Sovereignty
power of a political unit, or government, to rule over its own affairs
Nation
a group of people who have certain things in common: a common cultural heritage, a set of beliefs and values that unify them, a traditional claim to a particular space as their homeland, a desire to establish their own state or express self-rule in another way
Nation-state
A sovereign state that is made up of a homogenous population with one nation
Multinational State
a country that contains more than one nation
Autonomous Region
a defined area within a state that has a high degree of self-government and freedom from its parent state
Semiautonomous Region
a state that has a degree of, but not complete self-rule
Stateless Nation
a cultural group that has no independent political entity
Multistate Nation
occurs when a nation has a state of its own but stretches across borders of other states
Nationalism
a nation's desire to create and maintain a state of its own
Centripetal Force
a force that helps to unify people within a country
Centrifugal Force
a force that tends to divide people, break states apart, or even prevent states from forming
Imperialism
a broader concept that includes a variety of ways of influencing another country or group of people by direct conquest, economic control, or cultural dominance
Early Colonialism
first wave of European colonialism led by Spain and Portugal, and then by France and Britain
Later Colonialism
During the 19th century, the influence of Spanish and Portuguese empires declined, which allowed other European countries to launch a second wave of colonialism
Berlin Conference
In 1884 and 1885, representatives from the major empires of Europe met in the German capital of Berlin to lay out claims made on the continent of Africa
Self-determination
the right to choose their own sovereign government without external influence
Decolonization
the undoing of colonization, in which indigenous people reclaim sovereignty over their territory.
Genocide
organized mass killing, in which people are targeted because of their rival ethnic groups
Cold War
a period of diplomatic, political, and military rivalry between the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, a confederation of 15 republics, including Russia. Started at the end of WW2, continued through the collapse of the Berlin Wall , and ended with the breakup of the Soviet Union.
Satellite States
a state dominated by another politically and economically
Devolution
process in which one or more regions are given increased autonomy by the central political unit
Geopolitics
the study of effects of geography on politics and relations among states
Territoriality
a willingness by a person or a group of people to defend space they claim
Religious Conflicts
An example of this is the relationship between Sunni and Shia Muslims.
Economic Self-Determination
newly independent nations focusing on exporting one or perhaps only a few cash crops or light industrial products when they were colonies. In turn, these nations relied heavily on European manufactured goods, which resulted in the value of their imports being greater than that of their exports
Neocolonialism
economic, political, or even cultural control indirectly exerted over developing countries
Modern Globalization
After WW2 and the establishment of the UN, trade barriers were dramatically lowered, and a new era of globalization emerged. Many people and companies benefited from increased access to regional and global markets
Choke Point
a place of physical congestion between wider regions of movement and interaction