Unit 2: geopolitical concepts

Question 1

What are the conditions of the state:

Answer 1

1. A territorial base with defined borders
2. A stable population
3. Government
4. International recognitions from other states

Question 2

What is a nation?

Answer 2

It refers to a the characteristics of a people who share common history and heritage, a common language and customs (culture) or similar lifestyle. It is a feeling of community and identity.

Ex: Kurdistan and the Kurdish people

Question 3

What is power?

Answer 3

Ability of an actor on the international state to use tangible or intangible resources and assets in such a way as to turn the outcome of international events in one’s favour

Question 4

What are the tangible sources of power?

Answer 4

Natural resources, geographical size and population

Question 5

What is geostrategy?

Answer 5

Political goals + military

Invented by Clausewitz: war is politics by other means. War is a political instrument

Question 6

What is geoeconomics?

Answer 6

analyses the productive bases of power, combination between the geographical factors and economics

Question 7

What is political geography?

Answer 7

The political organization on the planet. The positioning in space: land, terrain or oceanic in relation to competing actors

Question 8

Definition of boundaries/borders?

Answer 8

Imaginary lines with good reasoning behind them.

The mark the place where two or more states come into direct contact

Question 9

Definition of a frontier?

Answer 9

Geographical zone where no state exercises power. zone of contact between different fronts - fluid.

Question 10

Definition of territory

Answer 10

Portion of space occupied by a person, a group or a state.

Question 11

What is territorial sovereignity?

Answer 11

Legitimate and exclusive control on a determined area with defined borders.

Question 12

Definition of territoriality

Answer 12

Human territoriality is the strategy in which individuals, groups (or states) exercise control on a certain portion of space

Question 13

What was Sack (1986) idea of territoriality?

Answer 13

1. General acceptance of space classification (ours, yours)
2. Communication of the sense of place - meaning of the borders
3. Control reinforce: vigilance, order maintenance and legitimation

Question 14

Sack’s (1986) idea of hegemony:

Answer 14

the combination between consent and coercion on territorial strategies

Question 15

Definition of sense of place:

Answer 15

meaning, emotion, character attached to the everyday experience

we can have similar places with a similar sense of place of place because of their similar dynamics

Question 16

What are the physical characteristics of a location

Answer 16

Physical characteristics include the natural environment, such as landforms, elevation, water features, climate, soil

Question 17

What are the human characteristics of a location

Answer 17

Human characteristics include the size and density of the population, the ethnic and religious makeup of the population, language patterns, and other aspects of the culture, such as the occupation and the type of clothing or the political and social systems. human characteristics also include the built environment, such as houses, roads, and other infrastructure.