GEOG 1HA3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Railways Act 1921, Mercosur, Geopolitics
20 Dec 2017
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Document Summary
Geopolitics: the study of the importance of space in understanding international relations. Consider: economic globalization and conc. of power in global alliances (i. e. nafta, eu, etc. ) Modern countries: a series of geopolitical forces working over a period of time. These geopolitical forces result in: the bringing together of (potentially diverse) nations into one (multinational) sovereign state. Canada, belgium, switzerland, etc: the breaking apart of (potentially similar) nations into 2 (or more) sovereign states. Centrifugal forces: forces that make it difficult to bind an area together as an effective state (e. g. language/ religion) Centripetal forces: forces that pull an area together as one unit to create a relatively stable state (e. g. long state history) These forces are always present it is a matter of which force is more influential at any point in time. Lack of it leads to weak state identity. Secessionist movements: nations within multinational states that want to create their own separate state.
