Political Power and Territoriality
Introduced| English | Meaning |
|---|---|
| territoriality/ˌterɪˌtɔːrɪˈælɪti/ | The use of control over a defined space to influence people, resources and activities within it. |
| neocolonialism/ˈniːəʊkɒləʊnɪəlɪzəm/ | The continuation or creation of external economic or political influence over a formally independent country without direct colonial rule. |
| choke points/tʃəʊk pɔɪnts/ | Narrow or strategically constrained transport passages through which substantial movement or trade must pass. |
| shatterbelts/ˈʃætəbelts/ | Regions where internal divisions and competing external powers combine to produce persistent geopolitical instability or conflict. |
Controlling space
- Territoriality 领域性 is controlling people and things by controlling an area.
- Political power is expressed through control of land, people, and resources.
- Who controls a territory shapes who holds power.
Controlling people and things by controlling an area is called...
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Territoriality is power expressed through control of space.
Power after empire
- Neocolonialism 新殖民主义 is continued economic control after formal independence.
- A former power may still dominate through debt, trade, and companies.
- So independence on the map is not always independence in practice.
Neocolonialism means a country is still economically controlled after formal independence.
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Debt, trade, and companies can continue an old power's influence.
Geography of power
- Choke points 咽喉要道 are narrow passages — natural straits or artificial canals — that control trade and military movement (the Strait of Malacca; the Suez and Panama Canals).
- Shatterbelts 破碎地带 are regions caught between competing great powers.
- Both show how physical geography shapes political power.
Which idea of power?
Sort each example by the concept of political power it shows.
A narrow strait like Suez or Malacca that controls trade is a choke ____.
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A choke point gives whoever controls it great strategic power.
Select all examples of geography shaping political power.
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Choke points, shatterbelts, and resources shape power; the alphabet does not.
Match each term to its meaning.
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Choke point = passage; shatterbelt = between powers; neocolonialism = economic control.
A country can be legally independent yet still controlled economically — that is neocolonialism. Do not assume a flag on a map means full self-rule; power often flows through money and companies, not just borders.
The Strait of Malacca is a narrow choke point through which a huge share of world trade passes. Whoever can control or threaten it holds enormous power — a clear case of geography shaping politics.
Territoriality controls people through space. Neocolonialism is economic control after independence. Choke points (narrow passages — straits or canals) and shatterbelts (regions between rival powers) show how geography shapes political power.
Write from a post as territoriality
- Two states dispute an island.
- One state builds a military post and raises its flag there.
What geographic idea does the post express?
Territoriality is the effort to control a space.
What does the military post show?
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The post is a visible claim of control.