Can the European Union continue to grow and also converge? Is uniformity within the union desirable? The European Union has grown into a supranational entity formed from a mosaic of diverse regions. Its enlargement to encompass a number of Central European countries seems only a matter of time. With the EU's political and economic importance growing globally, the Union's influence is increasingly being felt within its member states. A geography is emerging with pressures to reduce regional disparities by a process of convergence. This volume provides a comprehensive introduction to the European Union, its identity, problems and prospects. Focusing on the key issues of integration and enlargement, the authors examine the major economic, social, environmental and political aspects of the EU, both in terms of its individual regions and as a system of interdependent states that form the single EU entity. Assessment of controversial issues is frank: problems of unemployment, social stress, ageing and the place of women are covered, prompting readers to form their own interpretations.

The nation-states and peoples of South and Central America, Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, that together form the political geographical region of Latin America, encompass a wide range of societies, politics and economies. This text exposes the differences between places, regions and countries, individuals and societies, offering an invaluable insight into the themes of political and economic development, and provides a guide to understanding power and space relations. From the Antarctic to the tropical jungles, the coastal communities to the highland villages, the mega-cities to isolated rural existence, the political geographies of lives, localities, cities and rurality are too sophisticated to be subjected to generalizations. Adopting a critical human geography perspective, Jonathon Barton provides an understanding of similarities, difference and sophisticated human geographies.

Latin America is a continent of diversity. The nation-states and peoples of South and Central America, Cuba, Haiti and the Dominican Republic, that together form the political geographical region of Latin America, encompass a wide range of societies, politics and economies.
A Political Geography of Latin America exposes these differences between places, regions and countries, individuals and societies, offering an invaluable insight into the themes of political and economic development, and an accessible guide to understanding power and space relations. From the Antarctic to the tropical jungles, the coastal communities to the highland villages, the mega-cities to isolated rural existence, the political geographies of lives, localities, cities and rurality are too sophisticated to be subjected to generalizations. Adopting a critical human geography perspective, Jonathan Barton enables a clearer understanding of similarities, difference and sophisticated human geographies. From its starting point of difference, this book explains how it is possible to overcome the stereotyping and generalizations about the content: of dictatorship and terrorism, 'banana republics', shanty town poverty and the Latin character.
Exploring Southern power-space relationships, the author also examines wider processes of globalization that are linking spaces and transgressing boundaries. Barton stresses the need for inclusionary political geography across hemispheres, nation-states, regions, races and ethnic groups, gender and sexuality, and for recognition that it is citizens who wield the power and shape the nation-states that shape them.

From the Third Reich to Bosnia, nationalism - a sense of a nation's place in the world - has been responsible for much bloodshed. Nationalism may be manipulated by political leaders or governments but it springs from the people. Something in the history and environment of a national group creates it. This volume aims to locate and analyze the myth of national identity and its value in creating pride, deflecting fear or legitimating aggression. A range of essays - on Britain, the United States, Germany, Russia, Iraq, Serbia, Argentina, Australia, and India - illustrate the different manifestations of the geographical imagination across the countries of the world.

This book provides a detailed analysis of the legal framework in which the energy trade between the European Union and the Russian Federation has been conducted. Using case studies of eight member states, it critically examines the EU's ability and the duty of its Member States to conduct their external energy trade in accordance with the principle of solidarity. Providing a comprehensive analysis of the principle of solidarity as provided in the acquis communautaire of the EU, the book critically analyses the legal framework pertaining to EU-Russia energy trade to ascertain whether, and to what extent, it satisfies the requirements of the rule of law.

Critical Geopolitics presents a brilliant and radical analysis of the ideas which have driven nations to attempt to remap the globe in their own image. The essays - ranging across Britsh colonialism to Nazi geopolitics, from America's ambitions to the bloodshed of Bosnia and Ireland - unearth a new political history of the struggle for space and power in the West, and revise the geographies of global politics at the end of the twentieth century.

Design, Ecology, Politics links social and ecological theory to design theory and practice, critiquing the ways in which the design industry perpetuates unsustainable development. Boehnert argues that when design does engage with issues of sustainability, this engagement remains shallow, due to the narrow basis of analysis in design education and theory. The situation is made more severe by design cultures which claim to be apolitical. Where design education fails to recognise the historical roots of unsustainable practice, it reproduces old errors. New ecologically informed design methods and tools hold promise only when incorporated into a larger project of political change. Design, Ecology, Politics describes how ecological literacy challenges many central assumptions in design theory and practice. By bringing design, ecology and socio-political theory together, Boehnert describes how power is constructed, reproduced and obfuscated by design in ways which often cause environmental harms. She uses case studies to illustrate how communication design functions to either conceal or reveal the ecological and social impacts of current modes of production. The transformative potential of design is dependent on deep-reaching analysis of the problems design attempts to address. Ecologically literate and critically engaged design is a practice primed to facilitate the creation of viable, sustainable and just futures. With this approach, designers can make sustainability not only possible, but attractive.

Marshalling 129 maps, numerous diagrams and incisive textual commentary, the Atlas of Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century draws a definitive picture of the changing shape of Eastern and some of central Europe from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present, charting the emergence of a volatile world from the abrupt collapse of the communist system. An invaluable guide to a complex subject, this Atlas:
* gives a general introduction to the physical, ethnic and religious composition of the region
* includes summary maps of Eastern Europe in 1900, 1923, 1945 and 1994
* charts the ebb and flow of the first and second world wars in Eastern Europe
* presents detailed information relating to consituent territories, elections, economic developments, land holding patterns for key individual countries in the inter-war years
* provides crucial social and economic data, evidencing changes under communist domination
* gives maps of the new states of the post-communist years with details of elections and economic indicators for Albania, Belarus, Bosnia-Hercegovina, Croatia, The Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Slovakia, and others.
* contains an extensive glossary listing the major towns of the area under their linguistic variants

For over a century, Europe has been characterized by a plurality of capitalist modernities. At any moment, each country possesses its own distinctly modern qualities which are partly shaped through interrelationships with other countries. Each European commodity society has experienced successive, but different overlapping, periods of industrial modernity (large scale factories and urban growth), high modernity (social modernization promoted by social engineering) and hypermodernity (the acceleration of modernity, yielding new circumstances and sensibilities). Interrogating contemporary, hypermodern Europe thus requires an exploration of industrial and high modern Europe. "Re-"cognising" European Modernities" explores a century of civilization through a critical examination of the extreme case of Sweden. Using montage - relayering multiple pasts and on-going present - the book challenges the contemporary obsession with "postmodernity", demanding a deeper, more connective understanding of the pleasures and dangers of the European present. The author visits three spectacular spaces: the Stockholm Exhibition of 1897, the Stockholm Exhibition of 1930 and the Globe.

An ideal text-book for students of European Studies, this collection of essays puts the idea of Europe in its historical context to provide a context for the understanding of contemporary developments.

For over a century, Europe has been characterized by a plurality of capitalist modernities. At any moment, each country possesses its own distinctly modern qualities which are partly shaped through interrelationships with other countries. Each European commodity society has experienced successive, but different overlapping, periods of industrial modernity (large scale factories and urban growth), high modernity (social modernization promoted by social engineering) and hypermodernity (the acceleration of modernity, yielding new circumstances and sensibilities). Interrogating contemporary, hypermodern Europe thus requires an exploration of industrial and high modern Europe. "Re-"cognising" European Modernities" explores a century of civilization through a critical examination of the extreme case of Sweden. Using montage - relayering multiple pasts and on-going present - the book challenges the contemporary obsession with "postmodernity", demanding a deeper, more connective understanding of the pleasures and dangers of the European present. The author visits three spectacular spaces: the Stockholm Exhibition of 1897, the Stockholm Exhibition of 1930 and the Globe.

As the USA's domination of world affairs meets ever-widening international resentment, this revealing interrogation of America's global footprint explores the complexities of its impact on the world. Covering a wide range of topics - from Wall Street to the War on Terror - The State of the American Empire traces the USA's attempts to balance national interest and global responsibility. It measures America's true effect on world trade and security, locates sites of resistance and levels of antagonism, and, looking ahead, considers the sustainability of its imperial role. With full-colour maps and graphics, this is an essential resource for understanding America's power around the world.

Water-related conflicts have a long history and will continue to be a global and regional problem. Asia, with 1.5 billion of its people living in shared river basins, and with very few transboundary rivers governed by treaties, is especially prone to such conflicts. The key to mitigating transboundary water conflicts and advancing cooperation in Asia is largely in the hands of China, the upstream country for most of Asia's major transboundary rivers. To avert the looming water crisis, apart from spending billions of dollars on domestic water transfer projects such as the South-North Water Diversion Megaproject, as well as on water conservancy and pollution abatement, China has sought to utilize the water resources of the major rivers that run across borders with neighbouring countries. On these transboundary rivers, China has built or plans to build large dams for hydroelectricity and major water diversion facilities, which has triggered anxiety and complaints from downstream countries and criticism from the international society. This book aims to systematically examine the complex reality of water contestations between China and its neighbouring countries. It provides a discussion on transboundary hydropolitics beyond the state-centric geopolitical perspective to dig into various political, institutional, legal, historical, geographical, and demographic factors that affect China's policies and practices towards transboundary water issues. This book also provides a collection of comparative case studies on China's water resources management on the Mekong River with other five riparian states in the Lower Mekong region: the Salween River with Myanmar, the Brahmaputra River with India, the Amur River with Russia and Mongolia, the Illy and Irtysh Rivers with Kazakhstann, and the Yalu and Tumen Rivers with North Korea. Furthermore, this book sheds light on China's future role in global water governance.

China's territorial disputes with India have been a matter of debate since 1950s. While China has amicably resolved boundary disputes with twelve out of its fourteen neighbouring countries, it is yet to resolve its boundary disputes with India and Bhutan as also its maritime disputes in the South China Sea and East China Sea. This volume looks at the complex dynamics of India-China boundary disputes which remains unresolved. It is still the biggest challenge to the relations between the two countries. From the Indian perspective securing Arunachal and the Indus Watershed is highly important. From the Chinese point of view Karakoram and Xinjiang-Tibet road must be respected. Secondary issues have always occupied a central and pivotal focus in the relations between India and China. This work also shows how British efforts to secure a defined and natural boundary began immediately after the creation of Jammu and Kashmir in 1846 after Amritsar treaty. In the eastern sector such an effort began only in the first decade of twentieth century. Relevant documents have been presented which examines the role of bureaucrats, diplomats, generals and surveyors. It examines the treaties, conventions, correspondence as well as internal debates between changing British officials and their conflicting British policies. Nehru refused Chou En Lai in 1960, which in turn led to the unilateralism in Chinese attitude after 1962. The volume breaks new ground by evaluating the differing policies, and explains how a secured boundary can ultimately be agreed upon. Please note: Taylor & Francis does not sell or distribute the Hardback in India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka

In the last two decades, new political subjects have been created through the actions of the new social movements; often by asserting the unfixed and `overdetermined' character of identity. Further, in attempting to avoid essentialism, people have frequently looked to their territorial roots to establish their constituency. A cultural politics of resistance, as exemplified by Black politics, feminism, and gay liberation, has developed struggles to turn sites of oppression and discrimintion into spaces of resistance.
This book collects together perspectives which challenge received notions of geography; which are in danger of becoming anachronisms, without a language to articulate the new space of resistance, the new politics of identity.

Philosophy, Society and the Cunning of History in Eastern Europe charts the intellectual landscape of twentieth century East-Central Europe under the unifying theme of 'precariousness' as a mode of historical existence. Caught between empires, often marked by catastrophic historic events and grand political failures, the countries of East-Central Europe have for a long time developed a certain intellectual self-representation, a culture that not only helps them make some sense of such misfortunes, but also protects them somehow from a collapse into nihilism. An interdisciplinary study of this sophisticated culture of survival and endurance has been long overdue. Not only is it charming and worth studying in its own right, but with the re-integration of the 'new Europe' into the 'old' one and the emergence on the 'Western' European intellectual scene of many authors from the 'East,' such a culture will also shape the European mind of the 21st century. This volume decodes and explores this culture of 'precariousness' from the complementary angles of philosophy, political theory, intellectual history and literary studies. Expert contributors look at a wide range of topics, from philosophical martyrdom to collective suffering to geographical fatalism, and explore the works of key authors in the field including Cioran, Kolakowski, Kertesz, Bauman and Zizek. This book was originally published as a special issue of Angelaki: The Journal of the Theoretical Humanities.

Old powers are falling. New states are emerging. The gap between East and West is narrowing. Yet the developments in the Middle East and the Eastern Bloc, the increasing disparity between the rich and poor nations, and the intensification of economic competition between former political allies, pose new threats and tensions for a New World. An Introduction to Political Geography is entirely revised and updated, exploring political and geographic change within the same accessible framework. John Short emphasizes the need for a fluid approach to the study of the international order, the nation state, as well as social movements. He highlights the trend towards globalization, challenging the traditional integration of the world-systems approach. A new section on the political geography of participation looks at the concept of the global village, with its concerns for global justice and environmentalism. The author examines new centres of power, providing a background for discussion of current trends and future developments. He then focuses on the nation state, particularly the individual household and draws on detailed case studies to discuss social movements.

American territorial borders have undergone significant and unparalleled changes in the last decade. They serve as a powerful and emotionally charged locus for American national identity that correlates with the historical idea of the frontier. But the concept of the frontier, so central to American identity throughout modern history, has all but disappeared in contemporary representation while the border has served to uncomfortably fill the void left in the spatial imagination of American culture. This book focuses on the shifting relationship between borders and frontiers in North America, specifically the ways in which they have been imaged and imagined since their formation in the 19th century and how tropes of visuality are central to their production and meaning. Rodney links ongoing discussions in political geography and visual culture in new ways to demonstrate how contemporary American borders exhibit security as a display strategy that is resisted and undermined through a variety of cultural practices.

This book represents the first comprehensive study of the influential German legal and political thinker Carl Schmitt's spatial thought, offering the first systematic examination from a Geographic perspective of one of the most important political thinkers of the twentieth century. It charts the development of Schmitt's spatial thinking from his early work on secularization and the emergence of the modern European state to his post war analysis of the spatial basis of global order and international law, whilst situating his thought in relation to his changing biographical and intellectual context, controversial involvement in Weimar politics and disastrous support for the Nazi regime. It argues that spatial concepts play a crucial structural role throughout Schmitt's work, from his well-known analyses of sovereign power and states of exception to his often overlooked spatial history of modernity. Locating a fundamental relationship between space and 'the political' lies at the core of his thought. The book explores the critical insight that Schmitt's spatial thought bears on some of the key political questions of the twentieth century whilst tracking his profound and enduring influence on key debates on sovereignty, international relations, war and the nature of world order at the start of the twenty first century.

The Polar Regions is a systematic investigation of both the geopolitical commonalties and the differences between the Arctic and the Antarctic. It is the first book to integrate polar studies of this nature with teaching and research on political geography and geopolitics. Based on the premise that geopolitical isolation of the polar regions stands substantially eroded today, the book argues that the contemporary polar scene should be approached and understood in terms of its broader regional as well as global context. It also argues that in the 21st century the two polar regions will be increasingly valued not only for their intrinsic polar merits, but also for their contribution to an understanding of global problems. A critical evaluation of the promise and the performance of the Antarctic Treaty System is provided. The book also examines the ongoing debate about Antarctica, which underlines the need to look beyond the present agreement on the Antarctic and to address the geopolitical implications of it. By presenting studies of both polar regions, this book seeks to test assumptions about the new geopolitics and to evaluate the prospects of it in these regions. The text will be of particular interest to political geographers and specialists in international relations, but will also be an important text for students and researchers in political geography, environmental management and environmental politics.

This classic work is a comprehensive treatment of the world's political frontiers and boundaries, and includes sections on boundaries in the air as well as chapters treating the subject in a regional manner, covering the continets in terms of the evolution of boundaries.

This book examines the reciprocal relationships between geography and the policies of states. The text begins with a theoretical analysis which sets the study in the context of geography and related fields, and an analysis of certain global strategies advocated by geographers and others. The remainer of the book deals with policies of defence, development and administration.

This book is an outcome of the 26th international geographical union congress in Perth, Western Australia. It focuses on border landscapes, with emphasis on the varying impact that political decision-making and ideological differences can have on the environment at border locations.

This book surveys the development of geo-political thought in the twentieth century and relates it to international political developments, as well as examining how sound geopolitical theories are. It considers the work of Mackinder, Hartshorne, and Haushofer and his disciples in Germany who influenced the Nazis; and of more recent developments including Marxist geographical writing.