Political Power and Territoriality

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to (per CED LO PSO-4.C):

• Describe how political power is expressed geographically as control over people, land, and resources (per EK PSO-4.C.1).
• Identify and define the three CED-named illustrations of political power: neocolonialism, shatterbelts, and choke points (per EK PSO-4.C.1).
• Define territoriality as the connection of people, their culture, and their economic systems to the land (per EK PSO-4.C.2).
• Identify a current example of each of the three power patterns and explain why each illustrates political power.
• Apply Skill 5.B: explain spatial relationships of political power across various scales using neocolonialism, shatterbelt, or choke point concepts.

Per CED EK PSO-4.C.1, "political power is expressed geographically as control over people, land, and resources, as illustrated by neocolonialism, shatterbelts, and choke points." Per CED EK PSO-4.C.2, "territoriality is the connection of people, their culture, and their economic systems to the land."

Three dimensions of political power

The CED lists three things that political power controls: people (population, labor, citizenship), land (territory, borders, resource extraction), and resources (oil, minerals, water, food, strategic technology). Most major geopolitical conflicts involve at least one of these three. The control is rarely absolute — even the most powerful state cannot fully control its own population without consent, or fully extract resources without local cooperation — but the geographic expression of power is always over some combination of the three.

Territoriality (Robert Sack, 1986)

Per CED EK PSO-4.C.2, territoriality is the connection of people, their culture, and their economic systems to the land. The concept comes from geographer Robert Sack's Human Territoriality (1986). Territoriality emphasizes that territory is not just physical space but a meaningful, defended, and culturally invested area. A nation's homeland, an indigenous community's traditional lands, an urban gang's neighborhood turf, and a corporation's market area are all forms of territoriality at different scales.

Per CED EK PSO-4.C.1. Memorize all three names plus one example of each.

Per CED EK PSO-4.C.2, "territoriality is the connection of people, their culture, and their economic systems to the land." The CED's wording is precise: territoriality is connection, not just occupation. A people who have lived on a piece of land for generations, developed a distinctive culture there, and built economic systems adapted to that land have territoriality with it — even if they do not currently hold sovereign control.

Three forms of territoriality

The connection between people and land takes different forms depending on scale. National territoriality is the homeland claim of a nation (Polish territoriality with Poland, Han Chinese with the historical Chinese heartland). Indigenous territoriality is the deep cultural and economic connection between an indigenous people and their traditional lands, often surviving even after legal sovereignty has been lost (Aboriginal Australians, Native Americans, the Sami of Scandinavia). Local territoriality shows up at neighborhood and community scale (gang turf, community land trusts, urban village identity).

Four cases that show neocolonialism, shatterbelts, choke points, and territoriality in action.

West Africa · CFA Franc Neocolonialism

14 African countries use CFA franc; pegged to euro

The CFA franc, used by 14 former French colonies in West and Central Africa, has historically been pegged to the French franc and then the euro, with monetary policy partly controlled by France. Critics call this textbook neocolonialism: nominal independence (since the 1960s) but ongoing French monetary control. Reform efforts continue.

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Ukraine · Shatterbelt Position

Caught between EU/NATO west and Russia east

Ukraine sits in a classic shatterbelt position between European/NATO influence to the west and Russian influence to the east. Internal political tensions between pro-EU western Ukraine and Russian-leaning eastern regions reflect this external pressure. The 2014 conflict and 2022 invasion are the violent expression of shatterbelt geopolitics.

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Egypt · Suez Canal Choke Point

~12% of world trade; ~30% of container traffic

The Suez Canal is one of the world's most important choke points, connecting the Mediterranean and Red Seas. About 12% of global trade and 30% of container traffic passes through it. The 2021 Ever Given grounding (six-day blockage) cost the global economy ~$10 billion. Egypt's control of the canal is a major source of geopolitical and economic leverage.

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Australia · Aboriginal Territoriality

~3% of land returned via native title since 1992

Aboriginal Australians demonstrate territoriality without continuous sovereignty: their connection to country (a specific traditional area) survived ~225 years of British and Australian rule. The 1992 Mabo decision and Native Title Act recognized that pre-existing Aboriginal connection to land had legal force, returning ~3% of Australia to indigenous title. Territoriality made visible in modern law.

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1. Per EK PSO-4.C.1, political power is expressed geographically as control over people, land, and resources. Pick one current geopolitical conflict and identify which of the three (people, land, resources) is most contested. Are all three usually intertwined?
2. Neocolonialism is a contested concept. Critics argue it accurately describes ongoing economic dependency; defenders argue it overstates the agency of former colonizers and understates the agency of newly independent states. Pick one specific case and argue both sides.
3. Shatterbelts emerge when multiple powerful neighbors compete over a region. The Cold War made Eastern Europe a shatterbelt. Are there contemporary regions that fit the shatterbelt pattern? What makes the Caucasus, the Middle East, or Ukraine fit (or not fit) the model?
4. Choke points (Hormuz, Malacca, Suez, Panama, Bosporus, Bab el-Mandeb) give the controlling state disproportionate power. What happens when a choke point is closed by accident (Suez 2021) or by intent (Iran-Hormuz threats)? What does this say about global supply-chain vulnerability?
5. Per EK PSO-4.C.2, territoriality is the connection of people, culture, and economy to land. Indigenous communities often demonstrate territoriality without sovereignty. How does international law (UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, 2007) recognize this kind of territoriality?

Draft alignment — pending educator review. AP HG codes correspond to the official College Board Course and Exam Description (Effective Fall 2020, V.1). Statements below are paraphrased in CountryReports' own voice; refer to the College Board's published CED for verbatim wording.

AP® and Advanced Placement® are registered trademarks of the College Board. The College Board was not involved in the production of this material and does not endorse it. Standards statements above are paraphrased; codes refer back to the official College Board CED, the NCSS C3 Framework, the Common Core State Standards, and other cited frameworks.