tomas hopkins primeau professor of international relations
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The Evolution of Political Units: Hunter-Gatherers to City-States to Regional Empires to Colonial Empire to the Modern State System. Tomas Hopkins Primeau Professor of International Relations. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
The Evolution of Political Units: Hunter-Gatherers to City-States to
Regional Empires to Colonial Empire to the Modern State System
Tomas Hopkins Primeau
Professor of International Relations
Two types of forces in nature and world history: “things come
together” or “things fall apart.” The same can be said of states and
empires.
Centripetal vs Centrifugal Forces in States and Empires
• City-States to Empires: Centripetal– Greek City States to Macedonian Empire
• Empires to Modern States: Centrifugal– Breakup of Ottoman Empire-creation of modern day
Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, among others
• Western Imperialism/Colonization: PETAL– Creation of British & French Empires in Africa/Asia
• UN Decolonization: FUGAL– Breakup of French Empire in Africa-Algeria, Morocco,
Tunisia, Mauritania, Senegal, Madagascar
Current movements of centripetal/centrifugal forces
• Breakup of large states centriFUGAL– Breakup of Soviet Union (1991)– Czechoslovakia (1993)– Yugoslavia (1994)– Sudan (2011)
• Expanding regional integration centriPETAL– Creation of European Union (1995)
• Common Currency, internal migration, citizenship issues
– Expansion of European Union: 27 states (1999-2012)– Creation of African Union (2002)
• Common security force
Kingdom Chiefdom
Individual BandFamily Tribe
Distant relativesBlood relatives
NOMADIC
MERIT-BASED,SEMI-NOMADIC & TEMPORARY
HEREDITARY,FIXED & PERMANENT
Evolution of Human Social Organization
Mesopotamian City-States c. 5000 BCMesopotamian City-States c. 5000 BC
Later conquered and incorporated into the Babylonian Empire
Greek City-Greek City-StatesStates
750-150 750-150 BCEBCE
Conquered and incorporated into Conquered and incorporated into Macedonian EmpireMacedonian Empire
And still later conquered and And still later conquered and incorporated into Roman Empire incorporated into Roman Empire
Breakup of the Roman Empire Breakup of the Roman Empire
Feudal Europe: a constantly changing system of small kingdoms
The Westphalian “Peace”
Treaty of Westphalia (1648)• Experts point to this as the beginning of
the modern state system• Modern state system begins in Europe• Recognition of state “sovereignty” over
issues like religion (Protestant Reformation) diminished papal power
• State control over territory with well defined borders
• Note that neither Germany nor Italy exists• Series of “unified” small kingdoms
The State-Centric System
• The primary focus of world history and international relations becomes states
• A network of international norms and laws begins to develop between countries
• States are “sovereign” within their borders• Laws of War, Laws of Trade, Laws of Sea
Travel, Laws of Territorial Acquisition• Emergence of specialized IGO system• Later the creation of League of Nations and UN
Small German Kingdoms prior to 1871
Unified into modern “Germany” b.1871
Growth of Russian Empire
Transformation of the Regional Empires into “modern states”
• Many former “empires” transform themselves in to “Republics” i.e. “Peoples Republic of China” or “United States of America” or “Union of Socialist Soviet Republics” or “Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia” HOWEVER….
• They were still considered “Empires” by the various nations who lived within them
From “Russian Empire” & Czar tothe “Soviet Union” & Premier but…
Peoples Republic of China…but
Kingdom of Serbs,Croats,Slovenes to “Yugoslav Socialist Republic” but
The onset of Western Colonialism in Asia and Africa: 1492 to 1945
• Columbus “discovers” the Americas while looking for trade route to the Indies
• Expansion and territorial takeover begins with Portuguese in Goa (India) in 1510
• Later come waves of Dutch and the British• British East India Company 1600• Dutch East India Company 1602• Business/trade contacts made with many small
Asian kingdoms turned into “protectorates”
18th & 19th Century Colonization of Asia through “Protectorates”
Protectorates used by the Western colonial powers
• “it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger [western colonial] state or entity. However, it retains formal sovereignty, and remains a state under international law.”
565 Princely States in India at Partition
And “Sultanates” as protectorates
And more protectorates and sultanates that today are called
“states” like Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen
Onset of Western Colonialism: The “Scramble for Africa” 1880-1914
Look at the political boundaries of Europe: See any straight lines?
Now look at the political boundaries of Africa: Who drew those lines?
• Africa cut up just like a cake by the European powers at Berlin Conference, 1884-85
Colonial Possessions, 1914Colonial Possessions, 1914
Fig. 8-4: By the outbreak of World War I, European states held colonies throughout the world, especially throughout Africa and in much of Asia.
Hitler and the Nazi Party’s Rise to Power in Germany
• With the rise of the Nazi party to power in the 1930’s Adolf Hitler finds that the world has almost been completely colonized– Germany lost all of its African colonies in WWI
• Hitler has a bright idea “let’s colonize Europe”
Using the idea of Aryan racial superiority Hitler colonizes Europe through lebensraum “living space”
Hitler/Nazi’s decide to colonize white people in the heart of Europe
Questioning the legitimacy of Western colonization (Centrifugal)
• World War II fought in part in the name of “self-determination of peoples” and defeat of attempt to create a racist Nazi Empire in the heart of Europe by colonizing white people
• Perhaps if colonizing white people is wrong this applies to other colors of people as well?
• Dutch, and especially French, learn nothing from this lesson and try to re-colonize Asia and Africa
• Emergence of National Liberation Movements throughout the colonized world
The Colonies of the World, 1945
The UN and Decolonization
• 1945 1/3 of world’s population are “non-self governing peoples” i.e. “colonized”
• Article IX “sacred trust the obligation to promote” the “well-being” colonized people
• And to “to develop self-government ” meaning eventual independence
• 1960 Declaration of Rights of Colonized Peoples• 1962 Special Committee on Decolonization• Under UN direction 80 colonies become
independent states/countries
Types of Decolonization• Some colonies gained their independence
through peaceful negotiation– British withdrawal from India/Pakistan 1947
• Others only achieved independence through long and bloody anti-colonial wars of “national liberation”
• Indonesian Revolution (1949 Dutch)• Vietnamese Revolution (1954 French)• Mau Mau Rebellion Kenya (1960 British)• Algerian War of Independence (1962
French)
National Liberation Movements in Vietnam and Algeria
Asian Decolonization
African Decolonization
The World Today: A Consolidation of the State-Centric System?
The World Today? Or is it? Sudan breaks apart 2011
Canada and Nunavut (1999)
Demark gives autonomy to Greenland (2008)
Fate of large multination states? Soviet Union Born:1917 Died1991
What does the future hold for large multi-nation states like Indonesia?
• Born: 1948-?
Or Nigeria? Born:1960-?
Or India? Born: 1947-? Or…..????
Peoples Republic of China b. 1948-?
Indigenous peoples were here long before states, colonies, or empires
Indigenous and Colonized Peoples Perspective of State-Centrism
• From the perspective of peoples like the Kurds, Australian Aborigines, Mayans, San Bushmen, Basques, and many others
• Who have lived in their territories for thousands or tens of thousands of years
• The state-centric system seems quite NEW in terms of time AND
• Quite TRANSITIORY and EPHEMERAL in terms of human (not state) HISTORY.
The San of the Kalahari Desert
• World’s oldest culture 80,000 years old
• Living in newly created states of
• Botswana b. 1966 Namibia b. 1990
"Central Kalahari Game Reserve"
• In 1961 Botswana created a park called the "Central Kalahari Game Reserve“
• In the mid-1990s a large diamond bearing field was discovered on San land
• In 1997 Botswana declared that no human would be allowed to live in the park
• Botswana began relocating the entire San population to a concentration camp called “New Xade”
New Xade 140 km from the San’s traditional homeland
A 47 year old state is currently destroying the world’s oldest culture• The Botswana government argues that the
game reserve is for animals only• No hunting is allowed though the San have
hunted these lands for 1000s of years• The Botswana Board of Tourism encourages
eco-safaris to the park as a form of tourist/foreign revenue
• Tourists are allowed in the park, but not the San
http://www.botswanatourism.co.bw/
ckgr.php
The Modern State System and Indigenous Peoples
• Unfortunately when indigenous peoples confront modern states like the San they rarely win those confrontations
• Where the San are forced to live today
The Auto-Imperialist State
• After the United Nations creates states like Botswana and Namibia…
• Their “job” is to go to territories like the San’s and take their land away from them
• This is a state being imperialistic towards indigenous peoples inside of their territory
• This is viewed as legitimate and lawful by the state-centric system
• This is usually done in the name of “economic development” or “modernization”
The Indigenous Response to the Auto-Imperialistic State
• Some indigenous people have the ability to resist A-I state attempts to steal their land and actually defend themselves
• This can be seen in many places around the world today, where indigenous peoples are challenging the authority of A-I states
• Dinka, Fur, Nuba “Southern Sudan”• Kurds of Northern Iraq/NE Syria• Abkhaz in Western Georgia• Chechens in Russia until genocide of 1999
Pockets of Indigenous Resistance to the state-centric system