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CU-Boulder GEOG 4712 - GEOG 4712 Sample Exam

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GEOG 4712 Political Geography Name:____________________________ Spring 2007 ID#:______________________________ Sample Exam NOTE: In case you answer more questions than required, please indicate those which you do not want us to grade. Short questions - Readings: choose 4 out of 6 (5 points each) 1) Three components of Barnett’s post-9/11 security strategy 1) Increase the Core’s ability to respond to September 11-like system events. 2) Work the seam states to protect the Core from the Gap. 3) Shrink the Gap 2) Mackinder’s Organic Community Mackinder’s organic community was theorized as a living entity, a community that had grown organically rather than been constructed mechanically. It was based on natural social hierarchies, where people from differing social ranks performed the specific duties asked of them. 3) List two of the three appeals of Geopolitics in the American Discourse of World War II, as defined by O Tuathail. 1) Strengthened the idea of a global intelligence network. OSS Æ CIA and NSA. 2) Supported the differentiation of geopolitical experts from the general public, in terms of knowledge and understanding of geopolitics. 3) This ‘expert’ understanding of geopolitics could be developed through proper training because geopolitics plays a vital role in training the political and economic leaders of any nationShort questions - Lectures: choose 4 out of 6 (5 points each) 1) List Mahan’s four policy prescriptions for the US 1. Develop maritime power 2. Expansionism in the Caribbean and Pacific 3. Build a canal between the two Oceans 4. Check Russian power 2) Name the three areas into which Mackinder divided the world and their characteristics in terms of land/sea power: a. Pivot (Heartland): land power b. Outer Crescent: sea power c. Inner Crescent: ‘amphibious’ (both land and sea powers) 3) What are the two limits of critical geopolitics? • Risk of textuality • After ‘de-construction’ what? Resistance is the only tactic / Unable to ‘construct’ Medium questions - Readings: choose 2 out of 5 (15 points each) 1) Are maps an accurate reflection of political realities in Africa? Support with two examples from Kaplan’s discussion. Answer: Maps are not accurate reflections of political realties in Africa. The states portrayed on maps are artificial realities, shown on paper but not existing on the ground. Examples that support this idea from Kaplan: 1.) Africa is currently characterized by a pre-modern formlessness (pre-modern formlessness = states loosely defined and not held together by traditional state institutions).2.) Civilizational borders are more relevant than the nation-state idea (example: the divide between Muslims and Christians/Animists in states like Nigeria). 3.) The nation-state idea was imposed by European colonialism. 4.) Maps are not accurate reflections of reality, despite the fact that such maps, and the states they show, are reinforced by international organization like the United Nations. 2) In what ways did popular American interpretations of German geopolitics fail? In what ways did they succeed? Provide two examples of each. Failed: 1) Geopolitik was never the coherent foreign policy it was portrayed as in these interpretations. 2) Popular representations underestimated the power of racism and its role in the functioning of the Nazi power structure. 3) Anti-Semitism and the attempt to eradicate the Jews were marginalized, meaning that the Allies were slow to recognize the scope of the Holocaust. Succeeded: 1) American representations held out the promise of making Nazi foreign policy rational and comprehensible. 2) Geopolitics was the medium through which Nazism was made accessible to everyday Americans. 3) Popular representations helped combat the challenge Nazism posed to the world of reason and Enlightenment. The Nazis used scientific rationality to justify their racial and military policies. Medium questions - Lectures: choose 2 out of 5 (15 points each) 1) List and explain Mahan’s six sea power factors a) Geographical position (location): costs on sea or ocean, island, vulnerable land boundaries etc. b) Physical ‘conformation’ of the state: nature of its coast, natural harbors, navigable rivers c) Extent of territory: large d) Population: large e) National character: aptitude for commerce. f) Governmental character: whether the government takes advantage of the opportunities offered by the environment and population to promote sea power2) Discuss the notion of panregion – be as specific as possible • Large economic, political and cultural unit • Longitudinal (North-South geopolitical development) • Self-sufficient economic space (autarky) – thanks to different climates • Pan-Ideen: a supra-national idea which can pull together a panregion. • Core (industrial) + Periphery (agricultural and raw materials) • Four/Three panregions (before/after Operation Barbarossa, June 1941): created around leading states: USA, Germany (Eurafrika), Russia, Japan (=> Greater Asia Co-Prosperity


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CU-Boulder GEOG 4712 - GEOG 4712 Sample Exam

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