Geopolitics, Territory & Security

Module code: 7SSG5090
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 40
Semester:  Full-year 


Aims

• To introduce students to the history of politically organised space and the territorial origins and characteristics of the Westphalian state system.
• Review the changing manner in which political geography and geopolitics have covered the questions of international boundaries and state territory over time – from traditional deterministic concerns, through the humanisation of borderland studies to deterritorialisation, reterritorialisation and postmodernity.
• Develop a familiarisation with the methods by which territory may be acquired in international law.
• Gain a working knowledge of the principles, problems and practicalities involved in ocean boundary-making.
• Appraise students of the various debates existing in political and international studies over the importance of international boundaries and state territory.

Learning outcomes

• Appreciate the potential contradictions existing between the European-derived system of delimiting state territory by linear boundaries and non-European concepts of sovereignty/non-Western notions of social and spatial organization.
• Apply a range of classifications, typologies and interaction models from political geography that will aid understanding of individual international boundaries and borderlands and allow for comparative analysis.
• Understand the interrelationship between the concepts of territory, sovereignty and jurisdiction in international law and its implications for the conduct of international boundary disputes.
• Evaluate the potential maritime zone generating capacity of various coastal and insular features.
• Gauge the extent to which boundary and territorial disputes are used to symbolise wider differences between states.

Module code: 7SSG5002
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20
Semester:  Semester 1 (autumn) 

This module enables students to derive a greater understanding of the relationship between methodology and method and the related notions of epistemology and ontology. The module is a mix of lectures and tutorials and enables students to develop skills in the appropriate use and application of quantitative and qualitative methods, which will have been worked through in tutorial sessions. The module lays the conceptual groundwork for the design of the dissertation and enables students to appreciate the connections between epistemology and the students particular programme of study.

Module code: 7SSG5153
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20
Semester:  Semester 2 (spring) 

The aim of this module is to provide students with an appreciation of the theoretical and empirical links between geographical theories and insights and the phenomena of terrorism; facilitiate understanding by students of the spatiality of the phenomena of terrorism and geographical perspectives on understanding the root causes of terrorism; enable students to develop a critical awareness of the role of spatial organisation, spatial strategies of power and spatial discourses in influencing the pattern of terrorism by state and non-state actors and encourage critical reflection on counter terrorism approaches and how might strategic interventions at the discursive and policy level, help reduce vulnerability to terrorist acts in addition to confronting the root cause of terrorism.

Module code: 7SSG5092
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20
Semester:  Semester 2 (spring) 

This module enables students develop a critical awareness of how the presence (real or rumoured) of natural resources may affect the alignment and alter the status of international boundaries on land and sea. Develop an appreciation of the issues involved in the conduct and management of international river disputes (both successive and divided international rivers). Review the manner in which the presence and location of hydrocarbons have affected the drawing of land and maritime boundaries and promoted the outbreak and resolution of associated disputes. Unravel the complexities of current resource and territorial disputes in the Caspian Sea, Gulf of Guinea, Persian Gulf and South China Sea. Promote an awareness of the range of international disputes in existence over the resources of the sea (primarily fishing and other environmental issues).

Module code: 7SSG5091
Credit level: 7
Credit value: 20
Semester:  Semester 1 (autumn) 

This module introduces students to contemporary and historical mechanisms for boundary territorial dispute resolution. Provide a practical understanding of the manner in which the World Courts gain jurisdiction to try territorial/boundary disputes and of the manner by which they have resolved them to date. Facilitate an appreciation of the range of underlying issues that characterise contemporary individual territorial disputes, from complex issues of decolonisation, through partition and secession to attempted annexation. Review in detail recent cases of international boundary settlement on land and sea, reached through remodule to bilateral negotiations, arbitration or judicial settlement and appreciate the arguments, principles and evidentiary issues that prevailed. Provide a basic familiarity with the types of primary evidence used in boundary territorial settlement before the international courts, typically documentary and cartographic materials held in the major London repositories.