Political Geography

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Political Geography

• Centripetal Forces
• Centrifugal Forces
• Internal Territorial Disputes
• Migration
• Refugees

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State Cohesiveness

• Centripetal Forces - Forces that bind together
  the people of a state, strengthens the state
• Centrifugal Forces - Forces that destabilize a
  state, weakens a state

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Centripetal Forces

• Nationalism -allegiance to ones country.
  Promoted by iconography.
• Unifying institutions - schools, armed forces,
  religion

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• Organization Administration - governments.
  Canberra, Australia (left)
• Transportation Communication - in large
  countries important eg.TCH

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Centrifugal Forces

• Nationalism - most powerful of any force
  eg.Basque separatists and others wanting self
  rule in Europe

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• Size and Shape of state - isolation for some
  parts. Transportation communication problems
• Fragmented states have the greatest challenges.

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• Disputes over resources and wealth esp in large
  states like Canada Russia
• Territorial claims/boundary disputes

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Internal Territorial Disputes
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Rwanda

• Tutsis gained favour under Belgian rule after
  WWI, then Hutu tribe gained it
• animosities increased after 1962 (independence)
• civil war in 1994, Hutus driven out into DRC.
  Over 1,000,000 refugees fled, many now
  repatriated.

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Important vocabulary for Centrifugal Forces
Nationalism multinational state unassimilated
minorities racial or ethnic conflict contrasting
cultures multiple languages or
religions Subnationalism regionalism and self
determination devolution ethnic
cleansing peripheral locations Social and
economic inequality
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Migration

• Immigration - movement of people into an area
• Emigration - movement out of an area

• Significant numbers of immigrants can act as a
  centrifugal force within a state, esp when they
  are of a different ethnic group/culture.

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France

• Since 1850 - high immigration for jobs in
  industry, low birth rate
• Post WWII, most immigrants into France from
  former colonies protectorates in Africa and SE.
  Asia
• Immigrants from the Magreb (Morocco, Tunisia,
  Algeria) recently met hostilities
• Muslim and Arab
• Political right-wing parties formally
  anti-immigration now.

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Migration
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Refugees

• Persons outside their state who cannot return for
  fear of persecution race, religion, nationality,
  political opinion, membership in a group
• 10,000,000 est in 2003 by UN
• 4,500,000 IDP (Internally Displaced Persons)
• Need for refugee camps, esp in neighbouring
  states (DRC, Iran, Pakistan) strains on these
  states of asylum.