Political

Political Geography
 The Heartland Theory-( Hannah 2A) The heartland theory depicted a world divided into a //Heartland// (Eastern Europe/Western Russia); //World Island// (Eurasia and Africa); //Peripheral Islands// (British Isles, Japan, Indonesia and Australia) and //New World// (The Americas). Mackinder claimed that whoever controlled the Heartland would have control of the world. He used this warning to politically influence events such as the Treaty of Versailles, where buffer states were created between the USSR and Germany , to prevent either of the them controlling the Heartland. At the same time, Ratzel was creating a theory of states based around the concepts of Lebensraum and Social Darwinism. He argued that states were 'organisms' that needed sufficient room in which to live. Both of these writers created the idea of a political and geographical science, with an objective view of the world. Pre- World War II political geography was concerned largely with these issues of global power struggles and influencing state policy, and the above theories were taken on board by German geopoliticians (see Geopolitik ) such as Karl Haushofer who - perhaps inadvertently - greatly influenced Nazi political theory. A form of politics legitimated by 'scientific' theories such as a 'neutral' requirement for state expansion was very influential at this time.



Political Geography is…(Hannah 2A) 
 * How and why states are organized into regional groupings, both formally (e.g. the European Union ) and informally (e.g. the Third World )
 * The relationship between states and former colonies, and how these are propagated over time, for example through neo-colonialism
 * The relationship between a government and its people
 * The relationships between states including international trades and treaties
 * The functions, demarcations and policings of boundaries
 * How imagined geographies have political implications
 * The influence of political power on geographical space
 * The study of election results (electoral geography)

Pan-Regions (Hannah 2A)

The book talks about the concept of a pan-Arab nation-state, where Arabic is the predominant language and Islam the predominant religion. The Middle East presents a region of apparent cultural homogeneity in which supporters of pan-Arab unity believe the fragmentation into two dozen states has resulted in an unfair distribution of wealth, where some countries possess petroleum and others do not. //Pan-regions // became popular in Germany after World War I, when some argued that the world should be divided into //pan-regions,// each consisting of a large area of the world under the domination of a single country.   <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Example of Political Map (Hannah 2A) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Vocabulary (Hannah 2A) <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Antecedent boundaries: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A boundary line established before an area is populated
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Balkanization: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> The contentious political process by which a state may break up into smaller countries
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Buffer state: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A relatively small country sandwiched between two larger powers. Their existence may help to prevent dangerous conflicts between powerful countries
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Centrifugal forces: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Forces that tend to divide a country
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Centripetal forces: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Forces that tend to unite or bind a country together
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Colonialism: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> The expansion and perpetuation of an empire
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Commonwealth of Independent States: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Confederacy of independent states of the former Soviet Union that have united because of common economic and administrative needs
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Compact state: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A state that possess a roughly circular, oval, or rectangular territory in which the distance from the geometric center is relatively equal in all directions
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Confederation: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A form of an international organization that brings several autonomous states together for a common purpose
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Domino theory: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> The idea that political destabilization in one country can lead to collapse of political stability in neighboring countries, starting a chain reaction of collapse
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">East/west divide: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Geographic separation between the largely democratic and free-market countries of Western Europe and the Americas from the communist and socialist countries of Eastern Europe and Asia
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Electoral College: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A certain number of electors from each state proportional to and seemingly representative of that state's population. Each elector chooses a candidate believing they are representing their constituency's choice. The candidate who receives a higher proportion of electoral votes within a state receives all the electoral vote for that state
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Electoral vote: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> The decision of a particular state elector that represents the dominant views of that elector's state
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Elongated state: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A state whose territory is long and narrow in shape
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Enclaves: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Any small and relatively homogeneous group or region surrounded by another larger and different group or region
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">European Union: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> International organization comprised of Western European countries to promote free trade among members
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Exclave: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A bounded territory that is part of a particular state but is separated from it by the territory of a different state
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Federalism: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A system of government in which power is distributed among certain geographical territories rather than concentrated within a central government
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Fragmented state: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A state that is not a contiguous whole but rather separated parts
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Frontier: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> An area where borders are shifting and weak and where peoples of different cultures or nationalities meet and lay claim to the land
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Geometric boundary: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Political boundaries that are defined and delimited by straight lines
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Geopolitics: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> The study of the interplay between political relations and the territorial context in which they occur
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Gerrymandering: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> The designation of voting districts so as to favor a particular political party or candidate
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Heartland theory: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Hypothesis proposed by Halford Mckinder that held that any political power based in the heart of Eurasia could gain enough strength to eventually dominate the world
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Imperialism: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> The perpetuation of a colonial empire even after it is no longer politically sovereign
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">International organization: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> An alliance of two or more countries seeking cooperation with each other without giving up either's autonomy or self-determination
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Landlocked state: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A state that is completely surrounded by the land of other states, which gives it a disadvantage in terms of accessibility to and from international trade routes
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Law of the sea: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Law establishing states' rights and responsibilities concerning the ownership and use of the earth's seas and oceans and their resources
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Lebensraum: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Hitler's expansionist theory based on a drive to acquire "living space" for the German people
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Microstate: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A state or territory that is small both in population and area
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Nation: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Tighly knit group of individuals sharing a common language, ethnicity, religion, and other cultural attributes
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Nation-state: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A country whose population possesses a substantial degree of cultural homogeneity and unity
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Nationalism: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A sense of national pride to such an extent of exalting one nation above all others
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">North American Free Trade Agreement: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Agreement signed on January 1, 1994, that allows the opening of borders between the United States, Mexico, and Canada
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">North Atlantic Treaty Organization: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> An international organization that has joined together for military purposes
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">North/south divide: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> The economic division between the wealth countries of Europe and North America, Japan, and Australia and the generally poorer countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Organic theory: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> The view that states resemble biological organisms with life cycles that include stages of youth, maturity, and old age
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> An international economic organization whose member countries all produce and export oil
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Perforated state: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A state whose territory completely surrounds that of another state
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Physical boundary: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Political boundaries that correspond with prominent physical features such as mountain ranges or rivers
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Political geography: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> The spatial analysis of political phenomena and processes
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Popular vote: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> The tally of each individual's vote within a given geographic area
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Prorupted state: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A state that exhibits a narrow, elongated land extension leading away from the main territory
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Reapportionment: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> The process of a reallocation of electoral seats to defined territories
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Rectangular state: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A state whose territory is rectangular in shape
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Redistricting: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> The drawing of new electoral district boundary lines in response to population changes
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Relic boundaries: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Old political boundaries that no longer exist as international borders, but that have left an enduring mark on the local cultural or environmental geography
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Rimland theory: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Nicholas Spykman's theory that the domination of the coastal fringes of Eurasia would provide the base for world conquest
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Self-determination: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> The right of a nation to govern itself automatically
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Sovereignty: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Supreme or independent political power
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">State: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A politically organized territory that is administered by a sovereign government and is recognized by the international community
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">States' rights: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Rights and powers believed to be in the authority of the state rather than the federal government
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Subsequent boundaries: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Boundary line established after an area has been settled that considers the social and cultural characteristics of the area
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Superimposed boundaries: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Boundary line drawn in an are ignoring the existing cultural pattern
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Supranational organization: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Organization of three or more states to promote shared objectives
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Territorial dispute: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Any dispute over land ownership
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Territorial organization: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> Political organization that distributes political power in more easily governed units of land
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Theocracy: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A state whose government is either believed to be divinely guided or a state under the control of a group of religious leaders
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">U unitary state: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A state governed constitutionally as a unity, without internal divisions or a federalist delegation of powers
 * <span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">United Nations: **<span style="color: rgb(34,34,34); font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> A global supranational organization established at the end of World War II to foster international security and cooperation

=(2B)= The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are to facilitate cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights and achieving world peace. The UN was founded in 1945 at the end of World War II by the Allies. The number of the countries in the United Nations has increased rapidly on several occasions. UN members can vote to establish a peacekeeping force and request states to contribute military forces. The UN is trying to separate warring groups in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and sub-Saharan Africa. Today there are 190 states that are members of the United Nations. Two countries that are not apart of the United Nations would be Taiwan and Vatican.
 * UNITED NATIONS**

New Zealand used to be a colony of the United Kingdom. In the Berlin Conference the European powers met to divide Africa into colones. Countries that used to be a French colony:
 * COLONIES**
 * Madagascar
 * Burkina Saso
 * Haiti
 * Mauritana
 * Senegal
 * Mali
 * Vietnam
 * Bnin
 * Niger
 * Gagon
 * Central African Republic
 * Chad
 * Cote d'Ivoire
 * Republic of the Congo

The European Union's goal is to promote the development within the member states through economic cooperation. It was established in 1958. There were six countries that were a part of the European Union when it began, and they were: Belgium, France, West Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. Then it became bigger and Denmark, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, Greece, Portugal and Spain, Austria, Finland, and Sweden all joined.There has been a decline in military alliances, so the European states have turned to economic cooperation. The European Union is the most important economic alliance for western Europe. Recently, the European Union has removed most barriers to free trade: with a few exceptions, goods, services, capital, and people can move freely through Europe.
 * EUROPEAN UNION**

NATO(North Atlantic Treaty Organization) was a military alliance among 16 democratic states. In this organization there was the United States, Canada, and 14 European states. The 12 European members of NATO were Denmark, West Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Turkey, and the United Kingdom. The other 2 members were France and Spain, but they didn't contribute troops. After World War II, most European states joined one of two military alliances, the Warsaw Pact and NATO. The Warsaw Pact and NATO were designed to maintain a bipolar balance of power. For NATO allies, the principal objective was to prevent the Soviet Union from overrunning West Germany and other smaller countries. When Europe was no longer dominated by military confrontation, the Warsaw Pact and NATO became obsolete. The Warsaw Pact was disbanded. NATO expanded its membership to include most the the former Warsaw Pact countries, including Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
 * NATO**

Several states in the Middle East have provided support for terrorism.
 * TERRORISM**
 * Providing sanctuary for terrorists wanted by other countries
 * Supplying weapons, money, and intelligence to terrorists
 * Planning attacks using terrorists

Four U.S. presidents have been assassinated. 1. Lincoln (1865) 2. Garfield (1881) 3. McKinley (1901) 4. Kennedy (1963)
 * ASSASSINATION**


 * HEARTLAND THEORY**



The Heartland Theory is a geopolitical hypothesis, proposed by British geographer Halford Mackinder during the first two decades of the twentieth century, that any political power based in the heart of Eurasia could gain sufficient strength to eventually dominate the world. Mackinder further proposed that since Eastern Europe controlled access to the Eurasian interior, its ruler would command the vast "heartland" to the east.

The following countries do not have diplomatic relations with the US:
 * RELATIONS WITH THE US**
 * Buhtan
 * Cuba
 * Iran
 * North Korea
 * Taiwan

The Commonwealth of Nations is an organization that consists of countries that are formerly a part of the British Empire.
 * BRITISH EMPIRE**

A choke point is a geographical feature on land such as a valley or defile, or at sea such as a strait which an armed force is forced to pass, sometimes on a substantially narrower front. Examples:
 * CHOKE POINTS**
 * Hormuz Strait between Oman and Iran at the entrance to the Persian Gulf
 * Strait of Malacca between Malaysia and Indonesia
 * Panama Canal and the Panama Pipeline connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans
 * Suez Canal and the Sumed Pipeline connecting the Red Sea and Mediterranean Sea
 * The Turkish Straits/Bosporus linking the Black Sea to the Mediterranean Sea
 * The Strait of Gibraltar

(see definitions) Examples:
 * ELONGATED STATES**
 * Chile
 * Italy
 * Gambia (West Africa)

(see definitions) Examples:
 * FRAGMENTED STATES**
 * Indonesia
 * Russia
 * Panama
 * Tin Bigha

The distance from the center to any boundary does not vary significantly. (see definitions) Examples: (In southern Africa)
 * COMPACTED STATES**


 * Burundi
 * Kenya
 * Rwanda
 * Uganda

(see definitions) Example:
 * PERFORATED STATES**
 * South Africa

(see definitions) Examples:
 * PROTRUDED STATE**
 * Myanmar (Burma)
 * Thailand


 * DEFINITIONS:**

=(2B)=
 * balance of power- condition of roughly equal strength between opposing alliances
 * boundary- an invisible line marking the extent of a state's territory
 * city-state- a sovereign state that comprises a town and the surrounding countryside
 * colonialism- the effort by one country to establish settlements and to impose its political, economic, and cultural principles on such territory
 * colony- territory that is legally tied to a soveregin state rather thank being completely independent
 * compact state- shaped like a circle, with the capital at the center and the shortest possible boundaries to defend
 * elongated states- states with a long and narrow shape
 * federal state- internal organization of a state that allocates most powers to units of local government
 * fragmented state- includes several discontinuous pieces of territory
 * frontier- a zone where no state exercises complete political control
 * gerrymandering- process of redrawing legislative boundaries for the purpose of benefiting the party in power
 * imperialism- control of territory already occupied and organized by an indigenous society, whereas colonialism is control of previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land
 * landlocked state- lacks a direct outlet to the sea because it is completely surrounded by several other countries
 * microstates- states with very small land areas
 * perforated state- state that completely surrounds another one
 * prorupted state- otherwise compact state with a large projecting extension
 * protruded state- has an extended arm of territory
 * sovereignty- independence from control of its internal affairs by other states
 * state- an area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government that has control over its internal and foreign affairs
 * unitary state- places most power in the hands of central government officials