1. 12/17 Bellringer +5 sentences
In the late 1940s, the United States formed a military alliance called the North Atlantic Treaty Organization with 22 other nations. What are some advantages of an alliance like this? What are some disadvantages?

2. Globalization and Political Geography

3. How has globalization changed the way people live?
Globalization challenges state sovereignty
Countries are in devolution – reasons?
Fragmentation
Impact of Technology
Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces

4. Challenges to State Sovereignty
Political borders have become less significant as ideas flow more rapidly among most countries
Supranationalism – occurs when multiple countries form an organization to collectively achieve greater benefits for all members

5. Challenges to State Sovereignty
Supranational Organizations
United Nations (UN), 1945 – 193 countries – mission: taking on issues facing humanity such as peace and security – headquarters: New York City, US
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 1949 – members: US, Canada, Iceland, Western and Central Europe and Turkey – mission: the mutual defense of member states – headquarters: Brussels, Belgium
European Union (EU), 1993 – members: 28 members mostly in Western and Central Europe – mission: the political and economic integration of member states – headquarters: Brussels, Belgium
North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), 1994 – members: US, Canada, Mexico – mission: free trade among members – headquarters: Washington, DC, Ottawa and Mexico City

6. Challenges to State Sovereignty
Economic Supranationalism
The most common reason for supranational organizations is economics
World Trade Organization (WTO), Associate of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)
Leads to transnational corporations – companies that conduct business on a global scale – this weakens state sovereignty because transnationals have no strong connection to any one place – they move jobs from one country to another
Economy of scale – the cost advantages of conducting economic activity on such a large scale – often lead to mergers to limit competition
Horizontal integration – a corporation merges with another corporation that produces similar products or services
Vertical integration – a corporation merges with another corporation involved in different steps of production – goal is to control the supply chain (the network of companies that produce, transport, and distribute a final product)
Positives: reduction of tariffs (taxes), establishment of a common set of regulation on products, coordinated labor policies, peaceful politics due to economic dependency, closer cultural ties
Negatives: transfer of jobs to inexpensive labor markets, the possibility of questionable quality of production, skirting of some members’ safety and environmental regulations

7. Challenges to State Sovereignty
Military and Strategic Supranationalism
Mutual defense alliances
NATO – created at the start of the Cold War as a defense for US and Western democracies to protect against attack from Soviet Union – today it is the largest military alliance in the world

8. Challenges to State Sovereignty
Supranationalism and the Environment
Most transnational companies are based in the economic core – the countries of the developed world
Much of the production and manufacturing occurs in the economic periphery – countries of the developing world – in order to minimize labor, land and resource costs
Countries make environmental decisions based on economics – poorer countries, in need of jobs and development, might be willing to accept the cost to its environment and the health of its people
Lax environmental regulation sin periphery countries often pollute the air, water and soil – this can impact neighboring countries as well

9. Forces leading to Devolution
Devolution – the transfer of political power from the central government to subnational levels of government
Physical geography – can cause isolation and increase the likelihood of devolution (Kashmir: mountains keep is isolated from India and Pakistan)
Ethnic Separatism – ethnic minorities are often concentrated in specific regions – in order to limit nationalism movements, the central government will grant more authority to these ethnic regions (Basque and Catalans in Spain)

10. Forces leading to Devolution
Devolution – the transfer of political power from the central government to subnational levels of government
Terrorism – organized violence aimed at government and civilian targets that is intended to create fear in furtherance of political aims
Economics – control of natural resources
Social Issues – Divisions between religious, linguistic, and historical regions – usually concentrated pockets of a specific religion, language or culture

11. Fragmentation
Autonomous regions – areas within a country that have their own local and legislative bodies – they govern an ethnic minority
Ex. Native American reservations in the United States
Subnationalism – people who have a primary allegiance to a traditional group or ethnicity
Ex. French-speaking Canadians in Quebec
Balkanization – the fragmentation of a state or region into smaller, often hostile, unites along ethno-linguistic lines
Ex. Balkan peninsula