Notas de lectura
Geopolitics: All Units
- Grado
- GEL
- Institución
- ESADE Law & Business School (ESADE)
In-depth notes covering all units of Geopolitics 23-24
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GeopoliticsFinal
Politics, Power, Geopolitics
What is politics?
Characteristics of politics:
● It is about making decisions that apply to all members of a political community, given
that by nature every society has "rival opinions, different wants, competing needs,
and opposing interests" (Heywood, 1997).
○ These decisions are binding and can be enforced on the political community's
members.
● "Activity through which people [or societies] make, preserve and amend the general
rules under which they live" (Heywood, 1997)
● The essence of politics is disagreement. Both conflict and cooperation are central in
politics, and politics implies channeling and managing conflict (i.e. conflict resolution).
● It is inherent to and inevitable in human societies and civilizations.
Politics is a highly contested concept. It embraces a wide range of theoretical approaches
and a variety of schools of thought.
● Aristotle viewed politics as a virtuous undertaking, whereas Machiavelli viewed
politics as a means of manipulation and power plays.
Politics is exercised on a wide range of social levels, from clans and tribes of traditional
societies, families, corporations, and any form of a human organization up to sovereign
States and the international level.
Politics is an exercise of power. (Heywood, 1997)
● Power is difficult to define, measure and classify but we can understand how it works;
power does not exist in isolation, it's a capacity that exists and operates in relation to
others (Naím, 2013)
● Power is “the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position
to carry out his own will despite resistance” (Weber, 1920/1978)
Parsons on ‘power’ (1960s)
● Parsons criticized approaches to power as a “zero-sum game.”
● He believed that power could be used for beneficial gains to all parties involved and
that it was a legitimate social instrument to approach common collective interests.
Nye on ‘power’
● Power is the capacity to get a desired outcome or "influencing others according to
your preferences" (Nye, 2017)
● Nye Identified two different kinds of power depending on how influence is exercised:
hard power ("sticks") and soft power ("carrots"), (Nye, 1990).
, ● “Power exercised by States can take many forms: economic sanctions, military
interventions…” (Nye, 1990)
What are the pros and cons of mankind being hunter-gatherers versus
settlers? (material and political perspectives)
Humans lived in societies to achieve protection, specialization, and productivity.
● All human communities face similar challenges such as cooperation, conflict, and
decision-making.
● The big shift in human societies was when hunter-gatherers became settlers during
the Neolithic Revolution.
Pros Cons
Hunter-gatherers Material perspective Material perspective
● Minimal impact on the ● Limited agricultural activity
environment ○ Food insecurity
● Varied diet of animals and ● No permanent shelter
vegetables ○ Less protection
● No property or
possessions to defend Political perspective
○ In conflict, retreat ● No formal rules are in
was a choice place
● Humans were less ○ People had
vulnerable to epidemics impunity
because of their mobility ● Difficulties forming
alliances as mobility
Political perspective obstructed long-lasting
● Small communities relationships
comprised of 30-80
members well-known to
each other
Settlers Material perspective Material perspective
● More engagement in ● Harvest planning became
agriculture necessary, increasing
○ A larger dependence on climate
population was ● Space shrunk, but
maintained possessions grew
● The surplus in farming led ○ Infrastructure and
to more trading relations, armies became
which promoted necessary to
specialization and defend property
, advanced trade networks ● Settlers had increased
● More permanent health issues
structures provided ○ People lived close
increased protection to each other and
● Advancements in animals
technology were made for ○ They had less
agriculture and protein in their diet
engineering
Political perspective
Political perspective ● Big communities
● Collective life needed comprised of thousands of
rules, codes, and members not known to
complex decisions, which each other
led to the creation of ○ Depended on
advanced and organized strangers
societies. ● Hierarchy and bureaucracy
appeared through the
creation of fictions about
legitimacy
The State
Is Brazil a strong, weak, failed, or collapsed state? Provide reasons and
metrics.
The degrees of fragility or success of a state according to Rotberg (2010):
1. Strong State
2. Weak State
● Contains ethnic, religious, and linguistic tensions that erode the supply of
political public goods
● Services such as education and health are exclusive and expensive
● Rule of Law is applied with difficulties
● Tends to despotic politics
● Corruption is common
● Conflict is open or approaching
3. Failed State
● The State provides very few public goods, which are often in the hands of
warlords, factions, terrorist organizations, or other groups
● Economic infrastructure has collapsed
○ Corruption and inflation are high
○ Food shortages are frequent
● The government is unable to provide security, basic services, or effective
decision-making capacity in substantial parts of the territory over which it is
legally sovereign
○ The state has largely ungoverned areas, warlordism, poorly
functioning economies, rampant corruption, violence, population
dislocations (refugees, IDPs…), and lack of legitimacy.
○ They are especially vulnerable to lawlessness, criminality, dissolution,
and violent upheaval.
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