Deck 8: Political Geography

Question 1

Robert Sack's view of human territorial behavior implies an expression of control over space and time. This control is closely related to the concept of ________________

A) nationhood.
B) colonialism.
C) sovereignty.
D) warfare.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The Peace of Westphalia ____________

A) marked the beginning of the modern state of Europe.
B) ended the thirty-year war.
C) created West Germany after WWII.
D) created modern Pakistan after the British withdrawal.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

When not all people within a state identify with the dominant sense of nationality,movements for separation of nation and territory may arise. For example the ______ in ________.

A) English, Great Britain
B) Basques, Spain
C) Waloons, Belgium
D) Irish, Ireland

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Yugoslavia was a prime example of a ________________

A) multi-state nation.
B) nation-state.
C) stateless nation.
D) multi-nation state.

Question 5

The rise of the modern state idea,where territory defined society rather than society defining territory,swept through Europe in the ________________

A) Middle Ages.
B) 1600s.
C) 1800s.
D) Twentieth Century.

Question 6

The emergence of a global capitalistic economy began to develop about ________________

A) 1350.
B) 1450.
C) 1550.
D) 1650.

Question 7

The promotion of the acquisition of wealth through plunder,colonization,and the protection of home industries and foreign markets during Europe's rebirth was called ________________

A) imperialism.
B) neo-imperialism.
C) mercantilism.
D) new colonialism.

Question 8

Wallerstein's views expressed in world systems theory hold that the global integrating force has been ________________

A) capitalism.
B) the rise of the U.N.
C) socialism.
D) colonial independence movements.

Question 9

One of the most powerful impacts of colonialism was the construction of global order characterized by great differences in ________________

A) population.
B) military and political power.
C) economic and political power.
D) military and economic power.

Question 10

In The Territorial Imperative,Robert Ardery argued that humans are concerned with ________________

A) collecting and securing territory.
B) concerned only with the securing of food.
C) avoiding confrontation with different groups.
D) unconcerned with securing territory.

Question 11

The present number of countries and territories in the world is around

A) 400.
B) 350.
C) 300.
D) 200.

Question 12

Which is an example of a stateless-nation?

A) Korea
B) Kurds
C) Hungary
D) Switzerland

Question 13

The highly uneven distribution of economic and political power that developed from colonialism was due to the concentration of wealth brought to ________________

A) North America.
B) Europe.
C) Asia.
D) Europe and North America.

Question 14

The European state idea spread throughout the world through ________________

A) European colonialism.
B) economic development.
C) League of Nations planning.
D) contagious diffusion.

Question 15

Most ________ states gained independence after 1940.

A) South American
B) European
C) East Asian
D) African

Question 16

What ultimately proved to be the undoing of monarchical absolutism and its system of patronage during Europe's rebirth?

A) the re-emergence of church power
B) growing economic power of merchants
C) an increasing population
D) colonization

Question 17

At the global scale,political geographers study the spatial manifestations of political processes expressed in the organization of territories with permanent population,defined territory and a government. These spatial units are called

A) countries.
B) states.
C) nations.
D) regions.

Question 18

Kurdistan _______________.

A) is a sovereign nation bordered by Iraq and Turkey.
B) is a stateless nation.
C) is governed by Russia.
D) is governed by Israel.

Question 19

The Peace of Westphalia is the seminal moment in the emergence of the European state.This marked the end of ________________

A) WW I.
B) the Thirty Years War.
C) the Napoleonic Wars.
D) the War of the Roses.

Question 20

The dominating colonial influence in Libya,Eritrea,Ethiopia and Somalia was ___________

A) Dutch.
B) French.
C) British.
D) Italian.

Question 21

A boundary between countries is a

A) line on the ground only.
B) line shown only on maps.
C) point of separation on and below the surface only.
D) vertical plane that cuts through the rocks below and air above.

Question 22

Scotland and Wales are to the UK as ____________ are to Spain.

A) Galicia and Catalonia
B) Kaliningrad and Lithuania
C) Corsica and Sardonia
D) South Tyrol and Sardonia

Question 23

In Italy,the Northern League's desire for independence was based on the economic difference between the northern Po region and the southern Mezzogiorno. These differences are attributed to ________________

A) regional ethnic differences.
B) religious differences between north and south.
C) core-periphery processes.
D) ecological differences.

Question 24

The process of adjustment of the number of representatives in the U.S.House of Representatives to reflect shifts in population patterns is known as ________________

A) gerrymandering.
B) territorial representation.
C) electoral geography.
D) reapportionment.

Question 25

The first political geographer who studied the state in detail was Friedrich Ratzel who postulated that the state resembles a biological organism. His organic theory identified ______________ as a state's essential life giving force.

A) population
B) a strong military
C) space
D) mobility

Question 26

The boundaries of independent African states were drawn at the Berlin Conference and were essentially drawn

A) arbitrarily.
B) along ethnic lines.
C) along religious lines.
D) along ecological lines.

Question 27

Which is an example of an allocational boundary dispute?

A) dispute over the interpretation of boundary treaty terminology
B) dispute over boundaries not covered by a treaty (e.g. Yemen-Saudi Arabia)
C) dispute over the function of a boundary with regard to migration
D) dispute over rights to resources (e.g. oil, water) crossed by international boundaries

Question 28

In 1997 Scotland took a major devolutionary step with the establishment of ________________

A) independence from Britain.
B) its own currency and passports.
C) the Scottish Parliament.
D) the Scottish National Party.

Question 29

Which is not characteristic of unitary state governments?

A) highly centralized
B) capital city functions as core of power
C) suppression of regional subcultures
D) concerned with fostering diversity of regional cultural expression

Question 30

Which country has experienced violent devolution?

A) Yugoslavia
B) Ukraine
C) Czechoslovakia
D) Lithuania

Question 31

The boundary between the United States and Canada west of the Great Lakes is an example of a(n)________________

A) physical-political boundary.
B) geometric boundary.
C) mountain crest boundary.
D) administrative boundary.

Question 32

Nigeria is a state with a federal system of government. This fact is reflected in the adoption of _________ law in the states of the Muslim North.

A) British Common
B) Nigerian Federal
C) Sharia
D) local tribal

Question 33

Padonia is to Italy as Upper Silesia is to _________________

A) Ukraine.
B) Serbia.
C) Poland.
D) France.

Question 34

The movement of power from the central government regional governments is referred to as ________________

A) revolution.
B) pluralism.
C) supranationalism.
D) devolution.

Question 35

Ratzel's organic theory was converted into a subfield of political geography called geopolitics which was subsequently translated into practical national policies by some of his students. What country used geopolitics as a philosophy of expansion?

A) Japan
B) Nazi Germany
C) Britain
D) France

Question 36

Geometric boundaries,totally unrelated to any aspects of the cultural or physical landscape,were made considerable use of by the colonial powers in ________________

A) Asia.
B) South America.
C) Central America.
D) Africa.

Question 37

A series of concrete pillars _________ the northern boundary of Kuwait with Iraq.

A) defines
B) delimits
C) demarcates
D) determines

Question 38

__________ is an example of a core country which was never a classical colonial power.

A) Singapore
B) Netherlands
C) Belgium
D) Germany

Question 39

Distance,remoteness and marginal location enhance the potential for devolution.This form of devolution is referred to as ________________

A) ethnic devolution.
B) spatial devolution.
C) economic devolution.
D) economic marginalization.

Question 40

Sir Halford Mackinder developed what would become known as the heartland theory which suggested that interior Eurasia contained a critical "pivot area" that would generate a state capable of challenging for world domination. The key to the area according to Mackinder was ________________

A) natural protection.
B) distance.
C) natural resources.
D) Eastern Europe.

Question 41

In 1943 Mackinder wrote about his concerns over the potential of Stalin's control of the countries of Eastern Europe. His views led to the development of the United States' containment policy and to the establishment of ________________

A) friendly relationships with China.
B) the United Nations.
C) N.A.T.O.
D) the Berlin Wall.

Question 42

Listed among the challenges to the state in the twenty-first century are all the following except ________________

A) nuclear weapons.
B) economic globalization.
C) increased cultural communication.
D) the United Nations.

Question 43

The first major experiment in regional supranationalism was undertaken in Europe before World War II and involved the three countries ________________

A) the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg.
B) Belgium, Germany, and France.
C) Britain, Belgium, and Norway.
D) France, Poland, and Germany.

Question 44

Which of the following is either believed to have or to be actively developing nuclear weapons?

A) Israel
B) India, Pakistan
C) North Korea, Iran
D) all of the above

Question 45

Belgium is an example of a nation-state where nation and state coincide within boundaries.

Question 46

Following the disintegration of the former Soviet Union the only surviving superpower was ________________

A) China.
B) the United States.
C) Great Britain.
D) France.

Question 47

The Marshall Plan was a post-WW II endeavor by the United States to economically revive ________________

A) Europe.
B) Japan.
C) sub-Saharan Africa.
D) South America.

Question 48

Technically supranationalism refers to efforts by ______ or more states to forge associations for common advantage and in pursuit of common goals.

A) 2
B) 4
C) 5
D) 3

Question 49

According to Alexander Murphy,attachment to region and to the European Union is greater than attachment to the state in ________________

A) Britain.
B) Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg).
C) Switzerland.
D) Yugoslavia.

Question 50

The United Nations is not a world government,but in recent years individual states have asked the United Nations to do a number of different things,the most expensive of which is ________________

A) peacekeeping.
B) monitoring elections.
C) providing for refugees.
D) setting maritime boundaries.

Question 51

Prior to 1600 there were less than 75 colonies around the world.

Question 52

The European Union's future expansion into the Muslim realm by the inclusion of __________ is highly controversial and strongly opposed by Greece.

A) Saudi Arabia
B) Bosnia
C) Algeria
D) Turkey

Question 53

In Europe prior to the mid-1600s,sovereignty was expressed over people rather than over a territory.

Question 54

As of 2005,which major European Union nation has not entered the Euro Monetary Zone?

A) Great Britain
B) Germany
C) Italy
D) France

Question 55

One move by the old League of Nations that would have a critical impact in the second half of the twentieth century involved ________________

A) maritime boundaries.
B) refugee questions.
C) atmospheric boundaries.
D) mineral resources underlying two or more countries.

Question 56

Once a body of people is incorporated within a political boundary they are a nation.

Question 57

The League of Nations was created in 1919 as the first international organization that would include all nations of the world. Its success was dealt a serious blow by the failure of which country to join?

A) Britain
B) Russia
C) the United States
D) Canada

Question 58

What country do members of the European community worry will dominate the entire group?

A) France
B) Germany
C) the United Kingdom
D) Turkey

Question 59

Recent geopolitical theory emphasizes the "deconstruction" of spatial assumptions and territorial perspectives of leading western politicians and analysis of the way their ideas are used to manipulate public opinion. This field of research is called ________________

A) Heartland theory.
B) Marxian geopolitical theory.
C) Critical geopolitics.
D) British/American school of geopolitics.

Question 60

Participation in the United Nations serves the useful purpose of committing states to ________________

A) loan money to poorer ones.
B) agreeing to world laws.
C) international standards of behavior.
D) respect and accept present political boundaries.

Question 61

As a federal state,Nigeria vests judicial power in the various states. This is illustrated by the prevalence of Sharia law in Nigeria's Muslim north.

Question 62

Norway is a member of the EU.

Question 63

According to Hartshorne,centrifugal forces work to build a nation-state.

Question 64

NAFTA is a North American supranational association for mutual economic benefit.

Question 65

Discuss supranationalism in general terms. How has the European Union developed as a supranational entity? What do you think the future development of the European Union will be like?

Question 66

Discuss the European state model in terms of territory,sovereignty,homogeneity and control. Choose a state and discuss the formation and extension of control from the capital core to peripheral regions and the types of devolutionary forces within the state.

Question 67

Discuss core-periphery processes on a global scale. Give an example of countries or regions you believe to exemplify each of the three divisions of the world-economy (i.e.,core,periphery,semi-periphery).

Question 68

The Rio Grande River is a geometric boundary separating the United States and Mexico.

Question 69

Huntington's thesis in The Clash of Civilization is similar to Wallerstein's view that international relations are reducible to economic rather than cultural factors.

Question 70

Devolution is affecting many countries in the world today.

Question 71

Disputes over water (e.g.among Syria,Turkey,and Iraq over the Euphrates)are examples of allocational boundary disputes.

Question 72

Most Hungarians are of non-slavic ethnic origins.

Question 73

Discuss the boundaries of the coterminous United States in terms of boundary type and in terms of potential for various types of boundary disputes.

Question 74

Discuss the factors needed to create a nation-state. Are there any perfect nation-states? What factors can threaten a nation-states stability?

Question 75

Why is Sub Saharan Africa likely to face more serious problems creating cohesive independent states that would be politically stable and lack serious internal ethnic frictions?

Question 76

Critical geopolitics emphasizes the analysis of diplomatic and power relations between various state groupings.

Question 77

Taiwan is a member of the UN.

Question 78

The League of Nations intervened to aid Ethiopia when attacked by Italy in the mid-1930s.

Question 79

Gerrymandering refers to electoral redistricting in order to gain a political advantage.

Question 80

Mackinder's heartland theory of geopolitics maintained that world domination would be exercised through sea power.