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Apartheid
A South African policy of complete legal separation of the races, including the banning of all social contacts between blacks and whites.
Significance- pushed the native South Africans to reclaim their independence
apartheid significance
Balance of power
Condition of roughly equal strength between opposing countries or alliances of countries.
Ex. U.S. and China
balance of power example
Balkanization
Process by which a state breaks down into smaller states due to conflicts among its ethnicities
Ex. Fall of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia
balkanization example
Boundary disputes
disagreements regarding borders between different territories
Boundary demarcation(delimitation)
The process of defining borders in order to create a state
Boundary type (natural/physical, ethnographic/cultural, geometric)
The different types of borders used to define political regions all over the world
Capital
Principle city in a state or country
Centrifugal Forces
Forces that tend to force states apart. To fragment.
City-state
A sovereign state comprising a city and its immediate hinterland.
Colonialism
Attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles in another territory.
Colony
A settlement ruled by another country.
Compact state
A state in which the distance from the center to any boundary does not vary significantly.
Confederation
A system of government that spreads power among many sub-units(states), and has a weaker central government. Emphasizing state sovereignty.
Core/periphery
_____ countries have high levels of development, a capacity at innovation and a convergence of trade flows. _______ countries usually have less development and are poorer countries.
Decolonization
The collapse of colonial empires.
Ex. Fall of the British Empire
decolonization example
Devolution
A process in which political power is ''sent down'' from central governments to local sub-units of state and government.
European Union
A family of democratic countries committed to working together for peace and prosperity in Europe
Significance- Helped Europe back to its feet after WWII
european union example
Elongated state
A state whose territory is long and narrow in shape.
Enclaves
countries surrounded or almost surrounded by another country.
exclave
a bounded territory that is part of a particular state but lies separated from it by the territory of another state.
Ex. Hawaii
exclave example
Forward capital
a symbolically relocated capital city usually because of either economic or strategic reasons
Federal
A system in which power is divided between the national and state governments. Central units and sub-units.
Ex. The United States government
federal example
Fragmented state
A state that includes several discontinuous pieces of territory
Ex. Indonesia
fragmented state example
frontier
A zone separating two states in which neither state exercises political control.
Ex. Korea's DMZ
frontier example
Geopolitics
the study of the spatial and territorial dimensions of power relationships within the global political and territorial order.
Gerrymander
Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power.
Ex. Odd shapes of Senate districts in Southern California
gerrymander example
Heartland
A theory that suggests that whoever owns Eastern Europe and Western Asia has the political power and capital to rule the world
rimland
Nicholas Spykman's theory argued that the domination of the coastal fringes of Eurasia would provide the base for world conquest
Significance- Influenced many people to try to take over these places
signification of rimland
Imperialism
The European colonization of Africa and Asia. A policy in which the stronger nation seeks to dominate other countries politically, socially, and economically.
*Ex. The British Empire"
imperialism example
Israel/Palestinian Conflict
Ongoing conflict over control of parts of Palestine
Significance- Is causing lots of conflict and tension between the two nations
israel/Palestine significance
Landlocked
A nation that has no coastline
Ex. Mongolia
lanlocked example
Mackinder, Halford J.
Geographer who created the heartland theory.
Significance- One of the founding fathers of geopolitics
Mackinder, Halford J. significance
Manifest destiny
A notion held by a nineteenth-century Americans that the United States was destined to rule the continent, from the Atlantic the Pacific.
Significance- Expanded the U.S. to what it is today
manifest destiny significance
Median-line principle
an approach to dividing and creating boundaries at the mid-point between two places. Often involving borders out to sea
Microstate
A state or territory that is small in both size and population.
Ex. Vatican City
microstate example
Ministate
A state with very small population as well as area.
Ex. Monaco
ministate example
Multicore state
a state that has more than one dominant region in terms of economics or politics
*Ex. Nigeria"
multicore state example
Multinational state
State that contains two or more ethnic groups with traditions of self-determination that agree to coexist peacefully by recognizing each other as distinct nationalities
Ex. USSR
multinational state example
Nationalism
A sense of unity with fellow citizens and loyalty to the state to promote its culture and interests over those of other nations
Nation-state
A state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity that has been transformed into a nationality
Ex. Japan
nation-state example
Perforated state
a state that completely surrounds another one
Ex. South Africa
perforated state example
Prorupted state
A state that exhibits a narrow, elongated land extension leading away from the main territory
Ex. Thailand
prorupted state
Ratzel, Friedrich theory of government
theorized that a state compares to a biological organism with a life cycle from birth to death, with a predictable rise and fall of power
Significance- a huge principle in geopolitics
Ratzel, Friedrich theory of government significance
Reapportionment
Process by which representative districts are switched according to population shifts, so that each district encompasses approximately the same number of people.
Ex. The House of Representatives does this occasionally
Reapportionment example
Regionalism
a foreign policy that defines the international interests of a country in terms of particular geographic areas
Ex. Quebec keeps French heritage
Regionalism example
Self-determination
The ability of a government to determine their own course of their own free will
Ex. The beginnings of the U.S.
self determination example
Sovereignty
the ability to carry out actions and policies within a territory independent of external actors and internal rivals
State
A body of people living in a defined territory who have a government with the power to make and enforce law without the consent of any higher authority
Ex. France
state example
Stateless nation
A nationality that is not represented by a state
Palestine* and the "Kurds"
Stateless nation example
Suffrage
the right to vote in political elections
Supranationalism
A venture involving 3 or more national states political economic or cultural cooperation to promote shared objectives
Ex. United Nations
Supranationalism example
Territorial integrity
the right of a state to defend sovereign territory against incursion from other states
Significance- defends a state with military actions protecting the citizens
Territorial integrity significance
Territorial morphology (compact, fragmented, elongated, prorupt, perforated)
A term that describes a state's geographical shape. This can affect its spatial cohesion and political viability
Territoriality
Efforts to control pieces of the earth's surface for political or social ends.
Unitary
A government that concentrates all policy-making powers in once central geographic place
Ex. Vietnam
unitary example
USSR collapse
breakup of Soviet Union in 1991, ended communism in much of the world and created 15 republics
Significance- For the most part stopped the spread of communism
USSR collapse significance
Political Geography
the study of the political organization of the planet, a constantly changing collage of countries that were once kingdoms or parts of empires
shatter belts
zones of great cultural complexity containing many small cultural groups who find refuge in the isolation created by rough terrain
Government
the leadership and institutions that make policy decisions for a country
Institutions
stable, long lasting organizations that help to turn political ideas into policy
Centripetal Forces
Forces that tend to unite or bind a country together. To pull them together. "nationalism"
seperatist movement
a situation in which nationalities within a country demand independence
Ethnonationalism
the tendency for an ethnic group to see itself as a distinct nation with a right to autonomy or independence. A fundamental centrifugal force.
3rd wave of democratization
end of cold war- rise of capitalism. The defeat of dictatorial rulers around the globe. Further development of democracy. Still a need for transition in Africa.
