ap human geography political geography

physical

(natural-political) - conform to physiologic features (Rio Grande: US/Mexico; Pyrenees: Spain/France)

United Nations (UN)

stablished at the end of WWII to foster international security and cooperation (192 member states); precursor was the League of Nations that went defunct at the beginning of WWII. Has many subsidiaries such as the Security Council, World Health Organization (WHO), ...).

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

a military alliance of western democracies begun in 1949 with 28 member states today; its members agree to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party.

Stateless nation

a nation without a state (e.g., Kurds, Palestinians, ...).

enclave

a small and relatively homogeneous group or region surrounded by a larger and different group or region (e.g., Nagorno-Karabagh (part of Armenia surrounded by Azerbaijan), West Berlin during the Cold War,...); or wholly lying within the boundaries of another country (Lesotho). Not the same thing as an ethnic enclave (e.g., Chinatowns, Little Italys, Little Havana (in Miami),...).

Multicore state

a state that has more than one dominant region in terms of economics or politics (e.g., US (NYC, Wash. D.C.), South Africa (Pretoria = executive capital, Cape Town = legislative cap., Bloemfontein = judicial cap.)

Nation- State

a state whose population possesses a substantial degree of cultural homogeneity and unity (e.g., Japan, Portugal, Venezuela, Armenia, Iceland, ...).

Forward capital

a symbolically relocated capital city usually because of either economic or strategic reasons; sometimes used to integrate outlying parts of a country into the state (e.g., Brasília, Washington D.C.).

North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

a trilateral trade bloc in North America created by the governments of the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Poverty rates have fallen and real incomes have risen in Mexico, but farmers haven't fared well due to cheaper food from US agribusiness; also US manufacturing workers have lost jobs to maquiladora plants in Mexico (mostly due to cheaper labor costs).

Supranationalism

a venture of three or more states (sometimes two or more) involving formal economic, political, and/or cultural cooperation to promote shared objectives

geometric

straight-line, unrelated to physical or cultural landscape, lat & long (US/Canada)

Exclave

bounded territory that is part of a state but is separated by the territory of another state (e.g., Alaska, Kalingrad (part of Russia),...)

New World Order

commonly refers to the post-Cold War era vision in which world affairs would not be dominated by the competition between the two nuclear superpowers; a positive and hopeful vision for the future

Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)

confederacy of states of the former Soviet Union; it possesses coordinating powers in the realm of trade, finance, lawmaking, and security; also promotes cooperation on democratization and cross-border crime prevention. Some states are considered to be part of the "near-abroad", referring to states (e.g., Baltic states - Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania) with strong Russian ties linguistically and politically.

Locational

definition is not in dispute, the interpretation is; allows mapmakers to delimit boundaries in various ways

Allocational

disputes over rights to natural resources (gas, oil, water) (e.g., Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, in part, due to a dispute over oil rights regarding the Ramallah oil field (mostly in Iraq but straddling into Kuwait)

Geopolitics

explains why some countries have power and some do not

Definitional

focus on legal language (e.g. median line of a river: water levels may vary)

Below the state boundary

internal divisions within a state (e.g., States, counties, municipalities (local self-government))

cultural

mark breaks in the human landscape (Armenia/Azerbaijan)

Operational

neighbors differ over the way the boundary should function (migration, smuggling) (e.g., US/Mexico)

Devolution

process whereby regions within a state demand and gain political strength and growing autonomy at the expense of the central government (e.g., Basque and Catalonia in Spain, Chechnya in Russia, ...).

Above the state boundary

refer to supranationalist agreements with two or more states working together for a common purpose.

organic theory

study that analyzes geography, history and social science with reference to international politics. States can be viewed as living organisms that need to consume other territories to survive. Gained a negative reputation when Hitler and the Nazis embraced geopolitics to justify their right for lebensraum (living space) because of their racial superiority.

Domino theory

the idea that if one land in a region came under the influence of Communists, then more would follow in a domino effect. A resulting policy out of the Truman Doctrine that promoted containment of communism, the domino theory was used by successive United States administrations during the Cold War to justify American intervention around the world.

Heartland Theory: (Halford Mackinder)

theory that claimed whichever state controlled the resource-rich "heartland" of Eastern Europe could eventually dominate the world. It would suggest that not the United Kingdom (an ocean-based empire), but Russia (which was becoming communist) would be in a position to achieve this dominance. "Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland; who rules the Heartland commands the World-Island (Europe, Asia & Africa); who rules the World-Island controls the world."

Rimland Theory: (Nicholas Spykman)

theory that the domination of the coastal fringes of Eurasia (the "rimland") would provide the base for world conquest (not the "heartland").

Nation

tightly knit group of people sharing a common language, ethnicity, religion, and other cultural attributes

European Union (EU)

union of 27 democratic member states of Europe; began with the formation of Benelux by the end of WWII, then with the formation of the European Economic Community (EEC) years later. The EU's activities cover most areas of public policy, from economic policy to foreign affairs, defense, agriculture and trade. The European Union is the largest political and economic entity on the European continent, with over 500 million people and an estimated GDP of >US$18 trillion (2008).