3.4: borders and territoriality

concepts of political power and territoriality

• territoriality is a piece of geopolitics consisting of three major theories utilized by geographers when discussing the roots of modern global power distributions
• organic theory: states are born, requiring nourishment and space to survive and grow
  • must obtain this living space by annexing territory from weaker states or claiming previously unclaimed areas → states must grow or effectively die
  • eg. westward expansion, overseas European colonization, usage of lebenstraum (expansion) to justify expansion of Nazi Germany into Poland and other countries during WWII
• heartland theory: idea that power was almost completely based on land in cases of global domination
  • created by Sir Halford Mackinder (British geographer)
  • centers around ideals of
  • improving land transportations can lead to faster military movements
  • control over land is more important than control over water
  • heartland has lots of resources, particularly natural resources such as coal
  • heartland is largely landlocked and thus immune to naval attacks
  • this theory influenced many policies and decisions made during both World Wars and the Cold War (very influential on 20th-century politics and militarism)
• rimland theory: idea that power is based on having control over certain maritime spaces
  • highly populated coastal areas just outside of the heartland
  • theory developed by Nicholas Spykman
  • believed that these areas would be more important/powerful as they had more diverse sets of resources
  • influenced decisions in Cold War conflicts, upheld with events such as the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949 and President Truman’s views on limiting the expansion of communism

the culture and economy of territoriality

border disputes

• borders and boundaries are often disputed in real life regardless of whether they appear legitimate on paper

  • eg. Sunni and Shi’i muslims clash over religious beliefs
  • prevalent in conflicts between Saudi Arabia (Sunni majority) and Iran (Shi’i majority)
  • Saudis are Arabic and Iranians are Persian → also an ethnic divide
  • with attempted territorial expansions on both sides, instability and tension have risen

• territoriality has historically been and will most likely continue to be heavily tied to economic issues and disputes

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the law of the sea

• although a country’s boundaries on land are usually clear, they’re more difficult to determine at sea

  • systemically addressed from 1973-1982 during the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (signed by 150+ countries)

• designated

  • territorial sea — up to 12 nautical miles of sovereignty; commercial vessels may pass, but non-commercial vessels may be challenged
  • contiguous zone — coastal states have limited sovereignty for up to 24 nautical miles, where they can enforce laws on customs, immigration, and sanitation
  • exclusive economic zone — coastal states can explore, extract minerals, and manage up to 200 nautical miles
  • high seas — water beyond the exclusive economic zone is open to all states

• exceptions and elaborations

  • if there is less than 24 nautical miles between states, they split evenly what is there (eg. if there’s a 6-mile gap, each gets 3 miles)
  • if an island territory is hundreds of miles from a country’s mainland, the exclusive economic zone may still be extended an additional 200 miles

• violence may occur from disputes over territorial control in coastal waters

  • eg. US/Libya in 1973

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