CHAPTER INTRODUCTION
The world at the end of the twentieth century is a world of contradictions. Hopes for peace and cooperation are often countered by the reality of division resulting from national self-interest, economic factors, human rights issues, and many other concerns. The hopes for a so-called New World Order shaped by forces that interconnect nations and states by supranational blocks capable of balancing the force of the major powers, and multinational action should any state violate rules of communal conduct, are already clouded by doubts and uncertainties. The world today is burdened by a weakening state system and devolution, which afflicts a growing number of countries.
In this final chapter the focus is on the forces that are changing the global political landscape. These are forces with which government, businesses, and individuals must contend. To be aware of these forces is to be better prepared to cope with them. When we study the changes taking place in the world’s political framework, we enter the field of geopolitics. This field combines geography with some aspects of political science but geography brings cultural, environmental, and spatial perspectives to the field. As such, geopolitics is a wide arena that helps us understand the forces that are transforming the world map.
Forces of Devolution
Devolution, the disintegration of a state along regional lines, is occurring in a growing number of countries, old and young, large and small, wealthy and poor. States are the result of political-geographical evolution that may have spanned millennia (China) or centuries (many European states). Still others have evolved from colonial empires only a few decades ago, as in much of Africa. Revolution, civil war, and international conflict accompany the evolution of states. Even the oldest and apparently most stable states are vulnerable to a process that is the reverse of evolution, propelled by forces that divide and destabilize. That process is called devolution.
Devolution results from many factors, and rarely is the process propelled by a single one, but the primary ones are cultural, economic, and spatial. In Europe, devolutionary threes threaten a large number of older as well as younger states (Figure 35-1). Several of these have cultural bases, as in Spain, Belgium, and the former Yugoslavia. Economic and cultural devolutionary forces are present in Catalonia, but purely economic forces are at work in Italy and France (which is often cited as the model nation-state). In this case the problem is the island of Corsica where the activists want power and money. Europe is not alone in confronting economic forces leading to devolution. During the 1990s a devolutionary movement arose in Brazil that was rooted in economics. It seems that no country is immune from devolutionary pressures.
If devolutionary events have one feature in common, it is that they occur on the margins of states. Note that every one of the devolutionary-infected areas shown in Figure 35-1 lies on a coast or a boundary. Distance, remoteness, and peripheral location are allies of devolution. In many cases the regions adjoin neighbors that may support separatist objectives. As stated previously, the basic reason for almost all devolutionary forces is territory under one guise or another.
In most instances of devolution, the problem remains domestic; that is, it has little or no impact on the world at large. One notable exception is the devolution of the former Soviet Union by a powerful combination of political, cultural, and economic forces (Figure 35-3). When this occurred, the world was transformed. The former Soviet empire is left with a political-geographic legacy that will remain problematic for generations to come. Visions of local or regional autonomy, notions of democracy and participation, concepts of religious fundamentalism, and economic globalization are changing the map of the modern world.
The State In The New World Order
The state is the crucial building block in the global international framework, yet the world today is burdened by a weakening state system and an antiquated boundary framework. The state’s weaknesses are underscored by the growing power of regions, provinces, States, and other internal entities to act independently of the national government. The European state system, born more than 350 years ago and exported globally with Europeanization in autocratic form, later modified in many instances to a federal system, was at best tenuous in non-European areas. Many boundaries in existence today are the result of colonial control and decision with little regard for the impact on indigenous populations. With the end of colonialism, the legacy of such decisions has produced devolution and conflict. Supranationalism may be a solution to at least some of these problems but the state system did not evolve quickly or painlessly and it is doubtful its successor, whatever that may be, will proceed more smoothly.
A New World Order is said to be in the making following the end of the Cold War, but its geographic outlines cannot yet be discerned. It is likely to involve a multipolar rather than a bipolar configuration (as existed before the devolution of the Former Soviet Union) and it is unclear how orderly it will be or who the key players will be.
CHAPTER QUIZ
MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS
1. The common currency of the European Union is the:
a. lira
b. euro
c. dollar
d. mark
2. In 1997, which of the following European countries is not facing serious devolutionary pressures.
a. Scotland
b. Belgium
c. Italy
d. Germany
3. The region of province of Catalonia is a part of which country.
a. Spain
b. France
c. Italy
d. Portugal
4. In the past decade, which two East European countries have succumbed to devolutionary pressures.
a. Bulgaria and Yugoslavia
b. Poland and Hungary
c. Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia
d. Poland and Czechoslovakia
5. In this South Asian country the Sinhalese majority has been unable to suppress the demands of the Tamil minority for an independent state.
a. India
b. Sri Lanka
c. Indonesia
d. Bangladesh
6. In the United States the first real brush with devolution may come in which state.
a. Alaska
b. Florida
c. Washington
d. Hawaii
7. Before the Soviet Union devolved, it was composed of bow many Soviet republics.
a. 10
b. 15
c. 20
d. 25
8. Which of the following Muslim countries is actually a secular state.
a. Syria
b. Bulgaria
c. Turkey
d. Romania
9. Which of the following is not one of the likely candidate~ to be included as dominating state in a New World order.
a. Canada
b. China
c. India
d. Europe
10. The so-called domino theory first arose during which armed conflict.
a. Indochina
b. World War H
c. Gulf War
d. Korean War
TRUE-FALSE QUESTIONS
1. State devolution is the reverse of state evolution. (TF)
2. In Italy devolution is caused by economic problems between the north and south. (TF)
3. Devolutionary processes tend to occur in the middle of states. (TF)
4. The removal of the Berlin Wall was a result of the devolution of the former Soviet Union. (TF)
5. The 15 new independent former Soviet republics suffer from centrifugal forces. (TF)
6. The new Russia is a unitary state. (TF)
7. Today, polities are being conducted on a global scale making state boundaries less important. (TF)
8. In some countries, religious fundamentalism appeals to people where prospects for democracy are dim or oppression seems inescapable. (TF)
9. The ability of small countries to acquire nuclear weapons poses a serious danger to the whole world. (TF)
10. A New World Order will probably be established very early in the twenty-first century. (TF)
STUDY QUESTIONS
1. Explain the devolution process. Does culture always play a role in this process? How have devolutionary factors affected particular European countries? Name the countries and list the factors involved.
2. List the factors involved in the break-up of Yugoslavia. Why was this such a tragic and complicated situation? Has it been resolved?
3. Spatially, where does devolution usually occur? Why? Where does the United States have devolution forces at work today?
4. Explain the devolution of the former Soviet Union. What devolutionary factors are now being faced in the newly independent republics?
5. How is the position of the state changing in today’s world? Are we heading for a New World Order? What are the options this new world order might take?
