1. Canadian & World Issues www.CraigMarlatt.com/school
Geopolitics
Canadian & World Issues

2. “A Key Study in Geography”
Politics: The practice of decision-making by society as a whole, usually formalized at the government level.
Political topics concerned with Geography:
Trade
military alliances
foreign aid
Immigration / emigration
territorial control
economic systems
areas of land suitable to support society and distribution of wealth

3. “A Key Study in Geography”
Examples of how Politics and Geography are related:
Geographical factors can cause political changes
e.g. When Switzerland restricts immigration because it, as a nation, already has a high enough population.
Political factors can cause Geographical changes
e.g. An increase in oil prices has led to an expanded search for oil in the Arctic and North sea, thus causing Geographical changes.

4. “A Key Study in Geography”
Geopolitics: The study of the two-way relationship between political beliefs and actions on one side and any of the usual concerns of geography on the other.
“the influence of geography on the political character of states, their history, institutions, and especially relations with other states.”
Religion, Culture, Technology, Nationalism, War and Conflict, oil.

9. Classification of Political Systems
Supranational Political Systems
National Political Systems
Other Ways of Classifying Governments:
Governments by Mode of Succession
Governments by Type of Rule
Governments by Structure
Levels of Government
Branches of Government

10. Supranational Political Systems
Empires
e.g. British, Roman, and Ottoman
a major political unit having a territory of great extent or a number of territories or peoples under a single sovereign authority

11. Supranational Political Systems
Leagues
e.g. Baltic, Arab; also League of Nations
an association of nations or other political entities for a common purpose

12. Supranational Political Systems
Confederations
e.g. European Union
is a large state composed of many self-governing regions
has a very weak central government with little influence over the actions or policies of the member regions

13. Supranational Political Systems
Federations
e.g. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
formed by a compact between political units that surrender their individual sovereignty to a central authority but retain limited residuary powers of government

14. Supranational Political Systems
United Nations
voluntary association of most of the world's nation-states
not a world government and it does not make laws

15. National Political Systems
Unitary Nation-States
e.g. Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Japan, Poland, Romania, the Scandinavian countries, Spain, and many of the Latin-American and African countries
basically a single tier of government with varying degrees decentralization - some are decentralized so much as to resemble federal states, some allow limited regional rule, others have only token decentralization

16. National Political Systems
Federal Systems
e.g. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Russia, and the United States, Austria, Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Switzerland, and Venezuela
political authority is divided between two autonomous sets of governments, one national and the other sub-national, both of which operate directly upon the people

17. World Governments in 1900

18. World Governments in 1950

19. World Governments in 2000

20. World Governments in 2050
?!?!?

21. Canada and the European Union

22. Canada and the European Union

23. Canada and the European Union
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
United Kingdom
Croatia
Macedonia
Turkey

24. Canada and the European Union

25. Canada and the European Union
Other European Countries (non EU members)
Albania
Andorra
Armenia
Azerbaijan
Belarus
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Georgia
Iceland
Liechtenstein
Moldova
Monaco
Montenegro
Norway
Russia
San Marino
Serbia
Switzerland
Ukraine
Vatican City State

26. Canada and the European Union
Government Leader
The Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper
H.E. José Manuel Barroso
Government Type
Parliamentary Democracy
Supranational Union
Formation
July 1, 1867
May 9, 1950
Population
33 million
495 million

27. Canada and the European Union
Area
sq km
sq km
Divisions
10 provinces,
3 territories
27 countries
Capital
Ottawa, Ontario
Brussels, Belgium
Gross Domestic Product
$1.1 trillion US
$13.4 trillion US

28. Canada and the European Union
EU Council President Rotation
Current Head of Government of country identified assumes additional duties of President of EU for term
2007 Jan-Jun Germany
2007 Jul-Dec Portugal
2008 Jan-Jun Slovenia
2008 Jul-Dec France
2009 Jan-Jun Czech Republic
2009 Jul-Dec Sweden
2010 Jan-Jun Spain
2010 Jul-Dec Belgium

29. Canada and the European Union
15 countries use the Euro as their currency:
Austria
Belgium
Cyprus
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Ireland
Italy
Luxembourg
Malta
Netherlands
Portugal
Slovenia
Spain

30. Canada and the European Union
EU Currency (Bills)
Multi-coloured
Archways and Bridges
NOT specific sites (i.e. not country-specific)
€ 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and 500 denominations

31. Canada and the European Union
Canadian Currency (Bills)
Multi-coloured
Prime Ministers (& Queen) and “themes”
$5 Laurier Children at Play
$10 Macdonald Remembrance and Peackeeping
$20 Elizabeth II Arts and Culture
$50 King Nation Building
$100 Borden Exploration and Innovation

32. Canada and the European Union
EU Coins
Uniform front, national back
All coins are valid in all countries
1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 cent pieces plus €1 and €2 coins

33. Canada and the European Union
Canadian Coins
Maple leaf, beaver, bluenose, moose, coat of arms, loonie, and polar bear are regular images on front, Queen on back
1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 cent coins plus $1 and $2 coins

34. Sharing Spaces
Nile River Basin

35. Sharing Spaces
Antarctica

36. Sharing Spaces
The Arctic

37. Sharing Spaces
Grand Banks of Newfoundland

38. Sharing Spaces
Indian Ocean