1. Political Geography

2. Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces

3. Attitude or force that unifies and enhances support for state
Centrifugal force
Centripetal forces vs.
Attitude or force that unifies and enhances support for state
Attitude or force that divides a state
a single native language or a colonial “official” language
nation-states
English in India, Nigeria
revived Hebrew in Israel
homogeneous cultural factors
Catholicism in Poland
Hinduism in India
patriotism, national symbols (anthems, flags, sports teams, common enemy)
Miracle on Ice
many native languages –
India, Canada, Nigeria or almost all African countries
heterogeneous cultural factors
Islam/Christianity in Nigeria
“ethnicities” in Rwanda
desire for self-determination in multinational states (Yugoslavia)
language
religion
and ethnicity
nationalism

4. Ethnicities compete to dominate states in Africa
African borders do NOT correspond to ethnic groups
Legacy of imperialism
Scramble for Africa
SUPERIMPOSED!
FIGURE 7-34

5. Ethnicities compete to dominate states in Africa

6. Ethnicities compete to dominate states in Africa
multilingual state
interfaith conflict
political corruption, competition for resources (oil, grasslands), terrorism, unequal wealth
Nigeria (you should research these issues so you can provide depth)

7. Genocide vs. Ethnic Cleansing?
intentional action to destroy a people (usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group) in whole or in part.
6 million Jews killed by Nazis

8. Ethnic Conflict in Africa
Rwanda
Hutu vs.Tutsi
ethnic divisions more “created” than real
hierarchy created by colonial Belgians
social construct
Tutsi made “privileged”
Hutus resent →
take revenge in 1994
800,000 Tutsi and allies butchered over 100 days
World stands by for fear of “getting involved” in a conflict it doesn’t understand,
US had recently been “burned” in Somalia.
“Blackhawk Down”
Ethnic Conflict in Africa

9. Ethnic cleansing and genocide in Rwanda (1994)

10. Aftermath of Rwandan Genocide
Ethnic conflict spills into neighboring countries
failed state?
a state whose political or economic system has become so weak that the government is no longer in control.
“balkanized” (adj.)
area that can’t stabilize due to ethnic conflict
“balkanization” (n.)
breakdown of state due to ethnic conflict

11. Genocide vs. Ethnic Cleansing?
process in which a more powerful ethnic group forcibly removes a less powerful group from their territory
purpose is not to subjugate, but to remove
Post-WWII Europe
Yugoslavian Civil War
currently taking place in Myanmar as the Rohingya Muslims are being ethnically cleansed by Buddhists
article posted on website

12. Ethnic cleansing in Europe
Post - WWII
Germans,
Poles
forced to “relocate”
Goals:
create USSR buffer zone
Created along nation-state ideal

13. Ethnicities compete to dominate states in Africa
Sudan
Govt. in Khartoum = Arab/Muslim
Darfur targeted
Black Muslim
Genocide or ethnic cleansing?
“breakaway” South Sudan
balkanized!
Black, Christian/Animist
Economic
OIL!!!!
Independent 2011
Now ethnic strife
Failed state?

14. Other ethnicity issues in the Middle East
Iraq
20% Sunni (Arabic, Saddam Hussein, oppressed/gassed other groups)
60% Shi’a (Arabic but tied to Iran, militias)
20% Kurds (non-Arabic, Sunni, national group, functions as autonomous, US-allied)
US invasion unleashes centrifugal forces
Sunnis now out of power become radicalized
Terrorism → Al Qaeda, now ISIS

15. Irredentism Irredentism
Assertion by a govt that a minority living outside its borders belongs to it
Serbia over Bosnian Serbs (1990s)
Germany over Sudetenland
WWII
Munich Appeasement
Giving into an aggressor’s demands to maintain peace
Russia over Crimea and parts of Eastern Ukraine
NOW!
Estonia/Latvia next?

16. Ethnic identity in the former USSR
Central Europe
Moldova
Ukraine (17% Russian)
Belarus (8%)
Central Asia
Turkmenistan
Uzbekistan
Tajikistan
Kyrgyzstan
Kazakhstan (24%)
Baltic States
Lithuania
Latvia (27%)
Estonia (25%)
Caucasus
Azerbaijan, Armenia and Georgia
Ethnic identity in the former USSR

17. Russia Irredentism????

18. Leadership or government (be wary of morality here)
Centrifugal force
Centripetal forces vs.
a common enemy may help to unite a people
anti-British sentiment during Revolutionary War
U.S. during the Cold War or after 9/11
Democracy can inspire civic participation
Dictatorships can stifle dissent and other centrifugal forces
Tito in Yugoslavia
Communist party (USSR)
Outside influences
Leadership or government (be wary of morality here)
(see later slides for internal govt. structure)
irredentism
superpower meddling (Africa, Latin America, Asia)
funding rebels, etc.
poor governance, corruption, inequality
incompetence
US????
Iran
Lebanon
dictatorship
Arab Spring (2011 –
Assad in Syria

19. Centrifugal force Infrastructure
Shape of state (see later) and internal physical features can separate populations and lead to separatism
Russia’ vastness has been a centrifugal force throughout its history
Nepal’s mountains separate communities
Less developed countries lack infrastructure. This may isolate areas and become a centrifugal force.
Centripetal forces vs.
Physical Features
Infrastructure
Mountain ranges, oceans, deserts etc. can limit outside influences and bind a country together
Egypt along the Nile
More advanced countries have things like airports, railroads and highways
which allow people to remain in contact, people to move within the country, etc.