1. Let’s talk Geopolitics. How many countries are there?

2. Geopolitics The interplay between geography, power,
politics & international relations
G8 Meeting in Italy, 2009

3. A. Boundary Disputes
Positional Dispute – disagreement over older antecedent boundary (Peru-Ecuador)
Territorial Dispute – disagreement over the possession/control of land (i.e.: Kasmir; Somalia; Israel; Kurds; Basques; Spratly Islands)
irredentism: territorial expansion (i.e.: Nazi Germany)
III. Resource Dispute – over water, oil, sea (i.e.: Rio Grande between the U.S. and Mexico; Iraq-Kuwait)
IV. Functional Dispute – problem over use of land today (i.e.: illegal immigration)

4. The “Iron Curtain”

5. Major area of dispute w/ Iraq in the Persian Gulf War (1990)

6. South China Sea – area of major territorial & resource disputes
Spratly Islands (rich in oil, claimed by six states)

7. Spratly Islands: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpYW_LXAznA

8. B. Centripetal & Centrifugal Forces
Centripetal Forces: promote unity & cohesion
(i.e.: building roads, schools, armed forces, hospitals)
Centrifugal Forces: destabilize or weaken a state
(i.e.: separatist/autonomous movements; devolution; regionalism; tribalism)
Is nationalism a centripetal or centrifugal force?
How about balkanization (The fragmentation of a region into smaller, hostile political units)?

9. ethnonationalism– where the “nation” is defined in terms of ethnicity
nationalism– creating a concept of allegiance to one single country or nation
ethnonationalism– where the “nation” is defined in terms of ethnicity
Scotland
Spain– Basques, Catalonia
Belgium– Flemish (Dutch) vs. Walloon (Fr.)
Former Yugoslavia
Russia– Chechnya
Quebec

10. Ethnic Regions in the Former Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia’s six republics until 1992 included much ethnic diversity.
Brutal ethnic cleansing occurred in Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo during the civil wars of the 1990s.

11. Former USSR

12. Chechnya (Russia): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5waxHoWyLo

13. What causes devolutionary movements?
devolution: movement of power from the central government to regional governments within the state
What causes devolutionary movements?
Ethnonationalism
Economic forces
Spatial forces

14. Devolution of States: Sri Lanka
The Sinhalese are mainly Buddhist and speak an Indo-European language,
while the Tamils are mainly Hindu.

15. Economic Devolutionary Movements
Catalonia, Spain Barcelona is the center of banking and commerce in Spain and the region is much wealthier than the rest of Spain.

16. Spatial Devolutionary Movements
Honolulu, Hawai’I A history apart from the United States, and a desire to live apart in order to keep traditions alive.

17. European Devolutionary Pressures: Regions Seeking Autonomy

18. Regions of European devolution due to ethnonationalism –
Scotland, Belgium, & Bosnia

19. South Asia: India-Pakistan
At independence in 1947, British India was divided into India and Pakistan, resulting in the migration of 17 million people and many killings. In 1971, after a brutal civil war, East Pakistan became the country of Bangladesh.

20. India-Pakistan (Kashmir border): https://www. youtube. com/watch

21. Geopolitics:
the interplay between geography, power, politics, & international relations

23. Classical Geopolitics
German School:
Ratzel’s “organic state theory”
the state is a living organism, surviving by “eating” less powerful neighbors
British/American School:
Mackinder’s “Heartland Theory”
Spykman’s “Rimland Theory”

24. Geopolitical Strategies during the Cold War:
Mackinder’s view: a unified heartland land-based empire
Spykman’s view: a rimland sea-based power

25. Mackinder’s Heartland Theory
Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland Who rules the Heartland commands the World Island Who rules the World Island commands the World

26. D. Post-WW II World Order:
Bipolar World ( ):
U.S. vs. Soviet Union
The “Cold War”
Multipolar World ( )
international cooperation
“New World Order”
Unilateral World ( )
states taking individual action

27. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Singh of India
The Obama Doctrine?
“… unafraid to deploy American power but mindful that its use must be tempered by practical limits & a dose of self-awareness.”
President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Singh of India