4.3 Political Power & Territoriality

  • Territoriality - control and influence over a specific geographic space
    • Consequences of territoriality (1) - sometimes cause conflict
    • Historic and cultural links, governments, economics, boundaries, sovereignty, and defense/military
    • Example of territoriality (1) - dog urinating and marking its territory
  • Political power - control over people, land, and resources
    • Doesn’t necessarily correspond (political power) - to a specific geographic area with boundaries
  • Neocolonialism - use of economic, political, cultural, or other pressures to control and influence other countries
    • Types of countries who experience neocolonialism (2) - semi-peripheral and peripheral countries
    • Neo - new
    • Examples of neocolonialism (1) - Former African colonies reliant on outside investments; in Kenya, Chinese government controls the railroad
    • Political influence with neocolonialism example (1) - US controls the Middle East
  • Shatterbelt - instability in a region geographically located between states with overlapping territoriality and political power
    • 2 examples of shatterbelts - Germany in the Cold War, Balkan Peninsula (former Yugoslavia (part of Ottoman and Iron Curtain before))
    • Shatterbelt has a variety of… - ethnicities, religions, and language
    • Variety of ethnicities, religion, and language in shatterbelts causes - centrifugal forces
  • Choke Points - strategic strait or canal that’s narrow, hard to pass through, and has competition for use
    • Strategic advantage of choke point - can be closed or blocked to block sea traffic and show political power or territoriality
    • Examples of choke points (4) - Strait of Malacca (Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia), Strait of Hormuz (Iran), Suez Canal (Egypt), and Panama Canal (Panama)