Running Head: Geography 1

Geography Assignment One

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 Geography 2

Question One

According to international political, EU has been declared as among the bid success

stories. In the past the different states in Europe dealt with each other by use of bayonets and

tanks unlike now that they are closely bound together through use of different interlocking laws

and institutions. This degree of sovereignty that is found among these different states is

considered as unprecedented in the current times and has contributed towards peace and

prosperity in Europe. Therefore Europe pursues its political integration through the institutional

and market means instead of warfare and territorial acquisition hence the EU creating a new type

of political entity in the global system which has tight linkages and political community and has

no signs of any future disintegration.

The EUs political innovation is against the economic requirements of both monetary

unions and single currencies whereby there has been no monetary union that has succeeded and

hasnt used the concurrent political union which includes the fiscal consolidation. Monetary

unions are considered as modern inventions which were invented in the nineteenth century and

spread fast across countries like Italy, the United States and Germany. Having rivalry of

multiple currencies has been seen as part of the broader state-building efforts whereby a single

national currency was used to help in prosecuting wars, building administrative capacity for a

particular political union and contributing in the construction of a national identity.

The Latin Monetary Union and Scandinavian Monetary Union tried to operate without

the support of political union and they fell apart within few years making it the reason as to why

the political union supports the monetary union. The difficult decisions that are formed due to

monetary issues are easily solved within the communities which are joined together by broader
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political solidarity. This contributed to the European Monetary Union status that its considered as

a central monetary authority which has no fiscal capacity and has relative weak set of political

institutions and identities.

The current economic status in Europe is seen as unsure, fragmented and does not give

the needed political foundation for the extensive institutional capacity building. Therefore,

through the lack of any proper consensus for the correct macroeconomic formula used in Europe

it has led to compromising any important progress in integration. The lack of price stability and

austerity have made impact towards the policy makers regardless deflation risks and increased

unemployment. The global leaders were seen flirting with the Keynesianism at the Group of

Twenty (G20) summit which was held in London in spring 2009 which made them favor the use

of more orthodoxy even though they were challenges facing the economy.

There has been lack of coordination across the political leadership in the European states

due to market pressures. Following the end of cold war and having generational change towards

leadership from a visceral commitment to the EU meant that Germany isnt taking part in

integration of postwar role with France. The European Union has been good to the realm because

it has provided a linkage of European states to work together across institution and political laws.

Question Two

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was established in 1922 and got dissolved in

1901 which was based under Marxist socialism. Until 1989 the communist party controlled all

the levels of government though indirectly; also the partys politburo governed the country

effectively whereby the general secretary was considered as the powerful leader. The soviet
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industry was owned and got managed by the state and the agricultural land was hence divided

into state farms, collective farms and into the small privately owned plots.

The collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989-91 has been declared in the West as triumph of

capitalism and democracy as if this event was as a result of the direct policies of the Reagan and

Thatcher governments. This analysis had little relationship to the measurable facts,

circumstances and towards internal political dynamics that were considered as the historical

causes for Soviet Union deterioration and Soviet state. Making fierce political speeches and

having tough diplomatic postures can make good theater although they are considered as

ineffective when it comes to political transformation which is proven by the powerful communist

countries in Cuba and East Asia which was meant to punish the trade embargos.

Around 1975, the Soviet Union got into a period of economic stagnation which was hard

for it to emerge from and therefore , the USSR considered Europe and West Germany to supply

hard currency that will help finance massive loans whereby US was the major supplier of grain.

In 1970, Ronald Reagan complained in a radio broadcast that the capitalist nations went ahead to

prop the intrinsically flawed Soviet regime instead of waiting for it to naturally collapse due to

its own inefficiency and inhumanity.

Regardless of the Soviet Union collapsing the Russian Federation continued being

governed according to its Soviet-era constitution. The president office was added also to political

structure of the Russian Soviet Federation Socialist Republic in 1991. Some of the political

issues due to different issues example the industrial interest which was considered as

constitutional conflicts, Yeltsins supporters argued that the ultimate power should be with the

president whereas his opponents stated that legislature was supposed to be sovereign. There was
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a personality clash that was evident between Yeltsin and parliamentary leadership which caused

the break that was between legislature and executive members.

The government major focus was financial stability and economic reform which made

them neglect the social needs of the public which attributed the growing battle that was between

the legislature and executive branches. During this period any parliament act that contradicted

the decree of president would be regarded as null and void. The new constitution vested the

president with powers whereby the president appointed the prime minister who was supposed to

be approved by Duma, which was the lower house of legislature and the president would order

decrees which were enforced by law as long as they didnt have any contradiction towards the

federal or constitutional law.

Question Three

Megalopolis can be defined as a very large, heavily populated urban complex which

consists of various large cities and also suburbs which adjoin each other. North America is near

the most direct sea route that is found between Europe and the productive plantations that are in

Caribbean colonies. The ports around where megalopolis grew in became convenient stopping

places and greatly contributed to formation of transoceanic trade and later on expanded rapidly

between the 18th and 19th centuries. The location of the core cities that was relative to the

countrys interior greatly contributed to the formation of America megalopolis in North America.

Having access routes to the interior majorly helped support the growth of trade between the cities

found in the North America.

Cities like found in North America their growth was due to the attention they got because

they had good-seized and good-quality agricultural places. Throughout Megalopolis, both urban
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forms and urban functions provide the most important regional unity towards the territory.

Having tall buildings, busy streets, crowded housing and industrial plants act as the cultural

opportunities which contribute to the formation of megalopolis in North America. There is high

population density in Megalopolis and also the settlement density tends to increase as the city is

approached until when the city core has increased high densities.

Having an increased number of urbanities have led to reduction of the disadvantages of

people living in the city and hence they have moved to residences in the suburban locations

although having the spread population hasnt done away with any disadvantages of clustering but

it has shifted the population facing them. Another key factor of formation of megalopolis is the

urban landscape whereby the cost used to move something is considered as directly proportional

to the distance which it must be moved. The importance that is contributed by the ability of

moving from one place to another across urban regions is seen with the high proportions of the

urban land which is provided to facilitate interaction.

Another major factor is the level of accessibility whereby having easy access between

various sections found in the urban areas have not been considered as being dominant factor in

the city organization and structure. Well the original street plans for the most cities that are found

in Megalopolis are supposed to follow the simple square or the rectangular grid pattern popular.

During the twentieth century the urban cities evolved as there was increase in population which

was far beyond the limitation in the cities which had a strong impact towards the rural activities.

This increase in population made most of the people to be fed through using foodstuffs which

were shipped from the rural areas. Those who took part in farming and the agricultural land that

were found close to the cities ended up specializing in foods that they highly priced and also in

products that were highly perishable. The lands that were found in the margins of the urban areas
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experienced dense population settlement and intense economic activity whereby the price of the

land rose up.

Question Four

The Middle America had a geographical realm which was located between the United

States and South America which consist of three main regions: the Caribbean, Mexico and

Central American republics. The fragmented realm consists of mainland countries from Mexico

to Panama and also the islands in the Caribbean and the continental land separates the North

America from South America. The realm contains the Americas territories that are least

developed in terms of GDP and capita rates whereby Mexico dominates the realm compared to

other countries both in terms of area, population and economic strength.

The economy in North America is generally poor: there is less space to cultivate hence

affecting the agriculture main sector although there are few activities that take place like growing

of coffee, bananas, limes and spices on some of the islands, the agriculture activities are still

dormant in this region. There is no diversification of industries in most regions and when prices

of commodities like sugar, coffee decline there is no other industries to look up to and hence it

becomes hard to promote the economic growth. Those regions that produce most crops are

majorly devoted to exporting the crops and hence they are faced with food deficit that affect

some islands like Jamaica and Haiti.

Soil erosion is also high and affects most of the places that should be used for cultivation

and is caused by deforestation and over cropping which it has become a major problem on some

islands like Jamaica and Haiti. In the near future, the agenda for developments in North

American integration are likely to become more limited as compared to the ambitions of
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Dobsons strategic bargain. The United States will mainly remain focused primarily towards

issues on security and energy policy and also have a bilateral agenda with Mexico on regards to

migration issues. Considering the trade initiatives, the three countries found in North America

will get to pay more attention, for the next few years, to the important wide initiatives in the

WHO and the Free Trade Area of the Americans.

If both WHO and FTAA negotiations tend to seize up or stall, then the North Americans

are likely to refocus its trade policy efforts on any immediate neighborhood. There is continuous

strong US interest towards the regional security and because of this the economic agenda and

trade should be given higher political profile which will lead to increase in prospects for ensuring

conclusions towards strategic bargain in North America. The main agenda include areas of the

federal jurisdiction which leads to the influences of the northern Border States which is muted on

conducting any trade issues. If it is acted right, the big northern states which include Washington,

Illinois, Michigan and New York would contribute to making a difference although there is little

evidence which would advocate for much deeper integration.

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References

David Laidler, W. B. (2007). No Small Change. The Awkward Economics and Politics of North

American Monetary Integration, 167.

Djankov, S. (2014). Inside the eurocrisis.

Habermas, J. (2012). The Crisis of European Union.

Laider, J. (2007). The Bulletin. East Asia's Arms Races, 18.

Peter O. Muller, H. J. (2008). Geography. realm, regions, and concepts, 188.

Wendy, D. (2008). Shaping the Future of North American. A framework for action, 162.