A Geopolitical Tour of the World
Summary
TLDRDiese Video-Tour führt Sie durch die komplexen geopolitischen Situationen auf unserer Welt. Von der Bedeutung der Prime Meridian in Großbritannien über die kontroversen Autonomien in Spanien und Russland bis hin zu den Spannungen im Nahen Osten und Afrika. Es beleuchtet auch die Besonderheiten der EU, die Vielfalt der Karibik und die einzigartigen Fälle wie das Königreich der Niederlande. Eindrucksvoll zeigt es, wie Grenzen oft nicht die Realität widerspiegeln und die Notwendigkeit, hinter die politischen Landschaften zu blicken.
Takeaways
- 🌍 Die Prime Meridian durchquert Greenwich, England, wo die Briten die Zeit erfanden.
- 🏴 Großbritannien besteht aus vier Ländern: England, Wales, Schottland und Nordirland.
- 🏁 Nordirland hat keine offizielle Flagge, da die Bevölkerung uneins ist, ob sie britisch bleiben oder mit dem Rest von Irland vereinigen soll.
- 🏴 Schottland hat eine bedeutende Unabhängigkeitsbewegung, insbesondere nach dem Brexit.
- 🇩🇰 Die Färöer-Inseln und Grönland sind beide autonome Gebiete Dänemarks mit einer ähnlichen Bevölkerungszahl von etwa 50.000.
- 🇪🇺 Die Europäische Union (EU) ist eine wirtschaftliche und politische Union von 27 europäischen Staaten, nach dem Austritt des Vereinigten Königreichs aus der EU.
- 🇪🇺 Das Schengen-Raum ist ein Gebiet der freien Reise innerhalb der EU, aber nicht alle EU-Mitglieder sind Teil dieses Raums.
- 🏰 Vatikanstadt ist ein kleines, unabhängiges Staatchen, das von Italien umschlossen wird, aber kein Mitglied der Vereinten Nationen.
- 🏴 Kataloniens Unabhängigkeitsbewegung hat eine kontroverse Abstimmung durchgeführt, die von Spanien nicht anerkannt wurde.
- 🇪 Gibralter ist eine britische Überseeterritorien, die von Spanien beansprucht wird.
- 🇷 Der Kosovo ist ein selbsternanntes, teilweise anerkanntes Staat, der größtenteils von Serbien kontrolliert wird.
Q & A
Warum gibt es zwei unabhängige Länder auf der Insel Irland?
-Die Insel Irland ist in die Republik Irland und Nordirland aufgeteilt. Die Republik Irland umfasst den größeren Teil der Insel, während Nordirland zu den vier konstituierenden Ländern des Vereinigten Königreichs gehört.
Warum hat Nordirland kein offizielles Flaggensymbol?
-Nordirland hat kein offizielles Flaggensymbol, weil seine Bevölkerung uneins ist über die Frage, ob sie britisch bleiben oder mit dem Rest von Irland vereinigt werden sollte.
Was versteht man unter den Färöischen Inseln und Grönland, und was verbindet sie?
-Die Färöischen Inseln und Grönland sind beide autonome Gebiete Dänemarks. Sie haben ungefähr die gleiche Bevölkerung von etwa 50.000 Menschen, obwohl Grönland in Bezug auf Größe und Bevölkerungsdichte stark von den Färöern abweicht.
Was ist der Schengenraum und wie funktioniert die Freizügigkeit innerhalb dieses Raums?
-Der Schengenraum ist ein Bereich der freien Reise innerhalb der EU, bei dem teilnehmende Länder Grenzkontrollen abgeschafft haben. Nicht alle EU-Mitglieder sind Teil dieses Raums, und einige Nicht-EU-Mitglieder sind es.
Warum gibt es unterschiedliche Ansichten über die Unabhängigkeit von Katalonien?
-Katalonien ist eine der 17 autonomen Gemeinschaften Spaniens, und viele Katalanen haben seit einem Jahrhundert für die Unabhängigkeit von Spanien gekämpft. Ein Unabhängigkeitsreferendum, das gegen den Willen Spaniens durchgeführt wurde, ergab 92% für die Unabhängigkeit, aber diejenigen, die in Spanien bleiben wollten, boykottierten die Abstimmung, was die Gültigkeit des Ergebnisses in Frage stellt.
Was ist der Hintergrund des Namensstreits zwischen Griechenland und Nordmazedonien?
-Der Name Makedonien ist ein großes geografisches Gebiet, das größtenteils in Griechenland liegt und nach dem antiken griechischen Königreich Makedonien benannt wurde. Griechenland war nicht einverstanden, als sein Nachbar 1991 als 'Republik Mazedonien' unabhängig von Jugoslawien erklärte. Nach 28 Jahren wurde das Land schließlich in 'Republik Nordmazedonien' umbenannt.
Wie wurde die Annexion der Krim durch Russland 2014 international wahrgenommen?
-Die Annexion der Krim durch Russland aus der Ukraine 2014 wurde von der internationalen Gemeinschaft und der Vereinten Nationen nicht anerkannt. Sie betrachten die Halbinsel weiterhin als Teil der Ukraine.
Was ist die Situation in Zypern, und wie entstand sie?
-Zypern ist in der heutigen Zeit geteilt zwischen der Republik Zypern und der nicht anerkannten Türkischen Republik Nordzypern. Diese Teilung entstand nach interethnischen Gewaltakten zwischen Griechen und Türken auf der Insel in den 1960er Jahren, kurz nachdem Zypern unabhängig von Großbritannien wurde.
Was ist die aktuelle Situation in Westsahara, und welche Länder sind involviert?
-Westsahara wird größtenteils von Marokko kontrolliert, aber es wurde auch als die unabhängige Sahrawische Arabische Demokratische Republik von der indigenen Rebellengruppe Polisario Front proklamiert. Spanien, das die Region einst kolonisierte, zog 1976 zurück und teilte die Region zwischen Marokko und Mauretanien auf, wobei Letzteres die Region heute nicht mehr beansprucht.
Wie entstand die Situation in Somaliland, und warum gibt es在那里 eine dauerhafte Unruhe?
-Somaliland wurde einst von Großbritannien kontrolliert, während der Rest von Somalia von Italien verwaltet wurde. 1960 wurden beide zu einem neuen unabhängigen Staat vereint. Nach dem Ausbruch eines Bürgerkriegs 1991 erklärte Somaliland seine Unabhängigkeit, was zu einer anhaltenden Unruhe führte.
Outlines
🌐 Einführung in die geopolitische Landschaft
Der erste Absatz stellt die Reise durch die Welt und die Diskussion verschiedener geopolitischer Themen wie Streitigkeiten, Besonderheiten und Komplexitäten vor. Es wird erwähnt, dass einige der behandelten Themen bereits in separaten Videos ausführlicher behandelt wurden. Die Reise beginnt am Prime Meridian in Greenwich, England, und führt durch die komplexe Beziehung zwischen dem Vereinigten Königreich, Nordirland und der Republik Irland. Es wird auch auf die unterschiedlichen Bezeichnungen von 'Großbritannien', 'Vereinigtes Königreich' und 'England' eingegangen, sowie auf die Unabhängigkeitsbewegungen in Schottland nach dem Brexit. Ferner werden die Kronbesitzungen Isle of Man, Jersey und Guernsey sowie die autonomen Gebiete der Dänen, die Faröer- und Grönlandinseln, besprochen.
🇪🇺 Die Europäische Union und ihre Mitglieder
Der zweite Absatz konzentriert sich auf die Europäische Union (EU), eine wirtschaftliche und politische Union von 27 europäischen Staaten, die durch den Verlust des Vereinigten Königreichs durch den Brexit reduziert wurde. Es wird auf den Schengenraum und die Eurozone eingegangen, wobei nicht alle EU-Mitglieder in diesen Bereichen teilnehmen. Es wird auch auf die historischen und aktuellen Beziehungen verschiedener europäischer Länder zu ihren überseeischen Gebieten hingewiesen, einschließlich Frankreichs in Südamerika und der kleinen Inseln nahe Madagaskar. Der Absatz erwähnt auch die besondere Stellung des Vatikanstadtstaates und die Unabhängigkeitsbestrebungen Kataloniens in Spanien, die zu einem unklaren und kontroversen Referendum geführt haben.
🏰 Geografische und politische Spannungen in Europa
Der dritte Absatz behandelt die Balkanregion, die durch historische und gegenwärtige Konflikte geprägt ist. Es wird auf die kontroverse Unabhängigkeitserklärung von Kosovo und die Namensstreitigkeit zwischen Griechenland und Nordmazedonien eingegangen. Weiterhin werden die geopolitischen Situationen in Russland, einschließlich der Annexion der Krim und der Sonderstellung des Kaliningrad-Oblast, erörtert. Die Situationen in Georgien mit den unabhängigkeitsstrebsenden Regionen Abchasien und Südossetien sowie die geteilte Insel Zypern werden ebenfalls thematisiert, ebenso wie die Diskussion um die Western Sahara und die Unabhängigkeitsbestrebungen von Somaliland.
🕌 Komplexitäten im Nahen Osten und Asien
Der vierte Absatz widmet sich der komplexen geopolitischen Landschaft des Nahen Ostens, einschließlich der israelisch-palästinensischen Frage, der Situation in Syrien und Irak, der Unabhängigkeitsbewegung der Kurden in Nordirak und der Situation in Jammu und Kaschmir. Es wird auch auf die chinesischen Gebiete Tibet, Hongkong und Taiwan eingegangen, sowie auf die besondere politische Situation Nord- und Südkoreas. Der Absatz schließt mit einer Erwähnung der kontroversen Bezeichnungen für Myanmar und der heiklen Lage im Südchinesischen Meer, das von mehreren Ländern beansprucht wird.
🌎 Überblick über Amerika und die Antarktis
Der letzte Absatz befasst sich mit den geopolitischen Besonderheiten in Amerika, einschließlich der Karibik, wo es unabhängige Nationen, europäische Kolonien und Gebiete sowie eine Teil-Columbiens gibt. Es wird auf die besonderen Beziehungen der Niederlande zu ihren karibischen Inseln eingegangen. Der Absatz erwähnt auch die Falklandinseln, die von Großbritannien beherrscht und von Argentinien beansprucht werden. Schließlich wird auf die Antarktis eingegangen, die trotz der vielen Länder, die Ansprüche darauf erheben, durch den Antarktisvertrag vor neuen Ansprüchen und militärischer Nutzung geschützt ist.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Geopolitik
💡Autonome Gebiete
💡Europäische Union (EU)
💡Schengenraum
💡Unabhängigkeitsbewegungen
💡Annexion
💡Exklaven
💡Territoriale Streitigkeiten
💡Souveränität
💡Konfliktlösung
Highlights
探索世界的地缘政治之旅,讨论全球的争议、奇特之处、复杂性以及值得关注的事情。
本视频从“世界中心”本初子午线开始,解释了英国在1884年如何发明时间。
介绍了英国和爱尔兰的复杂关系,包括北爱尔兰的地位和爱尔兰岛的分裂。
澄清了“大不列颠”、“联合王国”和“英格兰”之间的区别,并强调了苏格兰的独立运动。
讨论了英国的王室属地,如马恩岛、泽西岛和根西岛,它们是英国的但不属于联合王国。
描述了丹麦的两个自治领土,法罗群岛和格陵兰,以及它们的相似之处。
介绍了欧洲联盟(EU)和申根区,以及它们与欧盟成员国的关系。
讲述了梵蒂冈城国的地位,以及它与意大利的关系。
分析了西班牙的加泰罗尼亚地区独立运动的历史和现状。
讨论了直布罗陀的历史和它作为英国海外领土的地位。
解释了巴尔干半岛的复杂关系,包括科索沃的地位争议。
讲述了北马其顿和希腊之间长达近三十年的命名争议。
描述了俄罗斯吞并克里米亚半岛的情况,以及国际社会的反应。
介绍了俄罗斯的加里宁格勒州,它的历史和与俄罗斯本土的隔离。
讨论了格鲁吉亚的阿布哈兹和南奥塞梯两个有争议的独立地区。
讲述了塞浦路斯岛的分裂情况,包括北塞浦路斯土耳其共和国和联合国缓冲区。
描述了非洲的西撒哈拉地区的争议,包括摩洛哥的控制和撒哈拉阿拉伯民主共和国的主张。
讨论了索马里兰的独立运动和它与索马里的复杂关系。
概述了中东地区的复杂局势,包括以色列、巴勒斯坦和耶路撒冷的地位问题。
讲述了叙利亚内战的起因和影响,以及它对邻国的溢出效应。
讨论了伊拉克的持续冲突,包括ISIS的兴起和库尔德人寻求独立的情况。
介绍了查谟和克什米尔地区的争议,包括印度和巴基斯坦的领土争端。
描述了中国的西藏、香港和台湾的复杂政治情况。
讲述了朝鲜和韩国的历史和现状,包括朝鲜战争和两国的分裂。
讨论了亚洲其他地区的争议,如缅甸(缅甸)和南中国海的领土争端。
简要提及了澳大利亚和太平洋地区的情况,包括夏威夷和法属波利尼西亚。
概述了美洲的情况,包括北美和南美的地理政治,以及加勒比地区的复杂性。
讨论了福克兰群岛的争议,包括英国和阿根廷的主权主张。
介绍了南极洲的领土主张和南极条约,以及它对科学研究的意义。
强调了地缘政治的复杂性和迷人之处,并鼓励观众通过观看纪录片来了解更多。
提供了CuriosityStream订阅信息,鼓励观众通过该平台观看更多纪录片。
Transcripts
Hello and welcome to ‘A geopolitical tour of the world’. In this video I’m going
to take you on a guided journey around the globe, talking to you about some disputes,
oddities, complexities, or just some things that are good to be aware of in this complicated
planet we live on. Some of the things I’ll be talking about, I already have entire videos
on, if you want a deeper understanding.
We’ll start at the “centre of the world”, the prime meridian, which goes through Greenwich,
England. This is because that’s where the British invented time in 1884.
Here we have two independent countries: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland. The country of Ireland comprises the majority
of the island of Ireland, while the northern part, called Northern Ireland, is 1 of the
4 constituent countries of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland doesn’t really have an
official flag because its population doesn’t exactly agree on whether they should remain
British or unite with the rest of Ireland. The other 3 constituent countries are in Great
Britain and surrounding minor islands… Scotland, England, and Wales.
Some people use the terms “Great Britain”, “United Kingdom”, and “England” interchangeably…
but please don’t. Us Scots really don’t appreciate it. In fact, many Scots don’t
want to be part of the UK. Despite an unsuccessful referendum in 2014, there’s still a very
sizable independence movement. Even more so since Brexit.
So just remember… Great Britain: an island, the UK: an independent country made up of
4 non-independent countries… and England: one of those 4 countries.
Oh, and there’s also the Isle of Man, Jersey, and Guernsey. Which are British, but not part
of the UK for some reason. They’re referred to as Crown Dependencies.
Okay we really need to move on, lots to cover. If we go into the icy north, we find the Faroe
Islands, and Greenland. Two places that you wouldn’t think have much in common, but
they do, they’re both Danish. They’re both autonomous territories of Denmark. And
despite the immense difference in size between the two, they actually both have a similar
population of around 50,000. Unsurprisingly, Greenland is one of the least densely populated
parts of the world. The island is literally ¾ ice.
Now moving onto land with a more… hospitable climate: mainland Europe. First thing to talk
about is probably the European Union, an economic and political union of 27 European States.
It used to be 28, but, y’know Brexit.
The EU has what’s called “the Schengen Area”, an area of free travel, in which
participating countries have abolished border controls. Not ALL members of the EU are part
of this area, and also some non-EU members ARE. Same with the Eurozone, a monetary union
in which all countries use a shared currency, the Euro. 19 of the 27 members are part of
the Eurozone. 4 countries have agreements with the EU to officially use the Euro despite
not being part of the EU, and then two others just sort of decided that they wanted it too,
without any agreement in place.
Now given how much Europeans loved conquering the world for a few centuries, there are plenty
of parts of European countries, outside of Europe. Like the large part of France in South
America, or smaller islands off the coast of Madagascar. Of course, I won’t be able
to cover them all.
Just a quick mention about the Vatican City, which is considered a country (the smallest
in the world, entirely surrounded by Italy), but is NOT a member of the United Nations…
although it is an observer State.
Okay, to Spain next. This region here is called Catalonia, it’s one of the 17 “autonomous
communities” of Spain. Many Catalans have been fighting for independence from Spain
over the last century, with things picking up over the last decade. Catalonia sought
permission from Madrid to hold an independence referendum. Spain said no. Catalonia said
they’ll do it anyway. Spain said “wait no that’s illegal”. But they did it anyway.
The result was 92% in favour of independence, BUT everyone who wanted to remain part of
Spain just boycotted the vote, so it doesn’t really count.
The President of Catalonia later declared independence… sort of? It was all very confusing
and nobody really knows what happened. Catalonia is still part of Spain, though, and their
former president is currently living in self-imposed exile in Belgium.
On the southern coast of the Iberian peninsula, there’s Gibraltar, an overseas British territory,
which was ceded from Spain about 300 years ago. And just across the Mediterranean, there
are a couple of parts of Africa that are still part of Spain.
Alright, what’s next… ah yes, the Balkans. This is a part of Europe in which everyone
hates each other. Probably the biggest point of contention is the self-declared, partially-recognised
State of Kosovo. Or the autonomous Serbian province of Kosovo, depending on your viewpoint.
The province declared its independence in 2008, after a war with Serbia a few years
earlier, in which Kosovo received military support from NATO. The population of Kosovo
is prodimently Albanian.
As well as this, there was also the near 3-decade naming dispute between Greece and Mace-- uh,
North Macedonia, as it’s now called. Basically Macedonia is a large geographic region, much
of which is in Greece, and was named as such after the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon.
So Greece wasn’t too happy in 1991 when their neighbour declared independence from
Yugoslavia as the “Republic of Macedonia”. Due to Greek objections, the country was referred
to as “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” in diplomatic organisations like the UN. After
28 years the insanity was finally ended and the country was renamed the “Republic of
North Macedonia”. But I’m pretty sure neither side was really happy with the outcome
and they both still hate each other.
On to Russia now. This is the Crimean Peninsula. It was annexed by Russia from Ukraine in 2014
after a referendum of... questionable legitimacy. It was only actually part of Ukraine for about
half a century, since it was transferred to Ukraine while both were Soviet Republics.
Western governments and the UN do not recognise the annexation, and still consider the peninsula
to be part of Ukraine. Nothing has actually been done about it, though.
One more part of Russia that’s good to be aware of, is this small exclave here called
the ‘Kaliningrad Oblast’. It was originally part of the German state of Prussia, but the
Soviet Union claimed it after the Allies’ victory in WWII… and then after the fall
of the Soviet Union it became completely cut off from the rest of Russia..
Now travelling to Russia’s southern border with Georgia. Georgia has a somewhat precarious
political situation, as it has not one, but TWO parts of the country that have declared
their independence – Abkahzia, and South Ossetia. Both States have control over the
areas they claim, however they very much lack international recognition. Both States declared
their independence in the 1990s with backing from Russia. There was even a brief war over
the dispute between Georgia and Russia in 2008. No prizes for guessing how that turned
out…
Next we’ll take a trip down to the Mediterranean, to the beautiful summer getaway of Cyprus.
The political situation here though, is a bit ugly. The island is currently divided
between the country of Cyprus, and the unrecognised Turkish republic of Northern Cyprus. There’s
a UN buffer zone separating the two political entities that was established after the inter-ethnic
violence between the Greeks and the Turks of the island erupted in the 1960s, shortly
after Cyprus became independent from the UK. There was a Greek coup, followed by Turkish
invasion, and it all got very messy. Oh, and there’s also some British bases on the island.
I guess the strategic location was just too valuable to give up…
Moving further south and onto Africa. Probably the most noticeable geopolitical dispute in
Africa is an area known as Western Sahara. The region is claimed (and mostly controlled
by) Morocco. But the region has also been proclaimed as the independent country of the
Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, by the indigenous rebel group the Polisario Front, which started
off by fighting against Spanish colonial rule in the 1970s.
In 1976, Spain just sort-of noped out of the whole situation, and divided the region between
Morocco, and another neighbouring country, Mauritania, who also claimed the region at
the time... but not anymore.
On the opposite coast of Africa, we have Somaliland. Which, once again, is a dispute caused by
the Europeans. Somaliland was controlled by the British, while the rest of what is today
the country of Somalia, was controlled by Italy. In 1960 the two were joined to make
a new, independent country. Somaliland declared independence in 1991, and a civil war has
been ongoing ever since.
Now moving onto the Middle Eas-- oh ****... (SIGH) Why am I doing this?!
Okay, so it is quite literally impossible to give any kind of explanation of what the
hell is going on here in just a couple of minutes. So just keep in mind everything I
say here is going to be way oversimplified.
Before the beginning of the currently ongoing situation, this area was called Palestine,
and was under British administration. In 1948, the United Nations passed a resolution to
partition the land between Jewish and Arab communities. The descendants of these Arab
communities, in this region and in refugee camps nearby, are what we today call Palestinians.
After the resolution was passed, the State of Israel was declared. This led to the first
of several wars with its neighbors, in which Israel was often fighting against most (or
all) of them at once. Territory in this region has bounced back and forth between different
countries and organizations MANY times. Today, Israel is also in control of the Golan Heights,
which it captured from Syria in 1967.
Now, as well as Israel, we also have the State of Palestine, declared in 1988, which is a
partially-recognised state, with observer status at the United Nations. Its claimed
territory is the West Bank, in which an interim division agreement was reached with Israel
in the 90s, as well as the Gaza strip, which has actually been controlled by Hamas since
2007, a Palestinian political party, and variously described as a terrorist organization.
Things are even more complicated in Jerusalem, an ancient city with profound significance
to Jews, Muslims, and Christians. This city is fully controlled by Israel but claimed
by both groups as their capital - though with different parts of the city being claimed
by each group.
On top of all of this, there’s the issue of Israeli settlements, which we don’t have
time to get into and I’d really like to move on now please…
Staying in the Middle East, there’s the situation in Syria, in which a devastating,
multi-sided civil war has been ongoing for nearly 10 years now. This began with a series
of anti-government protests, part of the broader movement known as the Arab Spring, which were
violently suppressed. The conflict is one of the bloodiest of the 21st century, and
has spilled over to several neighbouring countries.
There’s also the situation in Iraq. There is still ongoing conflict that stemmed from
the US-led invasion in 2003 to topple the government of Saddam Hussein. With ISIS having
mostly lost their territory in Iraq, the violence has continued in the form of an insurgency,
featuring several rebel groups. ISIS was defeated in the civil war with help from the Kurds,
a distinct ethnic group in northern Iraq that is seeking independence. The people overwhelmingly
voted in favour of independence, but the Iraqi government deemed the referendum illegal.
Alright, let’s move east of the… Middle East, and onto the Indian subcontinent, where
we find the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir. Basically, this area was a “Princely State”
of India while under British control, and in 1947 when India was divided into India
and Pakistan, disagreements about which country to join caused conflict, and a de facto partition
of the region that remains unresolved to this day. Around here, there’s also several territorial
disputes between India and China along their extensive border. All of which are controlled
by China.
And speaking of China, there’s plenty here to talk about, too. We’ve got Tibet, Hong
Kong, Taiwan… and probably much more that we don’t have time for.
So, Tibet. Tibet is an autonomous region of the People’s Republic of China. The Tibetan
people are ethnically distinct from the Han Chinese majority, but the area has been under
Chinese control for 300 years. However, when imperial rule in China came to end with the
fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1912, Tibet experienced a few decades of de facto independence. This
is when China became a republic for the first time. However, when a civil war broke out
between the government and a communist rebellion, the communists won, and proclaimed the People’s
Republic of China. The new communist government annexed Tibet in 1951, albeit with resistance
from Tibet’s 8,000-strong army.
Now, that civil war that was won by the communists… the losing side, the Republic of China, didn’t
just disappear. In fact, this brings us to our next stop, Taiwan. This is where the republican/nationalist
government fled to in 1949. While this country is commonly referred to as “Taiwan”, its
name is actually unchanged to this day, the Republic of China.
China still views Taiwan as part of its territory, despite the People’s Republic never having
any jurisdiction over the island in their history. Taiwan has its own government, president,
military, etc etc.. and is just like any other country in most ways. However, given how powerful
China is, officially acknowledging Taiwan means China cutting all ties, both diplomatic
and, more importantly, economic. Taiwan is not a member of the UN, but plenty of countries
have unofficial relations with Taipei.
There’s also Hong Kong, which is part of China, but has a special administrative status,
under the so-called “one China, two systems” policy. Mass protests took place throughout
much of 2019 when a controversial extradition bill was proposed. Even after the bill was
withdrawn, protests continued for full democracy, with a list of 5 demands. Protesters were
often subject to police brutality and arrest.
Hong Kong used to be British until 1997, when it was transferred back to China, with a 50-year
agreement that Hong Kong would not be subject to mainland China’s economic system. Literally
no-one knows what will happen in 2047 when this agreement expires.
Closeby, there’s also North and South Korea. Korea had been annexed by Japan in 1910, but
then with the Japanese defeat in WWII, the peninsula was to be… temporarily divided.
The Soviet Union controlled the north, and the United States the south, with the plan
to unify Korea into one country. Buuuut then the Cold War happened and suddenly the two
countries controlling Korea hated each other, and were less willing to cooperate. There
was a 3-year war which didn’t really accomplish much except massive casualties on both sides…
North Korea is the most isolated country in the world, with its population unable to leave,
and with little knowledge of the outside world. North Korea has nuclear weapons though, hence
the lack of intervention...
Elsewhere in Asia to be aware of… there’s a country that nobody really knows what to
call it – Burma or Myanmar. And there’s also the South China Sea, which is the most
disputed part of the entire planet. Claimed by like.. 40 countries of something. Probably.
Where do we go from here… uh, we can probably just skip over Australia and all that down
there, they’re pretty chill, not too much to talk about. Let’s instead, go all the
way across the Pacific Ocean, which is mostly empty except for Hawaii which is part of the
United States but has a Union Jack on its flag for some reason.
So now we’re in the Americas. North and South America. Although some people, especially
from Latin America, refer to them as one continent… America, singular. However, English speakers
generally use this word to refer to the country, the United States.
There’s plenty going on in the Caribbean. There are 13 independent nations, most of
which no-one has ever heard of, as well as European colonies and territories, and also
a random part of Colombia. Cool flag though. Oh, and Puerto Rico, that wants to awkwardly
add a 51st star to the American flag.
A particularly peculiar case is with a bunch of Dutch islands… Aruba, Curaçao, and Sint
Maarten, which are actually countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, making up
4 constituent countries, along with the Netherlands itself. Somewhat similar to the UK. But then
within the constituent country of the Netherlands, there are 3 more Caribbean islands, Bonaire,
St Eustatius, and Saba. Here’s a Venn diagram to help you out.
Elsewhere in the Americas… there’s the Falkland Islands. British Islands with British
people, who near-unanimously voted to remain a British territory, but for some reason Argentina
claims them as their own. They even fought a brief war in 1982 when Argentina invaded
the islands… but this only happened because a dictator was trying to distract his people
from the country’s failing economy.
Let’s see, what else. Well, there’s Antarctica. Which is mostly just ice and snow, but hey,
it’s land, so countries will try to stick a flag in it and claim it as their own. Because
why not at this point. There are various claims to the continent, some of which overlap, as
well as some unclaimed land, but it’s all mostly irrelevant because of the Antarctic
Treaty. This treaty has suspended all new claims, guarantees freedom for scientific
exploration, and a ban of all military activity.
Sometimes when we look at the world, the lines on a map don’t fully do justice to the situation
on the ground. You often have to look beyond the borders and see what lies beneath. Geopolitics
can be both complicated and fascinating in equal measure, and it’s always good to know
what’s going on in the world.
A great way to keep yourself informed is by watching documentaries on CuriosityStream.
An online streaming service with thousands of titles on science, technology, history,
lifestyle, and so much more. I recently watched a great documentary about tsunamis, and how
scientists are trying to learn more and more about them to help better prepare for future
disasters.
You can start watching for just 2.99 a month by signing up at CuriousityStream.com/wonderwhy.
With your subscription, you’ll also get access to Nebula - a streaming service for
independent creators. Nebula has a lot of original content, such as the multi-creator
series, Working Titles, a series dedicated to TV shows with great opening title sequences.
Recently I made an episode about the greatest sitcom of all time. Go check it out!
Again, that’s CuriousityStream.com/wonderwhy. Thanks so much for watching, see you next
time.
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