Political Geography
Yashar Zaki; Rasool Afzali; Mohammad Reza Hafeznia; MohammadReza Faraji
Abstract
Geographical space is a system composed of intertwined and interrelated natural, environmental and human factors and elements. These geographic factors sustain different values that adopt political, economic, cultural, security and geopolitical implications according to human needs and perceptions. The ...
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Geographical space is a system composed of intertwined and interrelated natural, environmental and human factors and elements. These geographic factors sustain different values that adopt political, economic, cultural, security and geopolitical implications according to human needs and perceptions. The effect of geographic factors on economics has always played a role in human life. These factors as the sources of power acquire a geopolitical nature when the countries use them in line with macroeconomic goals. The current study seeks to explain the geopolitical categories of economic power on the basis of the study of geographic factors affecting economic power. The main question of the research maintains what the geopolitical variables of economic power are. This study is based on a theoretical approach and explains the causal relationship between the dependent variable (economic power) and the independent variable (geopolitical variables). Information and data collecting are arranged in terms of library. The research method is descriptive-analytical. In response to the main research question, three types of geopolitical conceptual variables are explained which are influenced by geographic factors affecting economic power: ‘Geolocation’; ‘Geoculture’ and ‘Geotechnology’. Each of these conceptual variables includes several geographic factors influencing economic growth and development, which together determine the economic power of a country.
Yashar Zaki; Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf; Marjan Badiee Azandahi; Seyed Rahmatallah Mousavifar; Seyyed Mohammad Moghimi
Abstract
Introduction: Geographic factors make the political organization of space geographically. Each factor at any geographical scale, due to the level of power and to the extent that it utilizes various instruments appropriate to the level of sovereignty and power, leads to the political organization of space. ...
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Introduction: Geographic factors make the political organization of space geographically. Each factor at any geographical scale, due to the level of power and to the extent that it utilizes various instruments appropriate to the level of sovereignty and power, leads to the political organization of space. The global action circle represents the world's largest geographic scale. The question raised is how the global system, through which mechanisms and processes at the global level, makes political organization of space.Methodology: The research methodology of the present paper is based on the qualitative method and on the principles of analysis-explanation.Result and discussion: The global system, through structural and non-structural elements, leads to the political organization of space. Power is the driving force behind the global system for achieving its goals. The global system creates and strengthens the structural power of institutions and organizations. Institutions and organizations produce the rules and norms they need globally. All political units are required to observe the laws and regulations of the world system and, in the event of non-compliance of political units and countries, these rules are faced with the violent power of global powers. Through discourse, global powers differentiate themselves from countries that they dislike for the global order and punish them through violent power or sanctions.Conclusion: In the end, global powers, with the backing of institutions, laws, regulations, norms and production discourses, legitimize their actions on the global stage.
bagher ghalibaf; Marjan Badiee; Yashar Zaki; Mosayeb Gharehbeygi
Abstract
After the four decades, the Islamic Republic of Iran has used political and economic models that has left special influences in the geographical space of Iran according to the political thought embedded in it. However, the common point of all spatial patterns in the Islamic Republic of Iran has been ...
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After the four decades, the Islamic Republic of Iran has used political and economic models that has left special influences in the geographical space of Iran according to the political thought embedded in it. However, the common point of all spatial patterns in the Islamic Republic of Iran has been activism within a completely centralized pattern. The increasing concentration of affairs in centralized political-spatial units causes shortcomings and inadequacies that disrupt the spatial distribution of justice and development at the same time; Because the political-spatial units that make up countries have a different and heterogeneous set of natural-human elements and factors. Hence, the issue of the form and process of spatial distribution of power in such units has always been a fundamental concern of geographers. Iran, as a political-spatial unit, has also struggled with the functional patterns of power distribution. In this regard, the present study with a descriptive-analytical method has investigated the feasibility of using the semi-centralized model of local government for the optimal distribution of power within the judiciary and security in Iran. The results show that by doubling the spatial distribution of power in Iran into two parts of local affairs and governance, a logical framework for the application of each of these two parts emerges. In judicial affairs, organizations such as the Registry of Deeds and Property, the Organization of Prisons and Security-Training Measures, the Center for Dispute Resolution Councils, and the Forensic Medicine Organization have an increasing capacity to delegate to local governments due to their service-welfare nature. In the field of security, the categories and organizations in the police force, such as the Passport Office, the Public Service Organization, categories of the Preventive Police and the Traffic Police, due to the preventive nature and services can be Delegate local affairs representatives.
Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf; Abbas Ahmadi Kerch; Yashar Zaki; ehsan lashgari Tafreshi; morteza razavinezhad
Abstract
Abstract
The spatial distribution of political-executive power in countries has different patterns with its weaknesses and strengths. In Iran, a centralized simple model is used; This type of system caused the national unity and cohesion of the country in the first decade of the ...
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Abstract
The spatial distribution of political-executive power in countries has different patterns with its weaknesses and strengths. In Iran, a centralized simple model is used; This type of system caused the national unity and cohesion of the country in the first decade of the Islamic Revolution, but now, it seems has gradually become an effecting deterrent factor for the country's progress and development due to extensive changes and transformations. The main question of this research is what are the most important disadvantages that a centralized simple system has caused to the country? And what is the severity of these? Based on the finding of this study conducted in the descriptive-analytical method with the participation of 185 academic and executive elites of the country, 10 thematic axes were identified and prioritized as the most important disadvantages of a centralized simple system. These were assessed in a one-sample t-test. The main disadvantages of the centralized simple system in the country are, Neglecting the requirements of local characteristics (t:33.00); neglecting of legal and legislative capacities (t:24.00), inefficiency of administrative-bureaucratic system (t:24.00), spatial injustice and unbalanced development (t:23.00), incomplete participation of people in Local Government Office (t:23.00), non-segregation of activities and responsibilities (t:22.00), irresponsibility, lack of belonging sense and accountability of local officials (t:22.00), pressure on the central government (t:21.00), Lack of development of parties(t:16.00), Continuation of authoritarian and flattering political culture (t:14.00). It seems that the Islamic Republic of Iran has to pay enough attention to these disadvantages in order to progress and develop faster. It has to smooth the way for the excellence of society by changing the level of concentration in the context of a decentralized simple system.
yashar zaki; Hasan Karimi; Mohamad bagher Ghalibaf; Javad Etaat
Abstract
The Mediterranean region is located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, where considered as the prelude to the rivalry between the East and the West, the conflict between the Arab countries and Israel, and the confrontation between the developing and industrialized countries on both sides of the ...
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The Mediterranean region is located on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, where considered as the prelude to the rivalry between the East and the West, the conflict between the Arab countries and Israel, and the confrontation between the developing and industrialized countries on both sides of the sea. One of the most important geopolitical regions of the Mediterranean area is the eastern Mediterranean. Syria, Lebanon, and occupied Palestine are considered as Iran's "geopolitical core" in the eastern part of Mediterranean Sea. Iran as one of the important regional actors has paid special attention to the eastern Mediterranean Sea since 1980. The question is what effects does the eastern Mediterranean area could have on Iran's geopolitical territoriality in southwest Asia? In response, it can be said that the Eastern Mediterranean has an important place in the geopolitical realm of Iran in Southwest Asia and its leadership over the Islamic world. The findings of this study indicate that the position of the Eastern Mediterranean on the Mediterranean coast, proximity to the Straits of Gibraltar and Suez, the presence of Shiite minorities in Syria and Lebanon, the only countries close to Iran in the adoption of regional and global policies, complement Iran's geopolitics in dominating the central part of the Islamic world, the Iranian-Iraqi energy route to Europe, and Iran's embankment against Israel are important geopolitical factors that justify Iran's regional policy in the eastern Mediterranean. Therefore, it can be said that the geopolitical territorialization of Iran in the eastern Mediterranean is a realistic matter and in line with the national interests of Iran.
bagher ghalibaf; Seyyed Abbas ahmadi; Yashar Zaki; faramarz azimi
Abstract
As the capital and largest city of Tehran, the metropolis of Tehran needs more efficient and efficient management. In the wide range of managerial proposals, centralized to decentralized approaches, the semi-centralized governance model is proposed and claimed. On the other hand, considering that the ...
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As the capital and largest city of Tehran, the metropolis of Tehran needs more efficient and efficient management. In the wide range of managerial proposals, centralized to decentralized approaches, the semi-centralized governance model is proposed and claimed. On the other hand, considering that the spatial distribution of power is the focus of changes that the semi-centralized model with its transformation will determine the possibility of transition to efficient management of Tehran, the present study, relying on it, tries to examine the spatial distribution of power. And its practical priorities in this metropolis. The main topic of this article is to present the priorities of spatial distribution of power for the management of the city of Tehran with a semi-centralized approach. In this regard, the main question of the research is that in the transition from the current centralized to semi-centralized model, the spatial distribution of power in Tehran, with what characteristics can be presented in the four dimensions of executive, judicial, legislative and security? In response to the main question of the research, the hypothesis is that "it seems that the separation of governance from local affairs in four dimensions: executive, judicial, security and legislative, is the most important priority of spatial distribution of power for governing Tehran in a semi-centralized model." . The research method is quantitative and, according to the purpose, practical and problem-solving type, and library and field methods have been used to collect information. The statistical population of this study includes 44 faculty members in the field of political geography at Tehran universities and senior managers of Tehran Municipality, whose minimum university degree is master's degree and sampling method, snowball and questionnaire measuring tool. The research findings provide the most important priorities of the Tehran city administration based on a semi-centralized approach with a focus on the spatial distribution of power in the legislative, executive, judicial and security dimensions of the metropolis of Tehran.
Javad Etaat; Yashar Zaki; Hassan Karimi
Abstract
Extended Abstract
Introduction
The Nile plays a key role in the economies of Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia, and is a major driver of competition between them. Despite the competition between the three countries, they had no challenge until the early 1990s. But since then, as a result of increasing ...
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Extended Abstract
Introduction
The Nile plays a key role in the economies of Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia, and is a major driver of competition between them. Despite the competition between the three countries, they had no challenge until the early 1990s. But since then, as a result of increasing demand, the competition for the Nile water rights increased as a result of the Ethiopian government's move to build the Renaissance Dam in 2011. This descriptive-analytical study explores the impact of the Nile hydropolitics on geopolitical relations between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. The findings of this study indicate that colonial conventions, the lack of a proper mechanism for water division, population growth, agricultural and industrial development in the Nile Basin, the construction of the Renaissance Dam in Ethiopia, and finally the involvement of foreign powers have caused the Nile Basin became an area of hydropolitical competition between the beneficiary countries. Consequently, due to the insistence of the upstream countries on the fair share of the Nile water, the Nile Hydropolicy will create the “geopolitical confrontation” among the three countries.
No country can maintain its political, economic and social stability without having sufficient water. Due to population growth and the development of industries, freshwater resources and access to them has become a "geopolitical crisis" in some countries. A striking example is a dispute between the three states of Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt over the water right from the Nile River. Although there are about eleven countries, locating along the Nile River route and each complaining about its share of water, the largest disagreement on how to exploit the Nile is among the mentioned three countries as they do not use the same amount of water from the Nile. The highest level of water from the Nile is consumed by Egypt and Sudan. In recent years, issues such as population growth and the urgent need for water for domestic and agricultural use have led Ethiopia to demand a fair share of the Nile water. Therefore, in 2011, Ethiopia started constructing the Renaissance Dam, which will have negative consequences for the downstream countries.
Method
This theoretical study employs a descriptive-analytical method. The data are collected using a library technique from different books, articles, first-hand references, and valid internet resources. The study explores the impact of the Nile hydropolitics on geopolitical relations between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia. Accordingly, it is hypothesized that the Nile has placed Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia on the verge of a geopolitical confrontation.
Results and Discussion
Heterogeneous rainfall distribution contributes to the irregular distribution of freshwater worldwide, with 40 percent of the world’s land mass being located in North Africa, Australia, and the Middle East, which holds only 2 percent of the world's freshwater resources. The war on water is one of the most repetitive events in history, and the likelihood of it happening again in the future has increased. A striking example is the dispute between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia over the exploitation of the Nile and the construction of dams on it. The need for water for consumption and agriculture led to the conclusion of the agreement on the exploitation of the Nile between Britain and Italy in 1920, whereby about 48 billion cubic meters of water entered Egypt annually and about 4 billion cubic meters were Sudan's share. The proposal to build a major dam in Aswan revealed the necessity of revising the 1929 agreement. As a result, another agreement was signed for the full exploitation of the Nile water, whereby Egypt received 55 billion m3 of water annually, while Sudan received a share of 18.5 billion m3. After many years of exploiting Egypt, the Britain turned to Sudan and Ethiopia in the upper part of the Nile in order to produce more cotton and wheat. Dam construction on the Nile continued nonstop, but peaked in the 1960s, with a greater number of dams built on the Nile by Sudan and Ethiopia. Such a process was not pleasing to Egypt in the Lower Nile and led to the construction of the Aswan High Dam in 1970 by Egypt.
Since the mid-1990s, a result of the growing demand for new irrigation schemes, population growth, and a higher standard of living, the competition for the Nile water rights increased, resulting in the 1999 Nile Basin Initiative Agreement, which later on proved to be ineffective, followed by another agreement, known as Entebbe Agreement, between Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. But Sudan and Egypt refused to sign the agreement, saying their rights had been ignored in the agreement.
In 2011 amid protests by the Nile Basin countries, the Ethiopian government began the construction of a dam that was strongly opposed by Egypt and Sudan that believed exploiting this dam is a Renaissance in Ethiopia, but it is beginning to ruin them. Egypt has a pessimistic view of its construction and regards it almost like a barrier to its boom. In contrast, Sudan is less concerned. Although the dam has made 60% physical progress, its operation is still undecided because of its threat to Egypt and its destructive effects on human and agricultural life.
Conclusion
Although competition for water use between Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia continued in the following decades, as a result of the increasing demand for water, the competition for the Nile water rights has intensified from the 1990s onward especially when the Ethiopian government started the construction of the Renaissance Dam in 2011. The Egyptians believed that the construction of the dam would damage their country. But Ethiopia considered the fair exploitation of the Nile as its natural right, and the negotiations between the two countries so far have not yielded a positive result. Thus, if the upstream countries insist on a fair share of Nile water, it will cause significant damage to Egypt's drinking, agriculture and tourism water and to some extent to Sudan.
Yashar Zaki; Kiomars Yazdanpanah Dero Yazdanpanah Dero; Gholamali Mostafavi
Abstract
Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
As a Muslim state with a democratically elected national parliament and a political process having admitted and internalized special scope of differences of opinions, Turkey is a suitable place for the assessment of spatial dynamics and convergence of aforementioned ...
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Extended Abstract
1. Introduction
As a Muslim state with a democratically elected national parliament and a political process having admitted and internalized special scope of differences of opinions, Turkey is a suitable place for the assessment of spatial dynamics and convergence of aforementioned relations through electoral geography research. In 2002, untimely elections of Turkish parliament were held in the wake of protest against the senility of the prime minister of the time that led to the resignation of over the half of the MPs. In these elections, the newly founded AKP party became victorious. After the soft coup of Turkish army against Islamist government of Necmettin Erbakan in 28 February 1998 and his resignation known as postmodern coup, AKP party under Receb Tayyib Erdogan which is a branch of Welfare and Virtue Party could get the command of power in Turkey in 2002.
2. Theoretical Framework
"Analysis of overt manifestations of elections and political strategies amongst dynamics of the world of economy" is one of the ways to study electoral elections. By this definition, electoral geography studies the patterns of political elections applied in the structural limits of local knowledge and experience of global forces. Electoral geographers attempt to explain how national and global processes in regional and local spatial location intervene to identify "special regional districts of elections" and analyze "the geography of political responses". Geographers collectively maintain that the voters are simultaneously influenced by the thorough scope of materialist, social and religious experiences, and study the manners in which the reasons converge in different ways and in different places with different historical backgrounds. Moreover, they consider this as important to analyze the patterns of political elections which are in turn the determinant of such issues as the combination of national, regional, and local assemblies.
3. Research Method
From the perspective of methodology, the current study is descriptive-analytic and the method of obtaining data and information is based on the study of available books, articles, and publications in Persian, English, and Turkish. Also, the statistics regarding the elections are obtained by referring to Turkey's Supreme Election Headquarters portal.
4. Findings and Discussions
Politically, the government in Turkey is parliamentary republic and ideologically, it is secular. There are several types of elections such as parliamentary elections, presidential elections, and municipal elections. Parliamentary elections are held every four years to elect 550 members of the parliament by direct votings of people. According to the current electoral system in Turkey, a party should obtain 10 percent of the national votes to win the required seats in the Turkish Grand National Assembly. An untimely election in Turkey in 2002 which is interpreted as the political quake or so-called as “Public Coup by Ballot Boxes” was the onset of the formation of a one-party authoritarian system after 42 years. In this election, AKP quite recently could establish the state with the majority of votes. Lack of trust of voters in coalition government and fluctuation of the parties away from their responsibilities were among the factors affecting the results of the elections in favor of AKP in that run. In this run of elections, AKP achieved the majority of votes from 53 provinces from central and Northern provinces and some parts of the southern provinces. The election of 2007 was held in precocious time due to the dissolution of the cabinet by Erdogan. The reason for that was the annulment of the votes for the representative of the ruling party by the court constitution to run for the 11th Presisdential Election. In this election, AKP was victorious and it could achieve the controlling command of the government, parliament and presidency. The election of 2011 was indicative of the decisive triumph of AKP and the development of secularism. This party could delimit the power of bueacracy which was the ruling power for half a century. Moderative policy of AKP, reconstructing Islamic Identity, domestic reforms, successful foreign policy, economic performance, strengthening of new non-state actors in Turkish political arena, the decline of Kamalist ideology and raising identity crisis in Turkey, and finally the non-corrupt personel of APK party were all the reasons affecting the continuity of its ruling power until 2011.
5. Conclusion
The formation of three regional blocs and the reduction of parties in Turkish Parliament makes one decide that the elections between the years 2002-2011 could be ascribed as “Critical Elections”. The three regional blocs specified in the Electoral Geography of Turkey refer to the probable gaps in the Turkish politics. The first probable gap is the issue of religion. The inhabitants of the coastal provinces voted for CHP just because they thought religions should be kept and practiced as personal. The people living in the central inland provinces voted for AKP just because they thought they should support religion as a factor playing role in people’s social life. The second probable gab might be the gap between the Kurd and the Turk peoples. This is more prevalent in the south-eastern provinces within which Kurdish parties were far successful. The third probable gap is between the regions supporting long-lasting parties in office and regions supporting the new parties or the ones with the slightest opportunities. This is more salient especially where the differences between coastal and inland regions matter. The investigation of above-mentioned parliamentary elections indicates that AKP could establish a one-party government without coalition with other parties. In the three runs, AKP could gain the majority of votes in central Anatolia and regions neighboring the Black Sea. CHP could win the majority votes of the western regions of Marmara, Aegean Sea, and Mediterranean Sea which are mainly industrial places. Kurdish parties also could attain more supporters in the eastern and south-eastern regions.
Fatemeh Mirahmdariadi; Yashar Zaki
Abstract
Extended abstract
1. Introduction
Post-modernism is amongst those paradigms that has recently penetrated into many fields with its theoretical innovations and critical streams. As an academic field of study, political geography has been undoubtedly influenced by this movement. Within the field of political ...
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Extended abstract
1. Introduction
Post-modernism is amongst those paradigms that has recently penetrated into many fields with its theoretical innovations and critical streams. As an academic field of study, political geography has been undoubtedly influenced by this movement. Within the field of political geography, ostmodernism has mostly affected geopolitics, shaking most of its basic assumptions which has, accordingly, made a fundamental re-conceptualization essential. By reviewing the intellectual and philosophical foundation of postmodern geopolitics, the present article attempts to determine what topics are included in the study of postmodern geopolitics.
2. Methodology
This study is of theoretical-fundamental type with a descriptive-analytic research methodology. Given the nature of selected subject matter, required information was collected through library and internet research, meaning that the data were extracted from books and articles and then classified for more qualitative analysis.
3. Results and Discussion
In order to understand the nature of postmodern geopolitics, one should first know its intellectual and philosophical foundation. Postmodern topics within the field of political geography and geopolitics have been influenced by general postmodern discussions in social sciences as well as human geography itself. “Post-modernism”, in general, refers to some criticisms related to the project of modernism and also a break from it; and stands as a rebellion against the modern rationality and modernist epistemology. It is difficult to write about postmodernism or postmodern turn; because it is almost impossible to find an uncontroversial definition for the word ‘postmodern’. Nonetheless, there are two general perceptions of postmodernism. First, the perception of postmodernism in a linguistic-cultural-philosophical context based on which postmodernism, more than anything, is the rejection of grand narratives and epistemologies of modernity. This understanding of postmodernism, which has gradually been intermingled with post-structuralist, post-colonialist, and feminist views, is determined by deconstructive, textual-lingual, and discourse approaches and is often considered as skeptic to metanarratives. The second perception of postmodernism deals with changes of the world itself and provides necessary cognitive tools for exploring these changes. Such changes as globalization of many economic processes, technology revolution, spatial dissemination of certain consumption models, fragmentation of cultures, emergence of myriad political and cultural issues, victory of flexible accumulation regime in capitalism, and debilitation of governments’ sovereignty are considered as the closure of one era and emergence of a new ‘postmodern’ society and culture. Postmodernity, in this understanding, is deemed to be a new stage in the development of capitalism and a production of the change of global capitalism. Thus, postmodernism examines the changes created under the influence of global capitalism change.
4. Conclusion
There is no general consensus regarding the “postmodern geopolitics”. However, two general routes can be recognized in postmodern geopolitics; first, skepticism towards metanarratives; and second, studying the consequences of undermining the modern geopolitical imagination. In the former approach to postmodern geopolitics, resulting from perception of postmodern in a cultural-linguistic-philosophical context, geopolitics is deconstructed. Accordingly, classical geopolitical theories are considered as metanarratives and discourses within them the reality are produced and phenomena have become meaningful. These theories as a kind of language game, shaped by theorists in the light of a specific discourse in a specific period of time, are skepticized and deconstructed. Therefore, postmodern geopolitics haunts the reality beyond discourses and metanarratives and is interpreted as the negation of essentialism, foundationalism and certainty in geopolitics. This approach has been intermingled with and absorbed into post-structuralist, post-colonialist and feminist views. The second understanding of postmodern geopolitics deals with studying the consequences of undermining the modern geopolitical imagination and recent phase of capitalism development. In that regard, in their geopolitical analyses, political geographers address such issues as: space of streams and deterritorialization due to time-space compression and its consequences for geopolitical analyses, governance crisis, importance of time factor and such topics as infopolitics and chronopolitics, importance of scale factor and internal continuity of spatial scales instead of focusing on the unique and singular scale, collapse of expectations of enlightenment and its consequences for such issues as meaning and objective of nation-state, established territorialization and technical-scientific advance within a fixed international order, and postmodern spaces.
