Pop Quiz 2

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Geopolitics

The interplay of geography, power, politics and international

relations

Organic Theory

• Friedrich Ratzel (1844-1904)

• State is like an organism– Requires nourishment to prolong existence

• Expand or die

Lebensraum

Heartland Theory

• Sir Halford Mackinder (1861-1947)

• Land power is important, not sea power

• World Island– Eurasia

• Pivot Area– Heartland (Russia/Central Asia)– Rimland (Europe/East Asia)

Capitalism• Dominant economic system

• Market for goods and services determines allocation

• Commodification– Placing monetary value

on all things

World Systems Theory

• Immanuel Wallerstein (1987)

• In a capitalist world you will have three tiers of states, based on exploitation:– Core

• Greater wealth; high technology

– Periphery• Poor; low technology

– Semi-periphery• Mix

Critical Geopolitics

• “Intellectuals of Statecraft”

• Politicians influence public view of the world

• Tone sets the stage for international cooperation or conflict

“Axis of Evil”

“I’ve said in the past that nations are either with us or against us in the War on Terror”

US v. THEM

No one nation, no matter how large or powerful, can defeat such challenges alone. And if we’re honest with each other, we know that sometimes, on both sides of the Atlantic, we have drifted apart, and forgotten our shared destiny.

What I do believe is that we have to describe a new foreign policy that says, for example, I will meet not just with our friends, but with our enemies, because I remember what Kennedy said, that we should never negotiate out of fear, but we should never fear to negotiate.

Collaboration

The World Order

• How political geographers characterize global politics during temporary periods of “stability”– Bipolar

• Two states/alliances competing

– Multipolar• Multiple strong states/alliances

– Unilateralism• One dominant superpower

The Cold War

East v. West

Imperialism/Colonialism

North v. South

Critical Thinking

• How would you characterize the current world order?

Internationalism

Sometimes we need to cooperate!

Internationalism

• How far do countries borders extend into the sea?

Law of the Sea

Internationalism

• Who controls land that has no native population?

Antarctic Treaty System

Supranationalism

• Forming institutions at a scale higher than the nation-state– Political– Economic– Cultural

European Supranationalism

• 1957: “Common Market”– Belgium, France, West Germany,

Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands

• 1992: Maastrict Treaty – European Union

• 1999: Unified Currency: The Euro

BUT: Devolution

• Movement of power from central to regional governments

• Bringing the power closer to the people– Often based on ethno-cultural groups

• Can contribute to centrifugal forces