1. Geopolitics
AP Human Geography
2016

2. F Block 2/24/16 Attendance Collect HW SWBAT:
Define geopolitics and explain the tenets of the classic geopolitical theories
Define terrorism and explain the rise of terrorism.

3. What is geopolitics?
It attempts to explain why some countries have power and other countries do not.
It combines ideas from geography, political science, and international relations to explain how states acquire and maintain power.

4. What are the classic geopolitical theories?
Organic theory (German)
Heartland theory (British)
Rimland theory (American)

5. Organic Theory
The Germans were the first to develop the field (geopolitik)
In 1897, a German professor, Friedrich Ratzel developed his “organic theory”
theorized that a state is comparable to a biological organism.

6. Organic theory
Like a biological organism, a state has a life cycle from birth to death, with predictable rise and fall of power.
The theory contends that the state needs nourishment to thrive which is obtained by acquiring territories from less powerful states.
Like all living organisms, the state needs lebensraum- living space
Ratzel argued that the state will atrophy if it does not expand.

7. Organic theory
Hitler and others used Ratzel’s theory as a justification for Nazi’s territorial expansion in Europe

8. Heartland Theory
Sir Halford Mackinder, a British propose the heartland theory in 1904.
He was concerned with power relationships surrounding Britain’s global empire.
Naval power was responsible for British power, but Mackinder believed that a land-based power, not sea power would ultimately rule the world.

9. The Heartland Theory
With the development of the railroads, countries no longer needed the navy to move large armies
Mackinder believed that the focus of warfare would be shifted from the sea to the interiors (heartland).
Mackinder developed a “pivot area”which was the northern and interior parts of Eurasia.
“He who controls the heartland, controls the World Island (Eurasia & Africa); he who controls the World Island, controls the world.”

10. Mackinder’s Heartland

12. The Rimland Theory Proposed by Nicholas Spykman, an American
Challenged Mackinder’s theory in his book, The Geography of Peace written in 1944.
Argued that the Eurasian rim, not its heart held the key to global power
Believed that both sea and land power were crucial

13. What is the rimland?
The region included Western Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Far East.
“Who controls the rimland, rules Eurasia; who rules Eurasia controls the destinies of the world.”
Cold War policy makers used the rimland theory as justification for the policy of containment

14. World System Theory
Immanuel Wallerstein developed World System Theory in the 1930s
Was a sociologist and not a geographer

16. 3 Basic tenets of World Systems Theory
The world economy has one market and a global division of labor
Although the world has multiple states, almost everything takes place within the context of the world economy.
The world economy has a three-tier structure.

17. World Systems Theory
Wallerstein believes that the world economy was developed in Europe during the 16th century and was made possible by a division of labor that was not merely functional, but geographical.
There are 3 geographic areas: core, periphery, and semi-periphery.

19. World Systems Theory
Core states are advanced areas of the world economy; they have strong state structures and have been exploiters of the periphery
Peripheral areas are weak states either colonial states or states with a low degree of autonomy
Semi-peripheral areas- states that act as a buffer zone between the core and the periphery; places where core and periphery processes are occurring.

20. Criticisms of World systems theory
Reflects a deterministic point of view
Wallerstein believed since the world system had been fully developed by the 1950’s, no country would be able to enter the system and successfully compete.
Countries in the periphery would probably never be able to catch up economically with those in the core.
Did not factor the prior dominance of China

21. Geopolitical world order
During the Cold War, the geopolitical world order was bipolar- the Soviet Union vs. the United States
Int’l system after the collapse of USSR: multi-polar world- US, Europe, Russia & China

22. New World Order
The new geopolitical world order is one of unilateralism, with the United States in a position of hard power dominance and with allies of the United States following rather than joining the political decision making process
Globalization- expansion of economic, political & cultural activities to a global scale

23. How does Terrorism connect to the Political Geography Unit?
Terrorist groups take over land and resources for their own benefit
Terrorists can be state funded and often occur due to political or religious conflicts
Subnational terrorism came about with the rise of the nation-state because ethnicities feel threatened
Occurs over borders can result in devolution
Centrifugal force

24. Different Types of Terrorism
International vs Domestic
States Sponsored vs Subnational

25. What is Terrorism and why does it occur?
“Calculated use of violent acts against civilians and symbolic targets to intimidate or coerce a civilian population to affect the conduct of government.”
From the Latin word meaning “to frighten”