Challenges to State Sovreignty (College Board AP® Human Geography)

Autonomous Regions

• Devolution occurs when states fragment into autonomous regions 

  • Autonomous regions are subnational political units which exercise a degree of self-government in their area but are not independent 

  • Examples of autonomous regions occur in: 

    • Spain (Catalonia and Basque Country)

    • Belgium (Flemish and Walloon regions)

    • Canada (Nunavut) 

  • Balkanization refers to the fragmentation of a region into smaller, often ethnically distinct units

    • An example of balkanization was the breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, where ethnic groups like Serbs, Croats, and Bosniaks were involved in violent conflict

Image: The breakup of Yugoslavia

Impact of Advances in Communication Technology

• Advances in communication have facilitated devolutionary actions

  • Internet technology can be used to 

    • spread a group’s message

    • attract new members

    • communicate with the outside world

  • Social media is used to help groups organize protests and communicate quickly

  • Videos taken can show abuse by government forces

• Advances in communication can also facilitate democratization

• Media and internet technology can bring outside information to people who live in autocratic countries

• Communication technology makes it easier for groups to send information and get support from outside groups

• States can also use technology to spread their propaganda to populations by taking control of the media

Supranationalism

• Several states forming an organization to achieve common goals and benefits for all member states is referred to as supranationalism 

  • Supranational organizations are generally political, military, economic, or environmental

  • These organizations usually require states to give up some sovereignty by limiting the independent political or economic actions member states can take

Supranational Organizations

Economic supranationalism

• Economic supranationalism refers to multiple states joining together to form an alliance or organization to increase economic growth and cooperation 

  • Examples of economic supranational organizations include 

    • the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)

    • the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)

    • North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)

    • European Union (EU)

Military supranationalism

• Military supranationalism refers to military alliances between countries, generally formed for mutual defense

  • The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an example of a military supranational organization

Political supranationalism

• Political supranationalism refers to the process of multiple countries uniting for common, larger goals

  • The United Nations (UN) is an example of a political supranational organization

Environmental supranationalism

• Environmental supranationalism refers to the establishment of institutions that aim to address environmental issues that affect multiple countries

  • The Paris Climate Accords is an example of an environmental supranational organization 

Impacts of supranational organizations

• Membership in a supranational organization can limit the independent actions of individual states as states have to give up some aspects of their sovereignty to gain membership

  • For example, membership in NATO would require a country to send their troops to take part in a joint military activity

  • Member countries belonging to the European Union must adopt the Euro as their currency and give up some independent policies regarding currency and trade