• A subfield within the human branch of geography• The study of the interaction of geographical area and

political process• It is the formal study of territoriality.

POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY

Political geography

• Economics supposedly eroding significance of borders.

• Ethnic minorities feel they deserve states of their own.

• States under attack from above (global economics) and from below (ethnic communities).

• Yet states are still powerful, and can respond.

• A politically organized territory

• Administered by a sovereign government

• Recognized by a significant portion of the international community.

A state must also contain:

– a permanent resident population

– an organized economy

STATE

Nationality and Ethnicity

• Nationality = tied together through a legal status

• Ethnicity = groups with distinct ancestry and cultural traditions

• Race = groups defined narrowly by skin color and other physical characteristics

• A country whose population possesses a substantial degree of cultural homogeneity and

unity.

NATION - STATE

Classic Example Classic Example of of

a Nation-State:a Nation-State: JapanJapan

Must a nation be a place?

• Some examples of stateless nations: the Cherokee Nation, the Kurds, the Palestinians

NATION

Every U.S. citizen = American nationality

Every American = belongs to a race

Some Americans = identified with ethnicity

Multi-ethnic States

State-nationstate-multinational state

Geographic Characteristics of States

• SIZE– What role does size play?– What are the most powerful nations on earth

today?– What were the most powerful nations on earth

200 years ago?

Geographic Characteristics

Shape• Compact• Prorupt• Elongated• Fragmented• Perforated

Types of territorialityState

Ethnic

Religious

Racial

Fears of“Balkanization”(splitting state)

But commondefiance ofoutsiders

Pan-isms(Uniting same group from different states)

Ethnic: Pan-Arab, Pan-Kurdish

Religious: Pan-Islamic

Racial: Pan-African

States: Pan-American

Kurds

Ethnic group in Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Syria.

Many Kurdsfor state ofKurdistan.

States pit Kurdsagainst each other

Iraq

Ethnic:Arabs vs.Kurds

Religion:Sunnis vs.Shi’as

Rulers wereSunni Arab

IRAN (Shi’a Persian) vs.IRAQ (Sunni Arab)

Yet Iraqi Shi’as fought for Iraq,Iranian Arabs fought for Iran

(State territoriality won)

Iran-Iraq War, 1980-88

Iranians

Iraqis

ARMENIA (Christian) vs.AZERBAIJAN (Shi’a Muslim)

Yet Shi’a Iran stayed neutral,fearing ethnic Azeris in NW Iran (Ethnic territoriality won)

Armenia-AzerbaijanWar, 1988-94

Armenian (above) and Azeri views

Kashmir conflict(CHINA)

INDIA

PAKISTAN CHINA

KASHMIR

INDIA (Hindu) vs.PAKISTAN (Muslim)

British India partitionedinto two states, 1948.

Kashmir had Muslimmajority but Hindu ruler.

Wars split Kashmirbetween India,Pakistan, and China(all now have nukes)

Indian andPakistanipropagandamaps

Cold War propaganda map: “Red menace”

View of Communist “Red Bloc” during Cold War

Lumping failed to recognizedifferences among Communists,

or local causes of conflict

Samuel Huntington theory of Western, Islamic, Slavic, etc. “blocs” in conflict with each other.

“Clash of Civilizations” theory

Fails to recognize differences within each “bloc.”

Most sources of conflict are local (often ethnic), not religious.

Often blames the victimfor the conflict.

The West shares responsibilityfor conflicts

(military aid arms both sides)

“Clash of Civilizations” theory

Lumping Arabs or Muslims after Sept. 11

How Many Americans View the World

Cartoon:

Bush’s Viewof the World

Problem:some formerallies laterseen as “evil”

GEOPOLITICSGEOPOLITICSGEOPOLITICSGEOPOLITICS

State’s power to control State’s power to control territory, shape international policyterritory, shape international policy

and other states’ foreign policy and other states’ foreign policy

State’s power to control State’s power to control territory, shape international policyterritory, shape international policy

and other states’ foreign policy and other states’ foreign policy

Growth of Russian Empire

Africancolonies

Decolonization, 1940s-1990s

Divide-and-conquer

Ethnic nations split betweenand within colonial empires

(British, French, Russian)

But “clean” ethnicboundaries also not possible

BerlinConferencedivides mapof Africa, 1884

Mackinder’s Heartland Theory(Whoever controls Pivot Area can control the world)

The “Great Game” between Britain and Russia, 1800s-1900s

Enlargement ofSoviet bloc after

World War II

BerlinWall,

1961-89

NATO and Warsaw Pact, 1945-89

Changes in Europe, 1990-93

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 2002

Kosovomilitaryzones

EuropeanUnion

Began as EuropeanEconomic

Community(EEC), 1957.

Stronger in 1994

10 new membersto join, 2004

euro

United Nations member states

Switzerland 2002

Other international alliances

POLITICAL GEOGRAPHYPOLITICAL GEOGRAPHY

Interaction of politics and place Interaction of politics and place

Geography of PoliticsGeography of Politics

Effect of politics on place Effect of politics on place

U.S.-Canadaboundary

Alberta-Montana

U.S.-Mexicoboundary

Calexico, California-Mexicali, Mexico

Politics of GeographyPolitics of Geography

Effect of place on politicsEffect of place on politics

ExampleExample::Making political boundariesMaking political boundaries

Congressional reapportionment

Levels ofadministrativeregions

ELECTORAL GEOGRAPHY ELECTORAL GEOGRAPHY

Political Geography of ElectionsPolitical Geography of Elections

Variation of voting districtsVariation of voting districtsand voting patternsand voting patterns

U.S.congressional

delegationredistricting

Reapportionment :allocating seats toa geographic area

(after every census)

“Gerrymandering”

Redistricting forpartisan purposes

1860 Presidential Vote

Led to Southern secession, Civil War

1996 Presidential Vote

2000 Presidential Vote

Davis (D) 48%Simon (R) 42%Camejo (G) 5%Copeland (L) 2%

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