Transcript geopolitics

Types of territoriality
State
Ethnic
Religious
Racial
Fears of
“Balkanization”
(splitting state)
But common
defiance of
outsiders
Pan-isms
(Uniting same group from different states)
Ethnic:
Pan-Arab, Pan-Kurdish
Religious: Pan-Islamic
Racial:
Pan-African
States:
Pan-American
Kurds
Ethnic group in
Turkey, Iraq,
Iran, Syria.
Many Kurds
for state of
Kurdistan.
States pit Kurds
against each other
Iraq
Ethnic:
Arabs vs.
Kurds
Religion:
Sunnis vs.
Shi’as
Rulers are
Sunni Arab
Iranians
Iran-Iraq War,
1980-88
IRAN (Shi’a Persian) vs.
IRAQ (Sunni Arab)
Yet Iraqi Shi’as fought for Iraq,
Iranian Arabs fought for Iran
(State territoriality won)
Iraqis
Armenia-Azerbaijan
War, 1988-94
ARMENIA (Christian) vs.
AZERBAIJAN (Shi’a Mulsim)
Yet Shi’a Iran stayed neutral,
fearing ethnic Azeris in NW Iran
(Ethnic territoriality won)
Armenian (above)
and Azeri views
Kashmir conflict
KASHMIR
(CHINA)
PAKISTAN
CHINA
INDIA
INDIA (Hindu) vs.
PAKISTAN (Muslim)
British India partitioned
into two states, 1948.
Kashmir had Muslim
majority but Hindu ruler.
Indian and
Pakistani
propaganda
maps
Wars split Kashmir
between India,
Pakistan, and China
(all now have nukes)
Mediterranean Sea
Nile River
British Palestine
1918-48
Arab ethnic majority
Jewish religious
minority grew in 1940s
UN Partition Plan, 1948
• Jewish State (Israel)
• Arab State (Palestine)
• International Zone
(Jerusalem)
Israeli Jews vs. Palestinians. other Arabs
Israeli Settlements
and Palestinian
towns in the
West Bank, 2000
Israeli settlers see as
historic Jewish homeland
Palestinians compare
illegal settlements to
Apartheid
Israel
Zionism:
Jewish (religious) territoriality
Israelis are multiethnic
European, Middle Eastern,
Newer Russian, Ethiopian immigrants
Arab Israeli minority
Palestinians
(in West Bank and Gaza Strip)
Arab (ethnic) territoriality
Palestinians are multireligious
Muslims and Christians
Ethnic nationalist movement,
but some newer Muslim groups
Water &
Israel’s
border
Palestinian
autonomy, 2000
Gradual turnover of IsraeliOccupied areas to Palestinians
for “Two-State Solution”
Plan collapsing as
killings increase
Wall, Barrier or
New Border?
Israelis: “Security Barrier” to
keep bombers out of Israel.
Palestinians: “ Wall” isolates
villages, cuts water access
Jerusalem: Holy City to Jews, Muslims, and Christians
Jerusalem
West (Israeli);
East (Arab)
with Israeli settlements
Palestinian and Israeli propaganda maps
Israeli map lumping together Arab states;
depicting tiny defenseless Israel
Palestinian map
without Israel
Cold War propaganda map: “Red menace”
View of Communist “Red Bloc” during Cold War
Lumping failed to recognize
differences among Communists,
or local causes of conflict
“Clash of Civilizations” theory
Samuel Huntington theory of Western, Islamic,
Slavic, etc. “blocs” in conflict with each other.
“Clash of Civilizations” theory
Fails to recognize
differences within each “bloc.”
Most sources of conflict are local
(often ethnic), not religious.
Often blames the victim
for the conflict.
The West shares responsibility
for conflicts
(military aid arms both sides)
Lumping Arabs or Muslims after Sept. 11
How Many Americans View the World
Cartoon:
Bush’s View
of the World
Problem:
some former
allies later
seen as “evil”
GEOPOLITICS
State’s power to control
territory, shape international policy
and other states’ foreign policy
Growth of Russian Empire
African
colonies
Decolonization, 1940s-1990s
Divide-and-conquer
Berlin
Conference
divides map
of Africa,
1884
Ethnic nations split between
and within colonial empires
(British, French, Russian)
But “clean” ethnic
boundaries also not possible
Mackinder’s Heartland Theory
(Whoever controls Pivot Area can control the world)
The “Great Game” between Britain and Russia, 1800s-1900s
Enlargement of
Soviet bloc after
World War II
Berlin
Wall,
1961-89
NATO and Warsaw Pact, 1945-89
Changes in Europe, 1990-93
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), 2002
Kosovo
military
zones
European
Union
Began as
European
Economic
Community
(EEC), 1957.
Stronger in 1994
10 new members
to join, 2004
euro
United Nations member states
Switzerland 2002
Other international alliances