Intro to Political Geography What is a Nation? State? Nation-State?

YOU MUST UNDERSTAND… Nation State Nation-State Multination State Multi-State Nation Stateless Nation Sovereignty There are few Americans that use these terms appropriately, even me… It is not part of our societal approach to geopolitics, but you MUST strive to be accurate.

States aren’t states like you think… Our “states” are 50 subdivisions of 1 state A state is an area organized into a political unit and ruled by an established government that has control over its internal and foreign affairs. Occupies defined territory Permanent population A state has sovereignty, which means independence from control of its internal affairs by other states. Sovereignty: Equal Abroad / Master At Home

Nations Nation = Common Cultural Ancestors Ethnicity, language, and/or religion… Nations can be located within a state’s borders, across multiple state borders, or even (recently) absent of borders or location at all. There are an infinite number of examples: Kurds, Cherokees, Basques, Hmongs, etc. People construct nations to make sense of themselves. Nations are “imagined communities” -Benedict Anderson imagined = you will never meet all the people in your nation community = you see yourself as part of it

The Nation-State A nation-state is a state whose territory corresponds to that occupied by a particular nation. The concept that ethnicities have the right to govern themselves is known as self-determination. After WWI, leaders of the victorious countries met at the Versailles Peace Conference to redraw the map of Europe. Language most important criterion to create new European states and to adjust existing boundaries. Nation-states created by Versailles conference lasted through most of 20th century with little adjustment.

The Modern Nation-State Two good examples… Technically, there are no perfect examples. Why is there not a perfect example? Denmark: A population of ~5 mil and a vast majority are ethnically Danish, speak Danish. In order to compete globally students leave Danish schools fluent in 3 or 4 languages: Danish, German, English, and occasionally an auxiliary language Japan: Approximately 129 million people speak Japanese as their primary language and claim Japanese as their ethnicity. Japan has approximately 128 million people. 99.5 percent of Japan claims to be ethnically Japanese Japan has become an ethnic and cultural stronghold as a result of a strong nationalism. Nationalism: Loyalty and devotion to one’s particular nation over all

Our Current States South Sudan – 2011 Nepal – 2008 Serbia – 2006 Montenegro – 2006 Oman – 2003 Iraq – 2003 Paraguay – 1992 Albania – 1992 Bosnia & Herzegovina – 1992 Croatia – 1991 Armenia – 1991 Lithuania – 1990 We have a terrible time thinking that the current nations of the world have always been… They have not. They are recent phenomena… (Europe)

Multi-State Nations & Multi-Nation States A Multi-State Nation is a nation that transcends the borders of two or more states. Germans (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) Multi-National State: State that contains two or more ethnic groups with traditions of self-determination that agree to coexist peacefully by recognizing each other as distinct nationalities. The Former Yugoslavia

Stateless Nations A stateless nation is not just a nation of people without a country of their own, but a nation that has limited (or nonexistent) self-determination and sovereignty in any of the places in which they reside.

The Struggle For Sovereignty The Kurds The Palestinians The Basques The Chechens The Zulu The Hmong A description of the Nation A description of their location A description of their history of self-determination A description of their current state A description / prediction of the future of the Nation

Nation Without a State Perfect Nation State Bi-National State Irredentism Ethnic Exclave Multi-National State Ethnic Enclave Multi-State Kurds, Iceland, Belgium, Albania/Kosovo, Hungary/Romania, Russia, Bretons/Basques in France, Germans in Germany, Austria, & Switzerland

Nation WHICH ONE IS A NATION? USA NORWAY BELGIUM U.S.S.R. CANADA JAPAN A culturally distinctive group of people occupying a specific territory and bound together by a sense of unity arising from shared ethnicity beliefs, and customs. WHICH ONE IS A NATION? USA NORWAY BELGIUM U.S.S.R. CANADA JAPAN SLOVENIA BOSNIA YUGOSLAVIA AUSTRALIA BRAZIL KURDS Norway Japan Slovenia Kurds

Nation-State WHICH ONE IS A NATION-STATE? SWITZERLAND HAWAII DENMARK An ideal form consisting of a homogeneous group of people governed by their own state WHICH ONE IS A NATION-STATE? SWITZERLAND HAWAII DENMARK CHILE BARBADOS RWANDA CHEROKEE FRANCE PALESTINIANS France Denmark Barbados

Bell Ringer

Geographic Characteristics of States Shape-some are compact while other are elongated or fragmented. (More Later) Demography-some have huge populations like China’s 1.3 billion or tiny like Iceland with 250,000. Organization-Political & Economic… Monarchy, Republic, Dictatorship, Theocratic, etc. / Command, Market, Mixed Resources-natural and skilled population Development-subsistence to tertiary Power-both economic and military

Size Doesn’t Matter Largest – Russia= 6.6 million sq. miles 11% of total land area China, Canada, United States, Brazil, and Australia are the only other states of more than 2.9 million sq. miles Micro States are states with very small land areas Smallest is Monaco=0.6 square miles Many microstates are small islands Other Examples-Andorra, Antigua and Barbados, Bahrain, Barbados, Singapore

Microstates States that have small land areas and generally low populations… Less than 1000SqKm or 400 Sq Mi Size and apparent power mean nothing in relationship to statehood. Monaco 3 Washington Malls Maldives 1.7 Washington DCs Sao Tome e Principe 5 Washington DCs 32 Highway Nall & Johnson Dr 103rd & State Line 143rd & Pflumm

Antarctica Antarctica is the only land mass that does not belong to any state. Treaties of 1959 and 1991 define this Some countries claim portions but the UN refuses to acknowledge claim Australia, Norway, France, Chile, U.K., New Zealand San Marino

Countries Rush for Upper Hand in Antarctica Why are countries scrambling to lay stakes in Antarctica? Who should be in charge of deciding the fate of Antarctica? Thoughts / Personal Reactions / Most Interesting Thing

Challenges in Defining States Disagreement exists about actual number of sovereign states as a result of historical disputes involving more than one claim to a territory. So how many are there?

Problems Defining States Korea—Divided in 1953 by the 38th Parallel DMZ (demilitarized zone). Some believe the 2 countries are committed to reunite, but in 1992, the UN admitted N and S Korea as 2 separate countries Taiwan is the most populated “state” not in the UN. Taiwan’s president announced it as an independent sovereign nation in 1999 despite the fact that the it considered itself to the be legitimate rules of China since the Chinese govt. exile to Taiwan after the 1949 communist takeover over China What about Hong Kong or Macau