Chapter 8 Reading Guide: Political Geography

Key Issue 1: Where are states located?

1. What is a state? An area organized into a political unit and ruled by an
established government that has control over its internal and foreign affairs.
It occupies territory on Earth’s surface and contains a permanent population.
(synonym for country)
2. Define sovereignty: Ability of a state to govern its territory free from
control of its internal affairs by other states. Because the entire area of
a state is managed by its national gov’t, laws, army, and leaders, it is a
good example of a formal or uniform region.
3. What is the political status of Antarctica? It is the only large landmass
on Earth’s surface that is not part of a state. However, several states
including Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway,
and the U.K. claim portions of Antarctica. The U.S., Russia, and other
countries do not recognize these claims. There is a Treaty of Antarctica
(signed in 1959 and renewed in ‘91) that provides a legal framework
for managing Antarctica. They may establish research stations for
scientific investigation, but no military activities are permitted.
4. What challenges to unification does Korea face? After the WWII, Korea
was separated into two occupational zones by the U.S. and the former
Soviet Union. They became permanent after these superpowers
established separate gov’ts and w/drew their armies (1940s). Both
gov’ts were committed to reunite the country but this progress was
halted by N. Korea’s decision to built nuclear weapons even though the
country lacked the ability to provide its citizens with food, electricity,
and other basic needs. In 1992, N. Korea and S. Korea were admitted
to the U.N. as separate countries.
5. Do the Chinese consider Taiwan a separate country? Does the USA?
Both the Chinese and the U.S. considers Taiwan part of China. Taiwan
is not a country in the U.N.s. (But in 1999, Taiwan’s president
announced that they also regard itself as a sovereign independent
state)
6. Do you think a state is still sovereign if key countries in the global
community do not recognize its status? If that certain country is more
powerful than the country which is stating its sovereignty, then the
most powerful may gain control whether the other country wants it or
not. In this case, the country which is the most powerful is Morocco
and the least Western Sahara (Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic).
Morocco claims the territory and has built 3,000 –kilometer walls
around to keep out rebels: Spain used to control the territory until
1979 but later withdrew and Sahrawi Republic was declared by the
Polisario Front. Most of African countries recognized this but Morocco
and Mauritania took over the northern and southern portions. After 3
years Mauritania withdrew, so Morocco claimed and controls most of
the populated while Polisario Front controls the vast sparsely inhabited
 deserts. Both of these signed a cease-fire in ’91 which is supervised by
UN peacekeeping forces and they have attempted to hold a
referendum to decide whether or not to become independent but have
been postponed in various occasions. At the time Spain in control of
the Ceuta and Melilla and many of the residents want to stay part of
Spain.
7. What is a microstate? States with very small land areas. There are
about 2 dozen of these which include Monaco which encompasses only
1.5 sq km. and among others are Singapore, Barbuda, and Barbados.
8. What were some key characteristics of Ancient and Medieval states?
a. They were organized into city-states which were sovereign states
that compromised a town and the surrounding countryside. Walls
were built on the boundaries of the city and food was grown
outside the walls in agricultural land for urban residents and they
also provided an outer line of defense. Other more dominant
states would gain military dominance over others to form an
empire (e.g. Mesopotamia was often taken over control by
Sumerians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians).
b. The European portion of Roman Empire was broken into a large
number of estates owned by competing kings, dukes, barons, and
other nobles. Residents of that estate were forced to work to the
benefit of that noble. This lasted into the 19th century. The
consolidation of neighboring estates under the unified control of a
king formed the basis for the development of modern European
states (France, England, & Spain).
9. What is a colony? Territory that is legally tied to a sovereign state
rather than being completely independent. IN some cases, a sovereign
state runs only the colony’s military and foreign policy. In others, it
also controls the colony’s internal affairs.
10. Why did European states establish colonies around the world?
Colonialism is the effort by one country to establish settlements and to
impose its political, economic, and cultural principles on such territory.
Most of European states colonize for these reasons: To promote
Christianity, to search for resources for the benefit of the European
economy, and for power. (God, gold, and glory)
11. What is the difference b/t colonization and imperialism? Imperialism is
taking control of a territory that is already habited and organized
whereas colonization is taking control of a land that is uninhabited or
sparsely inhabited. An example of imperialism is the European
colonization of Africa and Asia. UK had the largest colonial empire
which included much of eastern and southern Africa, S. Asia, Mid East,
Australia, and Canada. France had the second largest which were
concentrated in W. Africa and Southeast Asia.
12. How did France and Britain differ in their colonial practices? France
attempted to assimilate its colonies into their culture and educate an
elite group to provide local administrative leadership, whereas the
 British created different gov’t structures and policies for various
territories of their empire. These measures ensured and protected the
diversity in culture, local customs, and educational systems in the
areas.
13. What are the largest and smallest colonies remaining in the world
today? Most of the remaining colonies are islands in the Pacific Ocean
or Caribbean Sea. The largest colony (Commonwealth of the U.S.) with
4 million residents and the smallest is Pitcairn Island (possessed by the
United Kingdom) with 47 people is less than 5 sq km.

Key Issue 2: Why do boundaries cause problems?

14. What is a boundary? An invisible line marking the extent of a state’s

territory. They result from a combination of natural physical features
and cultural features. Boundaries completely surround an individual
state to mark the outer limits of its territorial control & to give it a
distinct shape. The process of selecting their location is frequently
difficult and they generate conflict, both within the country and its
neighbors. It is the only location where direct physical contact must
take place between 2 neighboring states.
15. What is the geographic purpose of a porupted state? To provide access
to a resource such as water and to separate two states that otherwise
would share a boundary. Example: When the Belgians gained control of
Congo, they carved out a westward proruption about 500 kilometers
long which gave the colony access to the Atlantic. It also separated the
Portuguese colony of Angola into 2 discontinuous fragments.
16. What difficulties do elongated states face? Poor internal
communication. A region located at an extreme end of the elongation
might be isolated from the capital, which is usually placed near the
center. An example of an elongated state is Chile, which stretches
north-south for more than 6 thousand km and east-west for 150 km.
Italy is a less extreme example.
17. What difficulties do fragmented states face? It hinders communications
and makes integration of ppl living on remote islands nearly
impossible. There are two types of fragmented states: those separated
by water and those separated by an intervening state. An example of
these states is Indonesia: which compromises 13,677 islands that
extend more than 5,000 km across the Indian Ocean. To foster national
integration, the gov’t has encouraged migration from the more densely
populated islands to the sparsely inhabited ones. Panama is also a
fragmented state b/c for the most of the 20th century it has been
separated into 2 parts by the canal, built by the United States. Now it
is an elongated state.
18. What is a perforated state? A state that completely surrounds another
one. E.g. Lesotho in S. Africa: The state of Lesotho must depend almost
entirely on South Africa for the import and export of goods. This
dependency became difficult when the S. African gov’t was controlled
by whites which discriminated against the black majority.
19. Why does a lack of access to water present significant challenges to
landlocked states? A landlocked state lacks a direct outlet to the sea
because it is completely surrounded by other countries. In order to
trade it must arrange with other states to use its sea ports. Direct
access to an ocean is critical because it facilitates international trade.
This is prevalence in Africa because of the remnant of the colonial era,
when Britain and France controlled extensive areas.
20. What specific problems exist for landlocked states in Southern Africa?
In the past, states of southern Africa had to balance their economic
dependency on S. Africa with their dislike of the country’s racial
policies. When the colony of S. Rhodesia (modern Zimbabwe) was ran
by a black majority they intended in to reduce their dependence on the
neighboring white-minority gov’t. They tried to use railroads that that
connected to seaports outside S. Africa which was a complex problem.
There are civil wars and rebellions that usually disrupt many of these
railroad tracks, so they still have to depend on S. Africa.
21. What is the technical definition of a frontier? A zone where no state
exercises complete political control. It is a tangible geographic area,
whereas a boundary is an infinitely thin, invisible, imaginary line. They
are usually the ones that separate states rather than a boundary. It
provides an area of separation but a boundary brings two neighboring
states into direct contact, increasing the potential for violent face to
face meeting. It is rather uninhabited or sparsely settled by a group of
ppl seeking to live outside organized society. Modern communications
systems allow countries to monitor and guard boundaries effectively
leading to frontiers replacement with boundaries. The only regions of
the world that still have frontiers rather than boundaries are Antarctica
& the Arabian Peninsula.
22. Why is it complicated to set mountains as a national boundary? It is
complicated to decide on a precise location as to where the boundary
starts. (At the peak? Or curving line following the continental divide?)
These types of boundaries are mostly effective when is they are
difficult to cross. Contact b/t nationalities living on opposite sides may
be limited or impossible if passes are closed by winter storms. They
are useful b/c they are rather permanent and are usually sparsely
uninhabited. The problem b/t Argentina and Chile was that they could
not figure out where at the peak the boundary started so they almost
fought a war over it.
23. In what regions are desert boundaries common? Africa and Asia: In N.
Africa, the Sahara has generally proved to be a stable boundary b/t
Algeria, Libya, and Egypt on the north from Mauritania, Mali, Niger,
 Chad, and Sudan on the South. They are hard to cross & are sparsely
inhabited.
24. What problems can arise from water boundaries? The precise position
of the water may change over time. Ocean boundaries also cause
problems because states generally claim that the boundary lies not at
the coastline but out at sea for reasons dealing with defense and
control of valuable fishing industries. For example: the Rio Grande has
frequently meandered from its previous course since it became part of
the boundary 1848. U.s and Mex. Has resolved treaties that restore
land affected by the shift to the country in control at the time of the
original 19th century delineation.
25. What is a geometric boundary? It is a boundary that is simply a line
(ex. Canada and U.S. border)
26. How are religious boundaries decided? Based on the majority of
religion in a region. For example: South Asia; when the British
partitioned India into 2 states on the basis of religion. The
predominantly Muslim portions were allocated to Pakistan, whereas the
predominantly Hindu portions became the independent state of India.
27. Are language boundaries effective? Language is an important cultural
characteristic for drawing boundaries especially in Europe. It has long
been a significant means of distinguishing distinctive nationalities in
Europe. The French language was a major element in the development
of France as a unified state. In the 19th century, Italy and Germany also
emerged as states that unified the speakers of particular languages.
This organization of states started in the 20th century.
28. What is the “Green Line” in Cyprus? Cyprus has an unbalanced ethnic
population. The island is closer to Turkey but includes 18 % of the total
population whereas the Greeks 78 %. After their independence from
Britain (1960), its constitution guaranteed Turkish minority balance in
office positions and issues control. They (Greeks and Turkish) have
never been successfully peaceful in this island and the take-over in
gov’t by Greek Cypriot militants who were in favor of unification
w/Greece (coup) caused Turkey to invade Cyprus. A new elected
government was restored. After the invasion the country became
geographically isolated. Northeastern part was Turkish and the Greek
was in the southern part of the island. Because of this there was a
forced migration from both sides. A barrier runs through the center of
the capital: Nicosia
29. What is the difference between the unitary and federal state? The
unitary state places most power in the hands of central gov’t officials,
whereas the federal state allocates strong power to units of local gov’t
within a country. A country’s cultural and physical characteristics
influence the evolution of its gov’t system.
30. How is France transitioning to a more federal system? They have
granted additional legal powers to the 96 departments and communes
in recent years. Local gov’t can borrow money freely to finance new
 projects w/o explicit national gov’t approval, formally required and
national gov’t gives a block of funds to localities w/ no strings
attached. 22 regional councils (which previously held minimal
authority) shave full-fledged local gov’t units.
31. What is gerrymandering? It is the process of redrawing legislative
boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power. It is
named after Elbridge Gerry which signed a bill that redistricted the
state to the benefit of his party. There is two types of gerrymandering:
wasted vote, which spreads opposition supporters across many
districts but in the minority; excess vote, which concentrates
opposition supporters into a few districts; and stacked vote which links
distant areas of likeminded voters through oddly shaped boundaries.

Key Issue 3: Why do states cooperate with each other?

32. What is the most important international organization? The United
Nations which was created at the end of WW2 by the allies. It replaced
as earlier organization known as the League of Nations established
after WW1 in which the U.S. did not join. When established in ’45, the
UN compromised had 49 states, but membership increased to 192 in
’07, making it a truly global institution. The # of countries in this
organization has increased on 3 occasions: 1955 (by 16 countries,
mostly Euro. Liberated from the Nazi Germany), 1960 (by 17 countries
mostly from Africa), and the early 1990s (26 countries mostly from the
breakup of Soviet Union & Yugoslavia and the admission of some
microstates).
33. What roles does that organization perform today? UN members can
vote to establish a peacekeeping force & request states to contribute
military forces. They try to separate warring groups in# of regions. (E.
Europe, Mid East, sub-Saharan Africa) During the Cold War era, UN
peacekeeping forces were often stymied b/c any one of the 5
permanent members of the Security Council (China, France, Russia,
UK, and the US) could veto the operation. b/c the UN must rely on
individual countries to supply troops, the UN usually lacks enough of
them to keep peace effectively. UN tries to maintain strict neutrality in
separating warring factions, but it is difficult in places such as Bosnia &
Herzegovina, where the world sees one ethnicity (SERBS) as a stronger
aggressor and another (Muslims) as a weaker victim.
34. Who were the 2 dominant superpowers during the cold war era? In
addition to joining the UN, many states joined regional military
alliances after WW2 which resulted from the emergence of 2 states as
superpowers: The United States and the Soviet Union. Before then, the
world typically contained more than 2. During the Napoleonic Wars
(early 1800s) Europe has 8 as well as the early 20th century before the
outbreak of WW1 (Austria, France, Great Britain, Poland, Prussia,
Russia, Spain, and Sweden in the 1800s; Germany, Italy, Japan and the
U.S. replaced Poland, Prussia, Spain, and Sweden in the 20th century).
 By the 1940s most of these were beaten by the two wars and U.S. and
the Soviet Union remained as superpowers. Balance of Power is a
condition of roughly equal strength b/t opposing alliances. By this
many countries entered alliances in order to prevent from single
countries from becoming too strong and in many cases most of the
other countries tried to be added as allies to either U.S. or Russia. The
acquisition of one state not only added to the value of one
superpower’s collection but also prevented the other one from
acquiring it. Both superpowers repeatedly demonstrated that they
would use military force if necessary to prevent from an ally from
becoming more independent which included establishing military
bases in other countries.
35. What are NATO and the Warsaw Pact? 2 military alliances dominated
by the superpowers which were designed to maintain a bipolar balance
of power in Europe. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) had a
principle objective of to prevent the S.U. from overrunning W.Germany
and other smaller countries: 16 democratic countries including the U.S
and Canada + 14 Euro states. Belgium, Denmark, W. Germany,
Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal,
Turkey, and the UK were active members but France and Spain were
part of the alliance b/c they did not contribute troops. Warsaw:
founded in 1955 was a military agreement among the Communist in
order to protect themselves from attack which included Soviet Union,
Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, E.Germany, Hungary, Poland, & Romania.
36. Why did they become obsolete? The # of troops under NATO command
was sharply reduced, and the Warsaw Pact was disbanded.
37. What is the new role of NATO? More than becoming obsolete the NATO
expanded its membership to include most of the former Warsaw Pact
states. Membership in NATO offers E.European countries an important
sense of security against any future Russian threat, no matter how
remote that appears at the moment, as well as participation in a
common united Europe.
38. What is the primary goal of the AU? Established in 2001: It
encompasses 53 countries in Africa and replaced an earlier
organization called Organization of African Unity (1963) which primarily
seek an end to colonialism and apartheid in Africa and now the new
organization encompasses more emphasis in promoting economic
integration in Africa.
39. What are two major changes that took place after the polarized age
after WW2? The era of a bipolar balance of power formally ended when
the Soviet Union was disbanded in ’92. Instead the world has returned
to the pattern of more than 2 superpowers that predominated before
WW2. There were 2 main differences: power is increasing economically
instead of military: Japan and Germany joined the ranks of
superpowers because of economic success, whereas Russia declined;
 and the leading superpower since the 1990s is not a single state but
an economic union of Euro states led by Germany.
40. What is the most important European economic organization? With a
decline in military-oriented alliances, European states increasingly
have turned to economic cooperation. The most important economic
organization is the European Union which is formerly known as the
European Economic Community, the Common Market, and the
European Community. When it was established in 1958, the
predecessor to the European Union included 6 countries: Belgium,
France, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, and the Federal Republic of
Germany (aka West Germany). It was designed to heal the Western
Europe’s scars from WW2, which had ended only 13yrs earlier, when
the Nazi Germany, in alliance with Italy, conquered the other 4
countries.
41. What is the main task of the EU? The main task of the European Union
is to promote development within the member states through
economic cooperation. At first the EU played a limited role, providing
subsidies to farmers and to depressed regions such as southern Italy.
Most of the EU budget still goes to these purposes. However, the EU
has taken on more importance in recent years, as member states seek
greater economic and political cooperation. Since a European
Parliament is elected by the ppl in each of the member states
simultaneously, it has removed most barriers to free trade: with a few
exceptions, goods, services, capital, and ppl can move freely through
Europe which includes trucks being able to travel b/t borders without
stopping and introduction of the Euro. The effect of these actions has
been to turn Europe into the world’s wealthiest market.

Key Issue 4: Why has terrorism increased?

42. What differences do you see between “Terrorism” and “Wartime
retaliation?” Terrorism is the systematic use of violence by a group in
order to intimidate a population or coerce a government into granting
its demands. They attempt to achieve their objectives through
organized violence acts such as bombing, kidnapping, hijacking, taking
of hostages, and assassination that terrorizes ppl. They do not hesitate
to strike despite knowing they would probably die in the act. In modern
times (unlike in the past), terrorism has been applied to actions by
groups operating outside of gov’t rather than by official gov’t agencies,
although some gov’ts provide military and financial support for
terrorists. ~Violence to foster political aims has long been a part of the
world (4 US presidents have been assassinated). Terrorism differs from
assassinations and other acts of political violence b/c attacks are
aimed at ordinary ppl rather than at military targets or political
leaders. Victims of terrorism are a cross section of citizens who happen
to be there at the time.
43. How has the concept of jihad entered the global discussion of
terrorism? Jihad is what Osama Bin Laden called the “holy war” which
was the anti-Soviet war in which he recruited militant Muslims from
Arab countries to join the cause. Bin Laden moved to Afghanistan
during the mid-80s to support the fight against the Soviet Army and
the country’s Soviet-installed government with the money he inherit
from his father. He funded al-Qaeda with this several million dollar.
44. What type of organization is Al-Qaeda? Are they centrally organized?
Al-Qaeda was created around 1990 to unite jihad fighter in
Afghanistan, as well as supporters of bin Laden elsewhere in the Middle
East. Membership is estimated at around 20,000, dispersed in as many
as 34 countries, yet its size is hard to estimate because the
organization consists of a large # of isolated autonomous cells, whose
members have minimal contact with those in other cells and others in
the same cell.
45. What is state supported terrorism? When a country supports terrorism
in one of the following ways: providing sanctuary for terrorists wanted
by other countries, supplying weapons, money, and intelligence to
terrorists, and planning attacks using terrorists. U.S. accusations of
state-sponsored terrorism escalated after 9/11. The gov’ts of
Afghanistan (attacked in ‘01), then Iraq (attacked in ‘03), and then Iran
were accused of providing at least one of the 3 levels of state support
for terrorists.
46. Did it exist in Afghanistan? In 2001, during the U.S. invasion, the
Taliban were brought out of rule. It was necessary to in order to for the
U.S. to go after al-Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden, who
were living in Afghanistan as guest of Taliban. The removal of the
Taliban unleashed a new struggle for control of Afghanistan among the
country’s many ethnic groups.
47. Did it exist in Iraq? No.
48. What are the details of the US’s original conflict with Iran is 1979? A
revolution forced abdication of Iran’s pro-U.S. Shah Mohammad Reza
Pahlavi.