canadian & world issues courtesy of c. marlatt geopolitics

Canadian & World IssuesCourtesy of C. Marlatt

Geopolitics

“A Key Study in Geography”

Politics: The practice of decision-making by society as a whole, usually formalized at the government level.

Political topics concerned with Geography: Trade military alliances foreign aid Immigration / emigration territorial control economic systems areas of land suitable to support society and distribution of

wealth


• Examples of how Politics and Geography are related:– Geographical factors can cause political changes

• e.g. When Switzerland restricts immigration because it, as a nation, already has a high enough population.

– Political factors can cause Geographical changes• e.g. An increase in oil prices has led to an expanded search

for oil in the Arctic and North sea, thus causing Geographical changes.


• Geopolitics: The study of the two-way relationship between political beliefs and actions on one side and any of the usual concerns of geography on the other.

Classification of Political Systems

• Supranational Political Systems

• National Political Systems

• Other Ways of Classifying Governments:– Governments by Mode of Succession– Governments by Type of Rule– Governments by Structure– Levels of Government– Branches of Government

Supranational Political Systems

• Empires

• e.g. British, Roman, and Ottoman

• a major political unit having a territory of great extent or a number of territories or peoples under a single sovereign authority


• Leagues

• e.g. Baltic, Arab; also League of Nations

• an association of nations or other political entities for a common purpose


• Confederations

• e.g. European Union

• is a large state composed of many self-governing regions

• has a very weak central government with little influence over the actions or policies of the member regions


• Federations

• e.g. Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

• formed by a compact between political units that surrender their individual sovereignty to a central authority but retain limited residuary powers of government


• United Nations

• voluntary association of most of the world's nation-states

• not a world government and it does not make laws

National Political Systems

• Unitary Nation-States

• e.g. Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Great Britain, The Netherlands, Japan, Poland, Romania, the Scandinavian countries, Spain, and many of the Latin-American and African countries

• basically a single tier of government with varying degrees decentralization - some are decentralized so much as to resemble federal states, some allow limited regional rule, others have only token decentralization

National Political Systems

• Federal Systems

• e.g. Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Russia, and the United States, Austria, Germany, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Switzerland, and Venezuela

• political authority is divided between two autonomous sets of governments, one national and the other sub-national, both of which operate directly upon the people

World Governments in 1900


?!?!?

Canada and the European Union


• Austria • Belgium • Bulgaria • Cyprus • Czech Republic • Denmark • Estonia • Finland • France • Germany • Greece • Hungary • Ireland • Italy • Latvia • Lithuania

• Luxembourg • Malta • Netherlands • Poland • Portugal • Romania • Slovakia • Slovenia • Spain • Sweden • United Kingdom

• Croatia• Macedonia• Turkey


• Albania • Andorra • Armenia • Azerbaijan • Belarus • Bosnia and Herzegovina • Georgia • Iceland • Liechtenstein • Moldova

• Monaco • Montenegro • Norway • Russia • San Marino • Serbia • Switzerland • Ukraine • Vatican City State

• Other European Countries (non EU members)


Canada European Union

Government Leader

The Rt. Hon. Stephen Harper

H.E. José Manuel Barroso

Government TypeParliamentary

DemocracySupranational

Union

Formation July 1, 1867 May 9, 1950

Population 33 million 495 million


Canada European Union

Area 9 984 670 sq km 4 325 675 sq km

Divisions10 provinces,

3 territories 27 countries

Capital Ottawa, Ontario Brussels, Belgium

Gross Domestic Product

$1.1 trillion US $13.4 trillion US


• EU Council President Rotation– Current Head of Government of country identified

assumes additional duties of President of EU for term– 2007 Jan-Jun Germany – 2007 Jul-Dec Portugal – 2008 Jan-Jun Slovenia – 2008 Jul-Dec France – 2009 Jan-Jun Czech Republic – 2009 Jul-Dec Sweden – 2010 Jan-Jun Spain – 2010 Jul-Dec Belgium


– Austria– Belgium – Cyprus – Finland– France– Germany – Greece – Ireland

– Italy – Luxembourg – Malta – Netherlands – Portugal – Slovenia – Spain

• 15 countries use the Euro as their currency:


• EU Currency (Bills)– Multi-coloured– Archways and Bridges– NOT specific sites (i.e. not

country-specific)– € 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200, and

500 denominations


• Canadian Currency (Bills)– Multi-coloured– Prime Ministers (& Queen)

and “themes”• $5 Laurier Children at Play• $10 Macdonald

Remembrance and Peackeeping

• $20 Elizabeth II Arts and Culture

• $50 King Nation Building• $100 Borden Exploration

and Innovation


• EU Coins– Uniform front, national back– All coins are valid in all countries– 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 cent pieces plus €1 and €2 coins

1 cent piece 2 cent piece 5 cent piece 10 cent piece

20 cent piece 50 cent piece 1 Euro coin 2 Euro coin

1 cent piece“Penny”

5 cent piece“Nickel”

10 cent piece“Dime”

25 cent piece“Quarter”

50 cent piece 1 dollar coin“Loonie”

2 dollar coin“Toonie”


• Canadian Coins– Maple leaf, beaver, bluenose, moose, coat of arms,

loonie, and polar bear are regular images on front, Queen on back

– 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 cent coins plus $1 and $2 coins

Sharing Spaces

• Nile River Basin

Sharing Spaces

• Antarctica

Sharing Spaces

• The Arctic

Sharing Spaces

• Grand Banks of Newfoundland

Sharing Spaces

• Indian Ocean

canadian & world issues courtesy of c. marlatt geopolitics

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