Unit 4 - Political Patterns

Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Predominantly Muslim, multiethnic state in Southwest Asia; Invaded by the Soviet Union in 1979 and the United States in 2001; ruled for a time by the Taliban; landlocked, moutainous; Dari and Pashto are the official languages

Antecedent boundary

a boundary line established before the area in question is well populated

Apartheid

Laws (no longer in effect) in South Africa that physically separated different races into different geographic areas.

Autonomous region

A self ruled region within another country; the region has the independence to manage daily governance but is not its own state

Balkanization

A process by which a state breaks down through conflicts among its ethnicities.

Berlin Conference (1884-1885)

Purpose was to set rules for establishing colonies in Africa among European nations. No African representatives were there.

Boundary

An invisible line that marks the extent of a state's territory.

buffer state

A small neutral state between two rival powers

Centrifugal Force

A force that divides people within a state; examples include ethnic competition or diversity, inequality, oppressive political leadership, territorial conflicts

Centripetal Force

An attitude that tends to unify people and enhance support for a state; examples include a common language, religion, strong infrastructure.

Choke point

a strategic, narrow waterway between two larger bodies of water

Colonialism

Attempt by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles in another territory.

Colony

A territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state rather than completely independent.

Congo

Central Africa's largest and most populous country torn apart by civil war since the end of World War II. Conflict here has involved the Hutus and Tutsis. One of this country's most notorious presidents was Joseph Mobutu who became rich off the country's mineral reserves.

consequent boundary

a boundary line that coincides with some cultural divide, such as religion or language

Demilitarized Zone (DMZ)

A strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea.

Devolution

The process whereby regions within a state demand and gain political strength and growing autonomy at the expense of the central government.

Eritrea

Tiny country in East Africa, along the Red Sea, that was controlled by Italy and Ethiopia. This country fought a 30 year war to gain Independence from Ethiopia. It became an independent state in 1993.

Ethnic cleansing

A process in which a more powerful ethnic group forcibly removes a less powerful one in order to create an ethnically homogeneous region.

Ethnicity

Identity with a group of people who share traits as a product of common heredity and cultural traditions

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.

Federal State

Federalism is a system of government where power is shared (in various arrangements) between a centralized government and various regional authorities. The United States is a federal country because power is shared between the national government and the governments of the various states.

Genocide

The mass killing of a racial, ethnic, national, or religious group of people with the intent to destroy in whole or in part. Examples include the Holocaust, Armenia, Cambodia, Rwanda, Sudan.

Geometric boundary

Political boundaries that are defined and delimited by straight lines.

Gerrymandering

Process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power.

Irredentism

The policy of a state wishing to incorporate within itself territory inhabited by people who have ethnic or linguistic links with the country but that lies within a neighboring state.

Kashmir

Region in South Asia disputed by India and Pakistan. A "line of control" was established in 1972 to stop the fighting over this region. Border disputes have continued on and off for decades.

Kosovo

Suffered from ethnic cleansing by Serbia after the breakup of Yugoslavia. The Albanian majority was targeted and this area declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Not all countries recognize its independence, however.

Kurds

An ethnicity divided between multiple states, including Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and Syria. Their culture has been suppressed by Turkey and they have gained a measure of autonomy in Iraq.

Landlocked State

A state that does not have a direct outlet to the sea.

Lebanon

Small country that borders the Mediterranean Sea and is divided between Christians and Muslims. Recently has taken in hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees

Media blackout

The censorship of news related to a certain topic, particularly in mass media, for any reason. A media blackout may be voluntary, or may in some countries be enforced by the government or state

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.

Nation-State

A state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular ethnicity that has been transformed into a nationality

Nationalism

Loyalty and devotion to a particular nationality, often promoted through ceremonies and symbols of a country.

Nationality

Identity with a group of people who share legal attachment and personal allegiance to a particular country

Neocolonialism

A new form of global power relationships that involves not direct political control but economic exploitation by multinational corporations

Pakistan

Ethnically diverse and Predominantly Muslim country in South Asia created from the partition of India. Originally composed of two noncontinuous areas

Physical boundary

Political boundaries that correspond with prominent physical features such as mountain ranges or rivers.

Reapportionment

process by which representative districts are switched according to population shifts, so that each district encompasses approx the same number of people

Redistricting

The redrawing of congressional and other legislative district lines following the census, to accommodate population shifts and keep districts as equal as possible in population.

Relic boundary

A boundary no longer observed but that still affects the present-day area (e.g. border between West and East Germany in Berlin)

Rwanda

Tiny country in central Africa comprised of 3 groups including the Hutus, Tutsis, and Twa. Genocide occurred here in 1994 when about 800,000 people were killed in 100 days while the international community failed to intervene.

Self-Determination

Concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves.

Somalia

Country in East Africa comprised of Sunni Muslims and divided between ethnic groups or clans. Fighting and famine in this country have led to U.S. intervention and the displacement of many civilians as refugees in neighboring countries like Ethiopia.

South Sudan

Created in 2011, this young state was created after a peace settlement ending war Sudan. Its capital is in Juba and has been plagued by civil war since its creation. Current reports warn of possible genocide being carried out against innocent civilians.

Sovereignty

Ability of a state to govern its territory free from control of its internal affairs by other states.

Spratly Islands

A disputed group of more than 750 reefs, islets, atolls, cays and islands in the South China Sea. The archipelago lies off the coasts of the Philippines, Malaysia, and southern Vietnam.

Sri Lanka

Island country off the Indian coast inhabited by three main ethnicities-the Sinhalese (Buddhists), Tamils (Hindus), and Moors (Arab Muslims). War between the Sinhalese and Tamils has been particularly violent.

State

An area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government with control over its internal and foreign affairs

Stateless nation

a group of people with a common political identity who do not have a territorially defined, sovereign country of their own

Strait of Hormuz

A strategically important strait linking the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman

subnational units

The smaller areas into which a larger state is divided (for example, states in the U.S. or provinces in

Canada)

Subsequent boundary

a boundary line that is established after the area in question has been settled and that considers the cultural characteristics of the bounded area

Sudan

State in northeastern Africa that has been torn apart by several civil wars. Its capital in Khartoum has been accused of genocide in its Darfur region. Many refugees from this country are living in camps in Chad.

Superimposed boundary

A boundary that is imposed on the cultural landscape which ignores pre-existing cultural patterns (typically a colonial boundary); common in Africa as a result of European control

The United Kingdom

Comprised of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The last three have devolved powers. Recently a vote was taken to leave the European Union.

UNCLOS

United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea: a code of maritime law approved by the UN in 1982 that authorizes, among other provisions, territorial waters extending 12 nautical miles from shore and 200 nautical mile wide exclusive economic zones.

Unitary State

An internal organization of a state that places most power in the hands of central government officials

Yugoslavia

Multi-ethnic, former state in the Balkans that broke up in 1992. It was comprised of 6 republics, had 4 official languages, and three main religions. It was united under the leadership of Josep Tito and eventually broke apart due to ethnic conflict.