together, such as:

• A strong national government

• A shared history

• Common language or religion

• Economic development

• Uniting against an external threat

Ex: Patriotism with the USA’s powerful government

Centripetal forces can lead to

• Ethnonationalism

• More equitable infrastructure development

• Increased cultural cohesion

Ethnonationalism

The concept of a national identity being based on a common ethnicity or trying to connect an ethnicity with a nationality

Ex: India’s government trying to create a Hindu ethnonationalist identity

Centrifugal forces

Forces that tear people apart, such as:

• Multiple ethnicities or nationalities

• Economic inequality

• Territorial dispute

• Lack of infrastructure

Ex: Balkanization

Centrifugal forces can lead to:

• Uneven development

• Failed states

• Stateless nations

• Ethnic nationalist movements

Failed states

States in which the government is unable to perform basic governmental responsibilities or has little authority throughout the state

Ex: South Sudan, Syria, Yemen

Uneven development

When economic development throughout a state is not equal in all places

Ex: Saudi Arabia’s urban vs rural areas

Ethnic nationalist movements

When a specific group advocates for more autonomy or complete separation from a state based on ethnicity or nationality

Ex: Catalans, Balkanization

Unitary government

A highly centralized government with the capital as the focus of power

• Advantages:

  • More efficient creation of laws and policies

  • Lower chance for local corruption

  • Reduces chance for devolution and creates patriotic ideas and national identity

• Disadvantages:

  • People have less of a voice and minorities are often underrepresented

  • Corruption and domination of one cultural group at a higher level is a big problem

  • Local needs may not be met

Ex: Japan, France

Federal government

Control is more regional

• Advantages:

  • People have a bigger voice and minorities are more represented

  • Local interests are addressed more quickly and accurately

• Disadvantages

  • Implementation of laws and policies is inefficient

  • Differing laws across the country

  • Potential for devolutionary forces

Ex: USA, Nigeria

Devolution

The movement from central to regional power

Ex: Spain, UK/NI

Ethnocultural reasons for devolution

Nations within states push for more autonomy because of:

• Ethnic cleansing

• Terrorism

• Economic and social problems not addressed

• Division of groups by physical geography

Economic reasons for devolution

• One part of the population makes up a large part of the economy

• A certain area(typically rich) wants to be its own region

Ex: Catalonia in Spain, Silicon Valley

Spatial reasons for devolution

Areas(mostly islands) split with the mainland (often irredentism)

Ex: Corsica, Taiwan, Hawaii

Irredentism

A claim by a country that another independent area should be part of it

Ex: China and Taiwan, Russia and Ukraine

Electoral geography

Analyzing geography to make sure everybody is represented

Territorial representation

Representation for an area

Ex: US HOR, reps from defined districts

Reapportionment/redistricting

Moving districts according to population shifts (happens in the US every 10 years after the census)

Packing

Packing a single district with opposition or minority voters so they lose overall

Splitting/Cracking

Organizing districts so minorities are underrepresented in multiple districts

Ex: Splitting an ethnic neighborhood in half

Majority-minority districts

A district in which the majority is of an overall minority

Gerrymandering

Redistricting for advantage (Illegal in the US)

Boundary

A vertical plane (from deep in the earth to sky) dividing territory

• Enforces territoriality

• Influences sense of place, national identity, and regional identity

• Controls people, businesses, and resources inside and outside the jurisdiction

• Encourages/discourages immigration and trade

• Subsoil resource deposits often cause territorial dispute

How boundaries are established

• A defined boundary is established by a legal document

• A delimited boundary is a line on a map that shows the limits of a government’s jurisdiction

• A demarcated boundary has physical markers or barriers at the boundary

• Political boundaries often coincide with cultural, economic, or national divisions

Political boundary

Divisions of governance between states (they reflect balances or imbalances of power)

Geometric boundary

A boundary based on latitude and longitude

Ex: Border of North and South Dakota

Physical-political boundaries

The physical landscape establishes boundary

Antecedent boundary

A boundary that is drawn before many people live somewhere and establish a cultural landscape

Ex: First US and Canada border

Relic boundary

Former boundary that no longer exists but still holds significance (economic, cultural, etc.)

Ex: East and West Germany with the Berlin Wall

Superimposed boundary

A boundary created without regard to culture and sometimes property

Ex: Berlin Conference

Consequent boundary

A subsequent boundary that is the result of something

Ex: Country lines after Balkanization of Former Yugoslavia

Subsequent boundary

A boundary based on where people have already settled and changes with cultural landscape (Already there but made formal)

Ex: Much of Europe

Definitional boundary dispute

A dispute over the language of a treaty that does not account for change

Ex: A treaty marking the edge of a river as the edge of a property creates disputes as the river widens

Locational boundary dispute

A dispute over the position on a map and demarcation of a boundary

Ex: A dispute over someone’s fence being in their neighbor’s property

Operational boundary dispute

A dispute over how a border should function

Ex: Biden vs Trump on the US southern border

Allocational boundary dispute

A dispute over access to resources (especially subsoil)

Ex: There is an oil deposit split between 2 neighboring oil companies so the argue over who gets what oil

UNCLOS

The United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea

• Territory up to 12 nautical miles off the shore

• Contiguous zone from 12 to 24 nautical miles from the shore

• Exclusive economic zone starts from shore and reaches 200-350 nautical miles off the shore

• Anything past 12 nautical miles is international waters and anyone can travel there

Geopolitics

Geography + power + politics + international relations

German ideas on geopolitics

Ratzel’s organic state theory (states need to take over territory to grow)

Happened in WWII

American/British ideas on geopolitics

• Mackinder’s Heartland Theory: Whoever controls Eastern Europe would control the world (Eastern Europe is in Russia’s possession)

• Mahan’s Sea Power Theory: Whoever controls the sea will control the world (The US control the sea)

Critical geopoltics

Core politicians develop a sense of place, influencing people’s political behavior and sense of place

Ex: USSR, terrorism, Middle East

Unilateralism

One country (currently the USA although China may take over) is in charge and other countries follow as opposed to co-leading

Shatterbelt

An area of instability between regions of opposing viewpoints

Ex: The DMZ between North and South Korea

Supranational organization

When 3+ nations come together to form an organization for political, economic, military, and environmental benefit

Ex: NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization), NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement), UN (formerly League of Nations), Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg)