geopolitics midterm exam review

In the triangular interrelation between physical, human geography, and politics, to what arrow did the example of the American continent correspond? 

It represented an example of how physical geography affects human geography in it quantitative dimension (demographics), as the isolation of the American continent from other continents left its population with a lesser immunity in the face of diseases. 

Territorial proximity has a consequence that:

Territorial proximity may have a reasonable consequence that neighboring countries will not ignore each other, but cannot predetermine the nature of their relations. 

In the triangular interrelation between physical, human geography, and politics, to what arrow did the example of the Krajinas correspond?

It represents an example of how politics affects human geography, as parts of nowadays Croatia had its human geography changed when Austro-Hungary conquered it against the Ottoman Empire and populated the Krajinas with Serbian people fleeing Ottoman rule.

Political geography as a concept has:

Two meanings: as the science that tries to see how geography affects politics and as a metaphor referring to the different borders between political entities.

In the triangular interrelation between physical, human geography, and politics, the example of the Basque country exemplified that:

The pre-existing Basque culture (human geography) represented a necessary condition for the emergence of the political phenomenon of Basque nationalism. However, it was still insufficient until a political ideology (human agency) generated modern nationalism.

Human agency, or political agency, as we are in the realm of political geography, refers to:

The human/political capacity to influence on different phenomena within determined geographical structures and eventually also modify these geographical structures.

In the triangular interrelation between physical, human geography, and politics, to what arrow did the example of Byzantine, Persian and Islamic empires correspond?

It represented an example of how physical geography affects politics, as the lack of precluding geographical separations enabled sustain political/military contact for many centuries. As a result, Byzantine and Persian empires weakened and fell prey to the surging Islamic Empire.

The regionalist perspective at the basis of the Theory of Security Complexes by Barry Buzan and Ole Weaver: 

Relies strongly on Neorealism as it acknowledges the reality of polarity, and adds the regional layer as a level of analysis. However, it also acknowledges the importance of insights of Constructivism: the patterns of confrontation are not predetermined, they can change in the course of time, dependent as they are on the social construction of relations of enmity or friendship. 

Depending on a state’s capacity to project its power beyond its region, we can count the following type of actors:

Superpowers, Great Powers and Regional Powers

When it comes to the category of Great Powers:

They do not need to have first rate capacities in all fields as it is the case for superpowers and are usually thought of as candidates to become future superpowers or former demoted superpowers. Their capabilities are thought to be relevant for the polarity in the global level. Even if some of them may have unbalanced capacities, acknowledgement by other states as having a great power status can be sufficient. The main material difference between great powers and superpowers is that the former can project their power beyond their region into other regions, even if they cannot sustain a presence in all of them as superpowers do.

Regional Security Complexes can be centered by:

Superpowers, great powers, regional powers, and supranational powers.

We can understand a great power regional security complex as:

A regional security complex containing at least two great powers.

We can understand a standard regional security complex as one where: 

Polarity is exclusively determined by regional powers. 

The phenomenon known as Overlay:

Happens when the penetration by a great power is so intense that regional dynamics cease to exist. The most clear example is that of several waves of colonization by European great powers. However, we can find a similar situation in Europe with the Eastern bloc during the Cold War and to a lesser extent, the Western bloc too.

When we talk of a Supercomplex:

We have in mind a situation when two regional security complexes have a degree of intense interregional interaction that may evolve into the merging of the two of them.