World Regional Geography political trends

1
World Regional Geography political trends

• The world of nations and states
• 192 countries are members of the United Nations
• Largest in population China 1.36 Billion
• Smallest in population Liechtenstein 31,000
• Largest in size Russia 6.6m sq. miles
• Smallest in size Monaco 1 sq. mile
• (leaving out Vatican City)

2
De Jure Boundaries

• Sovereign States are the basic legal entity into
  which the world has been divided
• De jure boundaries defined by and
  internationally recognized borders
• Many are a product of conflict and territorial
  competition
• rather than natural boundaries defining
  individual cultural groups
• In particular, most of the boundaries of Africa,
  Asia and the Middle East (e.g., Iraq)
• defined during the last decades of the 19th
  century and the first decades of the 20th
  century,
• e.g., Conference of Berlin in 1888

3
Sub-Saharan Africa
4
De Jure Boundaries

• De Jure boundaries are relatively stable
• Most of the worlds countries dont like to see
  country boundaries change
• Why?
• Some dynamism in boundaries also (e.g.,)
• Break up of the Soviet Union into 15 countries
• Joining of North and South Vietnam
• Boundary changes between Morocco and Mauritania
• Boundary conflicts
• Greece and Turkey
• France and Italy
• Israel and Palestine

5
De Jure Boundaries

• De Jure Boundaries are
• Inclusionary
• Control territory
• Exclusionary
• Keep people out
• Permeability
• Highly controlled
• US, Mexico, N and S. Korea
• Moderately controlled
• US, Canada
• Little control
• EU countries

6
(No Transcript)
7
De Jure Boundaries

• Frontier Regions
• where boundaries are weakly developed
• Formal Boundaries tend to follow natural barriers
• Eg., rivers, mountains, oceans etc.,
• Where no natural barriers
• Straight lines
• Detours for special circumstances
• E.g., ocean access, Cabinda, Angola

Urubamba River Valley in the Andes of Peru
(boundary with Ecuador
8
World Regional Geography political trends (cont)

• De facto boundaries
• Much more complex and difficult to identify and
  can occur within or across countries
• Two or more groups of people that consider
  themselves radically different from each other
• Perpetuated through time
• May go back hundreds of years
• Very difficult to solve

9
De Facto Boundaries

• Defined by
• Ethnic, cultural or ideological differences and
  historical conflict between similar peoples
• E.g., Northern Ireland (unionists and
  nationalists)
• Lebanon (various Christian and Islamic religious
  groups)
• Belgium (cultural/Economic
• More prosperous Flemish (Dutch speaking north
  poorer Walloon French speaking south)

10
Political Graffiti in Northern Ireland
11
Cultural-Political Graffiti in Northern Ireland
12
World Regional Geography political trends (cont)

• Nations and Peoples
• 192 countries maybe 3,000 to 5,000 nations or
  peoples
• From small to large Bretons in France to Oromo
  in East Africa (20m)
• Other examples
• Karen in S.Asia
• Palestinians in occupied territories (Israel)
• Mayans in Guatamala
• Indian nations in U.S.
• Kurds in Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq

Karen People calling for independence from Burma
(Myanmar)
13
World Regional Geography political trends (cont)

• Centrifugal and Centripetal Forces
• Centripetal bind a country together and define
  a people(s) into a single national identity
• Often common language or religion
• Most importantly a sense of shared history
• Some countries have strong centripetal forces.,
  eg., U.S., Rep. of Ireland, France, Argentina
• Nationalism
• Key centripetal force
• Socially constructed
• Via primary school system
• Shared myths, heroes, triumphs, tragedies etc.

14
World Regional Geography political trends (cont)

• Nationalism
• History of the victor
• Whos history
• Centrifugal forces (break a country apart)
• More than one religion, language (sometimes)
• More than one cultural group
• Attempt by one cultural group to dominate

15
World Regional Geography political trends (cont)

• New world order
• Triumph of capitalism over communism
• U.S. as sole superpower
• New forms of conflict
• Radical Islam versus modernism
• Terrorism
• Violent acts directed at civilians
• State terrorism

16
Iraq
17
(No Transcript)
18
Iraq

• Major Players
• Moqtada al Sadr
• Shia cleric,
• v. popular in Sadr City (1.5m Slum in Baghdad)
• Part of Government
• Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani
• Most Senior Shia Cleric
• Nouri al-Makiki
• Prime Minister (Shia)

19
North Africa and Southwest Asia

• Jalal Talabani (President of Iraq)
• Kurd
• Little power
• Other Groups
• Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution
• Badr Brigade (in the south)
• United Iraqi Alliance (Largest Political Group in
  the Government)
• Al-Dawa party (Islamic)
• Supreme Council (Badr Brigade)
• Sadr (Madhi Army)
• Some Sunnis

20
North Africa and Southwest Asia

• Iraq
• Size of California
• Large areas of irrigated farmland
• Major oil reserves (2nd only to Saudi Arabia)
• 27 Million people
• Most people live in the eastern half see map
• On the alluvial plains of Tigris and Euphrates
  Rivers
• Generally divided into 3 major groups
• Kurds 15
• Sunni 20-30
• Shia 40-60
• Reality is more complex

21
North Africa and Southwest Asia
22
(No Transcript)
23
North Africa and Southwest Asia

• Culture and nationality
• Interwoven between
• Religious Shia, Sunni, Christian, etc.
• See map
• Tribal 1,500 tribal groups
• See map
• National identity?

24
(No Transcript)
25
North Africa and Southwest Asia

• Culture and nationality
• Tribal 1,500 tribal groups
• See map
• e.g., Tribes of Falluja
• Survived for 000s of years by joining together
  for defense
• 16th Century Ottoman Empire co-opts them
• British defeat them in battle but never
  controlled them
• Iraq Monarchy 1921-58 bribed them
• Saddam feared them (bribes, perks etc)
• Bu Nasir tribes (NNW of Baghdad in Tikrit)
• Saddams Republican Guard and other security
  services came from those tribes

26
North Africa and Southwest Asia

• Sunni
• Dominated country economically/politically
  throughout history
• Occupied the best agricultural land
• No oil reserves see map
• Oil North of Sunni Area (Kirkuk)
• Oil South of Sunni Area (Basra), Persian Gulf
• Shia and Kurds
• much poorer
• Both suffered from economic, political, and
  cultural discrimination from the Sunni
• Both suffered substantial violence under Saddams
  regime

27
North Africa and Southwest Asia
28
North Africa and Southwest Asia

• Who are we fighting
• Sunni vs U.S.
• (nationalists, Bathists)
• Shia vs U.S.
• nationalists
• Islamists vs U.S.
• Local and foreign
• Criminal groups vs any target of opportunity

29
North Africa and Southwest Asia

• and who else is fighting?
• Sunni vs Shia
• Shia vs Shia
• (in southBadr B. Madhi army for control)
• Foreign Islamists vs Shia
• Ie., against the Shia to foment civil war
• Sunni vs Islamists

30
North Africa and Southwest Asia

• So what to do?
• No easy answer
• Victory
• What do we mean by victory?
• Victory over whom?
• What would victory look like?
• Immediate withdrawal
• What does that mean?
• Power vacuum
• Remember the Taliban! or Kymer Rouge (Cambodia)
• Do we have a responsibility to Iraq to leave some
  semblance of stability?

31
North Africa and Southwest Asia

• Part of the global war on terror
• Fight them there so we dont have to fight them
  here?
• What does this mean?
• Yes,
• but not necessarily in a linear way
• We may be defeating and growing both a
  nationalist and Islamist insurgency at the same
  time
• i.e., Foreign troops on our soil
• i.e., U.S. imperialism
• Indefinite war!

32
North Africa and Southwest Asia

• Democracy?
• Whos democracy?
• Ours or theirs?
• What would it look like?
• The Surge
• The surge is working Sunni tribes turning away
  from Al Qaeda violence is down
• The surge is not working what is the purpose of
  the surge?
• Give some room for national political unity Not
  happening
• Local solutions may lead to civil war over the
  longer term., ie., arming tribes
• Decrease in violence may be due to the
  accomplishment of ethnic cleansing ie., there
  are no mixed neighborhoods left
• Stability?
• Regional or national stability

33
World Regional Geography political trends (cont)

• Supranational groups
• Political e.g., NATO
• Economic, eg., ASEAN, NAFTA
• Political/Economic, EU
• Global
• United Nations