World Regions - Final Exam Study Guide | GEOG 1014, Study notes of Political Geography

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GEOG 1014 – FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE KEVIN STEIDLER “Everybody Loves ASEAN”: ASEAN – acronym for, the Association of South East Asian Nations; is a trading bloc of 10 states amongst south east Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam); China, India, South Korea, and Japan are associate members  Annual summit held on October 29-30 in Hanoi, Vietnam; originated 1960’s  Expanding to be more than a trade bloc, is reaching towards regional political integration, has regional shared air space, have common environmental policy, common energy security policy, working towards common energy alternatives, working towards having a regional electric grid, multiple infrastructure projects in the making, and have regional human rights standard; no free movement in people yet, however  New Zealand, India (Manmohan Singh), and Australia (Julia Gillard) attended summit o Australia went specifically to talk about immigration (Australia has too many migrants from south east Asia) o India went to talk about regional security ASEAN +3 – includes all members of ASEAN, with the addition of the associate members of China, Japan, and South Korea  ASEAN itself would have the world’s 9th largest GDP; has 10% of world’s population as well  China pledged billions in transportation and communication restructuring  Pressing for Burma (Myanmar) to stop being assholes o Burma responded by calling for first democratic election in 20 years o Talk of also releasing Aung San Suu Kyi, imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner, pro- democracy advocate o Only ASEAN has the right influence over Burma to get them to change; failed attempts by the U.S., EU, and U.N. for years  Wen Jiabao – Chinese premier, represented China at ASEAN summit  Lee Myung-bak – President of South Korea, represented South Korea at ASEAN summit  Naoto Kan – Japanese Prime Minister, represented Japan at ASEAN summit  First ever, “Defense Ministers” meeting at this summit o China wants deployable force to be available and to increase intelligence sharing EAS – acronym for, the East Asia Summit, includes ASEAN, China, South Korea, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and India; mostly discuss stability and security for the entire region  Russia (Demitry Medvedev) and the United States (Clinton) went as observers to summit o Russia went for energy cooperation o United States went for increased trade, wants to reengage interaction with ASEAN  India and South Korea especially thankful; want to balance China  Obama was on Asian tour during this time “Japan”: Online Lecture Introduction & Physical World of Japan  The “most western” eastern state o Because of its wealth, economy, belief systems, liberal democracy, capitalist economy, foreign policy, and even its demographics  Over half of the United States drives Japanese made vehicles (Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Isuzu, Suzuki, Subaru, Mazda, Kawasaki, and more!)  Many electronic brands used as well (Mitsubishi, Sony, Casio, Fuji, Yokohama, Nikon, Toshiba, and Nintendo)  Has hardly any natural resources (some minerals, no metals or energy)  Rice – Most productive crop per area used, thus why they consume so much  “Mountains + Forests + Island Status + No Resource = heavily dependent on trade”  Closest to California in relative size, 4x as many people however  Along the same latitude as Alabama to Vermont, same weather patterns  “Hurricane Season” (Gulf of Mexico) = “Typhoon Season”(Japan)  Unlike eastern seaboard, Japan is extremely mountainous, 75% of Japan is mountainous  Japan rests where two tectonic plates meet, causes earthquakes and volcanoes o Philippine and Pacific plate meet at Japan, “Ring of Fire”  Has over 100 active volcanoes, Mt. Fugi inactive but highest point  Japan is the United States’ biggest ally in the east  Named, “Land of the Rising Sun” thus how they got their name and flag  State composed of four main islands, and thousands of smaller ones o Hokkaido (northernmost), Honshu (main major island), Shikoku, and Kyushu (southernmost) o Ryukyu Islands - major chain of islands, located south of Kyushu (home of Okinawa, major U.S. military bases) o Kuril Islands – chain of islands north of Hokkaido (still disputed between Russia and Japan) Laggards to Loners: Early History  Traces origin of race back to central Asian Mongols  Copied most of culture from Asia, tweaked some for itself  Declared statehood in 680 A.D.  Yamatho Dynasty, started with Emperor Jimmu in 680; longest continuous family line of ruling  Constitutional Monarchy – Emperor is just a figure-head, run by Shogun Shogun – Military governors  Used system almost identical to the Feudal System  America became agitated by the 80’s because we slipped into a recession as Japan thrived and began influencing our culture  Inflation rose so high in Japan (1990) that trillions were lost, esp. in the real estate market  Bank interest rates hit 0% trying to get people to spend once again o Hasn’t worked at all; Nikkei Stock Index has been flat Keiretsu – Interlocking business and government  Tokyo – most expensive real estate in the world  Same type of outsourcing problem in U.S.  Japan is the most stagnant country in the world (of the rich countries)  Population is shrinking  Government having trouble getting people to reproduce, spend, and emigrate  Next idea: robots…  Politically stagnant as well, center-right party has held executive position for 60 years  In the last 5 years no prime minister has held position for more than a year: political gridlock Xenophobia – Fear of foreigners Japan Now & Conclusion  Probably going to start coming together with Asian culture once again o Have been working hard for the past five years to restructure ties with Asian neighbors o Of the last 5 prime ministers, 4 have said they’re not going to visit the hated [by the Chinese, Koreans] war shrine  U.S. is biggest trading partner of Japan currently, China will take that spot one day  If ASEAN brought in China, India, South Korea, and Japan it’d be the largest trading bloc in the world 6-Party Talks – North Korea, South Korea, China, Russia, the United States, and Japan; all about these countries getting together to try and keep North Korea from going insane  U.S. pushing for Japan to join U.N. Permanent Security Council  Under the umbrella of the U.S. army because they aren’t allowed to attack anyone first because of “defense force” phrase in their constitution  U.S. may want Asian Democratic Axis – combination of all democratic nations in Asia to help balance China International Organizations Intro to Conflict / Cooperation Supranationalist Organizations – Groups of nations working for a common goal for money, security, etc. The Changing Nature of Cooperation…  More organizations than ever before, more joining now than ever before as well  Predicted to may overtake sovereign state powers  End of WWII – start of almost all supranationalist organizations (U.N.)  More people died in the 20th century than any other century  1919 – League of Nations created… and failed  After WWII, Western Europe and the U.S. had a majority of the control of the world; thus they dominated all of the world organizations at their origins  To be a part of a supranationalist organization states must: o Pay a due to the organization, usually by giving up some of their sovereignty; ex. by joining NATO you’re agreeing to play by the rules of NATO Reasons for Supranationalist Organizations: 1. Money / Economics ; majority of suprenationalist organizations are based off of economics 2. Safety / Defense 3. Cultural Commonality; ex. the Arab League  BRIC, G-7, G-20 – “odd balls” ; don’t have to give up much Why Work Together: Economics Concept of Free Trade – to eliminate as many barriers as possible so that people of different states may trade as free as possible; make best products at cheapest prices  Governments mostly get in the way of free trade Protectionism – when government takes measures to protect businesses of their own states at the expense of those of other nations 2 ways governments can do this: 1. Put tariffs on imported goods 2. Subsidies – in a monetary way, a government would help local business (mostly done in agriculture); ex. giving farmers money for every bushel of corn produced to beat corn imported (cheaper) from other countries Negative Trade Balance - When you buy more from a country than you sell back to them Positive Trade Balance – When you sell more to a country than you buy from  U.S. negative trade balance with Japan  China: positive trade balance with almost every state; buy many raw materials, sell off processed goods Dumping – when a country has a surplus of a good, such as steel, they take it to another state and slash the price, thus pissing off the other state’s steel industry – many laws against dumping World Trade Organization (W.T.O.) – a regulatory institution, almost everyone’s a member (153/193 states); makes sure everyone’s following the rules pretty much  United States – most outstanding complaints against other countries through W.T.O. about countries not following the rules  W.T.O. grown exponentially in the last decade  Is a steady march towards capitalism and free trade  E.U. was primarily established for simply free trade; moving towards a united states of Europe state NAFTA – North American Free Trade Agreement  United States, Mexico, and Canada  Simply trade, nothing else.  Newer trade bloc, only a couple of decades old  Say NAFTA “deindustrialized” North America DR-CAFTA – Dominican Republic Central American Free Trade Agreement; this may lead to the FTAA – Free Trade Area of the Americas; U.S. pushing the hardest for this once again  U.S. pushed for this mainly…so we could get a little richer  Originally slashed tariffs between México and U.S.; U.S. and Canada never had tariffs  Things that need to be agreed upon before a free trade agreement o Environmental standards (Canada had high standards unlike Mexico before NAFTA) o Consumer protection o Copyright laws Impacts of NAFTA: 1. Massive job/industry movement to Mexico a. Maquiladoras – factory towns on the Mexico-U.S. border 2. Increases of wealth, salaries, and GDP in Mexico 3. Increased U.S. exports to Mexico 4. Certain sectors of some industries hurt severely, beef industry in Mexico 5. U.S. jobs went to Mexico (cheaper) 6. All three countries had exports increase  In 1951, ECSC formed – European Coal and Steel Community, needed steel and coal to thoroughly rebuild Europe  Original 6 of ECSC (“European Core”) France, Germany, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxemburg o “Work together to rebuild!”  1957 – Merged the ECSC with the Atomic Energy Agency o Needed more than just coal!  Once they merged, talks of reopening borders for trade started to be the top talk o Lower tariffs o Lowering barriers  Then made EEC in 1957 (European Economic Community)  1993 – adopted new E.U. name o Made common currency o Common economic policy o Political Union o Common military procedures  Why is the EU still growing? o More money!  Why do the rich countries want to stay in? o They all want to get richer too – trade bloc is easiest way to do it o 1 on 1, none of these countries could compete with U.S. and China  Has free movement of goods are services, free movement of labor and people, uncommon!  High integration amongst Europe since creation o Singular laws, courts, environmental policy, bill of rights…beginning to look like the United States  Is an actual legal entity on its own, has seat at U.N., at G-20, and W.T.O. o E.U. is even able to negotiate its own treaties  The E.U. is the model for … the world!? Economic Blocs, etc. The A.U. and the S.C.O. African Union (A.U.) – Tried to model the E.U. again (past tries failed),it hasn’t been working for them once again  Trade blocs aren’t working in Africa because they’re poor there  Most African states export and import both outside of Africa Shanghai Cooperation Organization (S.C.O.) – Russia and China are main members, main mission is unclear; are a new kid in the ballpark  Economics seem to be main goal for now  Talked about building infrastructure between one another O.P.E.C. (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) – is a cartel, NOT the same thing as a trade bloc Cartel – A formal agreement between competing businesses to control most of a resource  When businesses compete against one another, they lower prices naturally o A cartel can get together and do the REVERSE o Only about fixing these prices, NOTHING else  Members: Ecuador and Venezuela (South America), Algeria, Libya, Nigeria, and Angola (Africa), and Iraq, Iran, Kuwait, U.A.E., and Saudi Arabia (Asia)  All of these countries have nationalized their oil industries (government controls them)  Could the U.S. ever join O.P.E.C o Because we don’t control our oil industry – Exxon, Shell, and B.P. do it o And, we don’t export oil  At summit, the members project demands, and divide it up for production of each member state, and set a price o Price changes of market because other nations sell oil too!  Countries have bailed out of O.P.E.C. because of internal conflicts  Saudi Arabia vs. Venezuela and Iran at the table o Iran and Venezuela can’t set the price as high as they want because people would find alternative sources instead of oil and/or countries won’t be able to afford to pay for it anymore  Major non-O.P.E.C. oil producers: Russia, Norway, and Mexico  De Beers – another cartel, control 80-90% of physical diamonds, diamond mines, diamond mining tech.; have been called a monopoly (involves a single entity) – determine how much people can get and for what cost for 100% of a good  Diversified themselves and went from a monopoly to a cartel  Google – described as becoming an internet traffic monopoly o Would be first monopoly in internet-related business  U.S. anti-monopoly and cartel, have laws forbidding each Why We Work Together: Security and Defense  Just after WWI and especially WWII people began looking for more secure relations with each other, had to avoid a WWIII, thus 1919 created the league of nations; 1945 U.N.  U.N. closer to global government, rather than an equal forum for the world  Previously countries had agreed to non-aggression/defense pacts Pacts of Non-Aggression – When two countries find themselves on the brink of war, they agree to not fight; most famous last one is Russia and Germany before WWII Defense Pact – similar in structure, more proactive, says once IF attacked they’ll help if they promise to do vice versa; these are what caused WWI!  1946 – N.A.T.O. created, 1955 – Warsaw Pact, 2001 – S.C.O.  Defense/peace/security are the biggest groups on the world stage! o Most powerful (militarily) U.N. Mission & Structure: U.N. (United Nations) – created in 14945 after WWII, wanted to settle disputed before they break out into fighting, largest organization of human history, 192/193 states of the world (Vatican City missing)  Built for a pursuit for human rights, large genocides in WWII!! o All of the countries in the world agreed that human rights needed to be protected among all things!  1948 – Universal Declaration of Human Right adopted U.N. Goals:  Facilitating cooperation in international law  International security  Economic development  Social progress  Human rights U.N. is all about:  Peacekeeping & security  Human rights and humanitarian assistance  Social and economic development Committees and Sub-committees of the U.N.  World Bank  International Monetary Fund (I.N.F.)  UNICEF  W.H.O. (World Health Organization)  U.N.E.S.C.O. (Deals with Culture) Major Divisions of the U.N.  First U.N. War – 1950 – North Korea o A lot of U.S. fighters, but was a U.N. war! o Soviets were against war, representative started getting heckled by U.S. representative, and left the room – took the vote and got it to pass as he was gone! o Chinese later went and helped North Korea – didn’t at first because China’s seat was actually controlled by Taiwan  Taiwan held “Chinese” seat on P5 from 1945-1971, reverted back to actual China in 1971  U.S.S.R. held Russia’s seat from 1945-1991, in ’91 the U.S.S.R. dissolved and became Russia  In 2003, the U.S. proposed for the U.N. to invade Iraq o France promised a veto of it, made it easier for Russia and China to say ‘no’  Never even made legislation  Today, P5 protect themselves and strong allies from U.N. actions o U.S. protects Israel  Has blocked ALL things involving Israel o Russia protects Central Asian states, Serbia (Kosovo will never become a state!), and states that used to be a part of U.S.S.R. o Chinese protect North Korea AND Burma AND AND Sudan! o China is the biggest fan of sovereignty in the world! o Russia and China hesitant to pressure Iran  Refuse to support military action there N.A.T.O. Intro / Basic Training N.A.T.O. (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) –defense pack between states that promise to protect each other if attacked by an outside force; most successful defense organization of all time! Article 5 of N.A.T.O. Charter – States: if you join N.A.T.O. you promise that if any single country in N.A.T.O. attack, means that it is an attack on all, and must be repelled  Formed just after WWII, was originally comprised of the winners, minus China and the U.S.S.R.  Was formed as an anti-U.S.S.R. block o U.S.S.R was thought to be plotting to finish taking over the rest of Europe  All democratic nations  After 9/11, the U.S. went straight to N.A.T.O. with Article 5  The U.S. always leads N.A.T.O. on the battlefield; contributes the most to N.A.T.O  A European person is always in control of NATO bureaucracy N.A.T.O. Grows  Has grown significantly since the dissolve of the Soviet Union  Soviets responded to N.A.T.O. creation with the Warsaw Pact o Exact same thing, but for “Team Communism” o All members of the Eastern Bloc / Russia o “Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation, and Military Assistance” o Many of these countries didn’t even want to be a part of the Warsaw Pact  15 new states created from the fall of the Soviet Empire  Poland, Czech Republic, and Hungary were begging to become a part of N.A.T.O. o Feared Russian reviving itself, most countries began jumping on the bandwagon  Russia began having two main problems with the expansion: o N.A.T.O. expansionism o Missile Defense Shield  Russia was upset because there was no more Soviet Union, yet N.A.T.O. still began to grow  Baltic nations joined NATO, REALLY pissed off Russia, share direct border with Russia o Three nations were once full fledge members of the U.S.S.R.  However, Russia is now back in a position where it is able to stop N.A.T.O.  Defense Missile Shield – complicated missile interception shield  U.S. cancelled missile shield ,wanted to get back on Russia’s good side Future of N.A.T.O.  Mission has shifted from fighting commies to fighting terror  Is Russia working towards inclusion in N.A.T.O.?!  Look for Russia to help with Afghanistan and future N.A.T.O. missions!  NATO is PROBABLY done expanding  Southern Europe states would be the last to join  Ukraine and Georgia were on the verge of joining, Russia stopped them  Japan, Australia, and South Korea would be potential members  Russia doesn’t want Ukraine to join because of strategic peninsula  Full E.U. and N.A.T.O. military cooperation may be on its way?  France rejoining N.A.T.O. talks after hating on the U.S. for a while  Also signed military treaty with Britain for 50 years S.C.O.  Created in 1996 from the Treaty on Depending Military Trust in Border Regions  Started working as six members together rather than separate in 2001 with Uzbekistan joining  India, Iran, Mongolia, and Pakistan: 4 observer states o These account for 60% of Eurasian land mass o Over half of Earth’s current population  Say their out to fight Terrorism, Extremism, and Separatism  Separatism – Different! Ex. Russia will help China fight Tibet if they break off  Broadened Goals: o Overall Security o Crime o Increased Intelligence Sharing o Increased joint military exercises  Afghanistan - #1 producer of heroin  First plan was protecting against European or U.S. invasion against a terrorist group  Not nearly as advanced as N.A.T.O.  Long term goal of establishing free trade area o Russia suggests an energy cooperation , controls over 50% of worlds natural gas  Perfect counterpart to NATO  Want SCO to be an Asian alternative, not have to deal with West  Russia and China want to shift away from US world dominated economy  U.S. denied observer status for 10 years straight  SCO is like EU now…hoping not to turn into NATO Why Work Together? o Suprenationalist organizations NOT on trade or defense o Arab League, Organization of American States, and the African Union o Arab League – based all of Arab-ness o Goal is to solve common problems, mainly of Arabs o Haven’t accomplished anything… o No one wants them to be strong! o Organization of American States (O.A.S.) o 35 sovereign states of America as members  Oversee each other’s’ elections o Here to strengthen democracy, depend human rights o Linked together by same geography, and common idealology  Democracy, individual rights, etc. o Latin America moving to make their own O.A.S. without Canada and U.S. o African Union (A.U.) o 2nd biggest organization in the world – 52 members  Re-Launched in 2002 o Morocco – odd man out o Unsuccessful!! In every attempt at everything o Military is most promising!