Made by: Benjamin Phan and Abdussamad Syed Political Geography Made by: Benjamin Phan and Abdussamad Syed

Key Issue 1 – Where Are States? Located Problems of defining states Development of the state concept State – area organized in political units and ruled by an established government that has control over internal and foreign affairs Sovereignty – independence from control of its internal affairs by other states

Problems of Defining States Geographers have problems defining specific states such as Korea, China, Taiwan, and Western Sahara. Korea – divided into two occupation zones by U.S. and Soviet Union after defeat of Japan in WWII / never became one state again due to North Korea’s decision to build nuclear weapons even though the population needs necessities of life. China and Taiwan – occurred due to civil war between the nationalist and communist in China during late 1940s. Nationalists fled to Taiwan for safety and to be able to govern one part of the country. Western Sahara – Spain controlled territory at first, then after independence Morocco and Mauritania annexed north and south parts of countries.

Varying Sizes of States Largest state is Russia and the smallest state is Monaco Microstates – states with very minute land areas

Development of State Concept Ancient states – Mesopotamia and land areas around Fertile Crescent City state – country that is made up of a town and surrounding country side Early European States – Roman Empire that controlled most of Europe, north Africa and southwest Asia

Colonies Colony – area legally that is part of a state rather than being independent Colonialism – effort by one country to establish political and economical on territories. Imperialism – control of territory already settled and organized by other societies Colonial practices varied as the French tried to educate colonies into French culture, while the British created different policies for different British owned territories Most colonies are in the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Ocean are still colonies.

Key Issue 2 – Why Do Boundaries Cause Problems? Shape of states Types of boundaries Boundaries inside states Boundary – imaginary line that separates two territories

Shapes of States Five basic shapes of states are… Compact – circle shaped, as it is a state with the capital at the center and boundaries equidistant to the center Prorupted – a compact shape with protrusion of land, as it has characteristic of a compact shape and a way to get extra resources by protruded land. Elongated – States with long and narrow shape, and may suffer from internal communications. Prime examples are Chile and Italy.

Shapes of States Continued… Fragmented States – states that are disconnected pieces of territories, and are problematic as they may have trouble with communicating or transporting goods. Perforated – state that surrounds another state, and the state that it surrounds must depend on the surrounding state for transport of goods. A prime example is South Africa which surrounds Lesotho.

Landlocked States Landlocked state – state that is fully surrounded by another country(s) Lesotho and Botswana are example of a landlocked state

Types of Boundaries Frontier – area where no state has complete control Physical Boundaries Mountain boundaries – permanent boundaries that are difficult to travel through, and is a very effective boundary. Desert Boundaries – much like mountains, is a stable boundary, hard to cross, and is barely inhabited Water Boundaries – common types of boundaries that does not change frequently

Cultural Boundaries Cultural Boundary – states have differences based on ethnicity, language, and religion. Geometric Boundary – invisible line that separates two areas. Religious Boundary – boundary that separates two areas based on religion. An example of this is India and Pakistan. Language Boundary – boundary that separates areas by languages.

Boundaries Inside States Unitary states – places most power in government officials. Federal States - Places most power in local government. Unitary system works best in states that have few cultural differences and are usually in small states. Federal system works best in large states because of many cultural differences and capital of the state is too isolated to provide control over some regions of the states.

Trend Toward Federal Government Recently, there has been a strong universal trend towards the federal system. Some countries have left the unitary system while other states have welcomed it France is an example of a unitary government and Poland is a example of a state that has switched to the federal system.

Electoral Geography Gerrymandering – Redrawing legislative boundaries for gaining power and benefits Types of Gerrymandering Wasted Vote – spreads opposition supporters across many districts but in the minority so that their vote is “wasted.” Stacked Vote – links and puts all supporters in irregularly shaped areas Excess Vote – concentrates opposition votes into very few districts

Key Issue 3 – Why Do States Cooperate with Each Other Political and military cooperation Economic cooperation

United Nations First successful attempt at international peace making Most important organization in the world Created after WWII by Allies Though it relies on other countries to supply troops to force peace in difficult places where ethnics clash for domination Even though it has problems, it is the first time of history, where people of each country in the world can meet and vote on decision, instead of going to war with each other.

Regional Military Alliances During the Cold War, Soviet Union and U.S were the two main superpowers in the world Two main military alliances after WWII Warsaw Pact - Communist countries NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) – 14 European countries and Canada and the U.S

Economic Cooperation Recently, most important element of power is economic rather than military Superpowers are more common now and led by Germany European Union – made in 1958, European countries joined together to help promote development through economic cooperation, also it removed trade barriers

Former Communist Countries and European Union During the Cold War in 1949, seven Eastern European Communist states formed COMECON for economic cooperation. However it disbanded due to fall of communism in Eastern Europe. A few Communist Eastern European countries joined in 2004 and although more Southern and Eastern countries want to join, current members of the U.N. do not want them to join due to mass amount of number of extra languages that will be added and it will also lessen the economic benefits for current members.

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Key Issue 4 – Why Has Terrorism Increased Terrorism by individuals and organizations State support for terrorism No Definitions again YAY!!!!!

Terrorism by Individuals and Organizations Americans did not pay much attention to terrorism until Sept. 9, 2001 even though hundreds of people were getting killed or injured by terrorists. It took such a large scale attack for many Americans to be now aware of terrorists in their life. Before Sept. 9, 2001 there were already terrorists such as… Theodore Kaczynski – a.k.a. Unabomber because he was destroying the environment., he killed 3 and injured 23 with bombs sent through mail. Timothy McVeigh – terrorist that caused Oklahoma City federal building bombing, killing 80 people in the bombing.

Al-Qaeda or “The Base” Osama bin Laden founded the organization Osama moved to Afghanistan, recruited Muslims for an anti- soviet fight or “holy war.” After Soviet Union retreated from Afghanistan, Osama went to Saudi Arabia then to Sudan, but was expelled in both countries for his decision to oppose decisions made by their governments. He later returned as guest to Afghanistan. Hard to tell approximate number of people inside Al- Qaeda due to its system of isolated teams that have very little contact to those in their team, and have even less contact with those on other teams.

Al-Qaeda Cont... Osama Bin Laden waged war against United States in 1996 because of their support for Saudi Arabia and Israel. Al-Qaeda’s holy war against U.S. resulted in about 3000 fatalities during Sept. 9, 2001. Security increased in U.S intensively, so then the Al-Qaeda focused terrorism on other countries that were unguarded. Al-Qaeda uses religion to justify the attacks, and now a main problem for Americans is to separate peaceful worshipers of Islamic faith (1.3 billion people) apart from religious abusers of Islam. (3000-35000 people)

State Support for Terrorism Several Middle East states have supported terrorism in near past by giving them shelter, supplies, or even help them plan an attack. Libya – Terrorists sponsored by Libya bombed a nightclub with U.S. military stationed there and killed 3 people. In retaliation, U.S. bombed two Libyan cities and captured the main sponsor Afghanistan – Taliban, the leaders of Afghanistan, sheltered Osama bin Laden and Al-Qaeda members. However, they were promptly destroyed during the U.S. invasion to find Al-Qaeda leaders. Unfortunately, after the removal of Taliban rule, Afghanistan’s many ethnic groups fought each other for control of the country

State Support of Terrorism Cont. Iraq – U.S. attacked Iraq in 2003, in attempt to remove Saddam Hussein from power. However, the U.S. had already had a fight with Iraq in 1990 about Iraq due to its unjustified invasion and annexation of Kuwait. Even though Iraq lost, Saddam Hussein was still in power, and now was thought to be creating weapons of mass destruction that could be given to terrorists. They also had a close relationship to the Al-Qaeda, which also lead to U.S. attack in 2003.

State Support for Terrorism Cont. Iran – U.S. and Iran have had even a longer history of hostility dating back to 1979, when a revolution forced abdication of Shah M. Reza Pahlavi. He supported economic modernization, while others wanted more democratic rule. Ayatollah, a supporter of democratic rule, exclaimed that Iran was a Islamic republic and ordered the capturing of Shah M. Reza Pahlavi and also held 62 more Americans as hostage. And as U.S. started its fight against terrorism, Iran was accused of sheltering terrorists such as the Al-Qaeda.

State Support for Terrorism Cont. A few others countries that have sponsored terrorism in recent years are… Yemen – served as base for Al-Qaeda Sudan – sheltered Islamic militants, including Osama bin Laden Syria – supported terrorists from Iran and Libya North Korea – developing nuclear weapons