Political Geography States and World Economy

Bell Work: January 12 th, 2011 *World Order Define—Core, Periphery, and Semi- Periphery Give an example of each type of state.

The Ideal: Nation-State The politically organized area in which nation and state occupy the same space. –The concept of Nation-state is more of an ideal than a reality. The concept of nation-states is that states and governments desire to run a unified nation within their borders to create stability. Goal of creating nation states dates back to the French Revolution.

Multinational State – A state with more than one nation. The sense of belonging to a nation rarely meshes perfectly with state borders. Nearly every state in the world is a multinational state. The Former Yugoslavia

Other Nations Multistate Nation – When a nation stretches across border and across states Stateless Nation – a nation without a state

Nation and Territory “The control and maintenance of a territory is as crucial as the control and maintenance of a national language, religion, or particular way of life. Indeed, a language, religion, or way of life is difficult to maintain without control over territory.” - George White

European Colonialism and the Diffusion of the Nation-State Model Colonialism - a physical action in which one state takes over control of another, taking over the government and ruling the territory as its own. Two Waves of European Colonialism:

Dominant Colonial Influences, This map shows the dominant influence, as some places were colonized by more than one power in this time period.

Two Waves of Decolonization First wave – focused on decolonization of the Americas Second wave – focused on decolonization of Africa and Asia

Long Term Impacts of Colonialism 1. Europe Dominates –European colonialism gave rise to a globalized economic order in which European states dominate. Not all European states profited equally. 2. Russia, U.S. and Japan expand in land and influence. 3. Rise of global economic order.

Uneven Distribution of wealth The forces of colonialism gave rise of the global economic order. Wealth is unevenly distributed. –Examples: Haiti’s GNP is only $510 whereas Norway’s is 42,222. Human geographers are more less concerned with stats then they are concerned with the way in which states interact in the global market.

Immanuel Wallerstein’s World-Systems Theory: 1.The world economy has one market and a global division of labor. 2.Although the world has multiple states, almost everything takes place within the context of the world economy. 3.The world economy has a three-tier structure.

Construction of the World Economy Capitalism – people, corporations, and states produce goods and services and exchange them in the world market, with the goal of achieving profit. Commodification – the process of placing a price on a good and then buying, selling, and trading the good. Colonialism – brought the world into the world economy, setting up an interdependent global economy.

Three Tier Structure Core Processes that incorporate higher levels of education, higher salaries, and more technology * Generate more wealth in the world economy Semi-periphery Places where core and periphery processes are both occurring. Places that are exploited by the core but then exploit the periphery. * Serves as a buffer between core and periphery Periphery Processes that incorporate lower levels of education, lower salaries, and less technology * Generate less wealth in the world economy

Are economic and political power the same? No but they go hand and hand. Economic power can bring about political power. –Economic power=wealth –Political power=sovereignty Having wealth helps leaders gain political power.