A superpower is a state with a dominant position characterized by its extensive ability to exert influence or project power on a global scale

1. Super Power

2. Supranational Organizations
A separate entity composed of three or more
states that forge an association and form an
administrative structure for mutual benefit in
pursuit of shared goals.
Ex. NATO, NAFTA, EU, UN

16. Devolution
• Devolution – Movement of power from the central
government to regional governments within the
state.
• What causes devolutionary movements?
a) Ethnocultural forces
b) Economic forces
c) Spatial forces

17. Ethnocultural Devolutionary Movements
Eastern Europe
devolutionary forces
since the fall of
communism

19. Economic
Devolutionary
Movements
Catalonia, Spain
Barcelona is the center
of banking and
commerce in Spain and
the region is much
wealthier than the rest
of Spain.

20. Spatial
Devolutionary
Movements
Honolulu, Hawai’i
A history apart from the
United States, and a
desire to live apart in
order to keep traditions
alive.

21. Political Models
• The Heartland Theory by Halford Mackinder
• The Rimland Theory by Nicholas Spykman
• The Organic Theory (geopolitics) by Friedrich
Ratzel

22. Geopolitics
• What is geopolitics?
– Geopolitics is the study of spatial and territorial
dimensions of power relationships within the global
political-territorial order.
• Examples of Geopolitics
– How does Chinese Trade affect American Interests?
– How does the European Union affect the individual governments of
members?
– How does the conflict in the Middle East affect relationships between
UN countries.

23. Mackinder’s Heartland Theory (1904):
“Who rules East Europe commands the Heartland
Who rules the Heartland commands the World Island
Who rules the World Island commands the world”

24. Mackinder’s Heartland Theory:
-Early 20th c. theory that claimed whichever state controlled the
resource-rich “heartland” of Eastern Europe could eventually
dominate the world. It would suggest that not the United Kingdom
(an ocean-based empire), but Russia (which was becoming
communist) would be in a position to achieve this dominance.
-At the time when this theory was developed, new technologies
caused society to look at geography and military strategies in a new
light. For instance, the railroads, a relatively new technology, meant
that the army was no longer dependent on the navy for
transportation. The railroad was the new and more efficient means
of transportation that shifted the focus away from the coast, (
“Rimland”) and allowed armies to travel all throughout the land
rather than solely on the sea. Military attacks by sea remained a
serious threat, however, and for this reason MacKinder further
believed that greater political power lay in the Heartland as it was
easier to defend than a coastal territory.

25. Spyman’s Rimland Theory (1942):
Countered Heartland theory by stating that Eurasia’s
rimland, the coastal areas, is the key to controlling the
World Island. Whoever would control the rimland, would
eventually control the World Island. Whoever controlled
the World Island would soon control the world.

26. Friedrich Ratzel Organic Theory
-postulated that a country, which is an aggregate of organisms
(people), would itself function and behave like an organism … to
survive, a state requires nourishment – in the global context, this
means territory – to gain political power.
Gained a negative reputation when Hitler and the Nazis embraced
geopolitics to justify their right for lebensraum (living space)
because of their racial superiority

50. http://www.scoop.it/t/geography-
education?tag=terrorism
http://www.choices.edu/resources/surveys.php

51. Powerpoint from: http://msfraker.weebly.com/political-
organization-of-space.html