A Geopolitical Tour of the World

Aug 9, 2023

A Geopolitical Tour of the World

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A Geopolitical Tour of the World

Some of the topics I discuss I already have entire videos on:
Macedonia:    • Macedonia Naming Controversy Explained
Catalonia:    • Catalonia Independence Referendum Exp…
Cyprus:    • The Unsinkable Aircraft Carrier: Cypr…
Taiwan:    • Is Taiwan a Country or Part of China?
Western Sahara:    • Understanding Western Sahara

Music by Epidemic Sound: http://epidemicsound.com/creator

Content

0 -> hello and welcome to a geopolitical tour

2.22 -> of the world in this video I'm going to

4.11 -> take you on a gated journey around the

6.06 -> globe talking to you about some disputes

8.04 -> oddities complexities or just some

10.23 -> things are good to be aware of and this

11.88 -> complicated planet we live on some of

14.94 -> the things I'll be talking about I

15.96 -> already have entire videos on if you

18.029 -> want a deeper understanding we'll start

20.609 -> at the centre of the world the prime

22.74 -> meridian which goes through Greenwich

24.42 -> England this is because that's where the

26.76 -> British invented time in 1884 here we

31.529 -> have two independent countries the

33.51 -> United Kingdom of Great Britain and

34.98 -> Northern Ireland and the Republic of

36.93 -> Ireland the country of Ireland comprises

39.57 -> the majority of the island of Ireland

41.579 -> while the northern part called Northern

43.8 -> Ireland as one of the four constituent

46.26 -> countries of the United Kingdom Northern

48.719 -> Ireland doesn't really have an official

50.37 -> flag because it's population doesn't

51.96 -> exactly agree on whether they should

53.52 -> remain British or unite with the rest of

55.44 -> Ireland the other three constituent

57.48 -> countries are in Great Britain and

58.92 -> surrounding Manor Islands Scotland

60.899 -> England and Wales some people use the

63.449 -> terms Great Britain United Kingdom and

65.369 -> England interchangeably but please don't

67.619 -> as a Scottish really don't appreciate it

69.81 -> in fact many Scots don't want to be part

71.97 -> of the UK despite an unsuccessful

73.77 -> referendum in 2014 there's still a very

76.32 -> sizable independence movement even more

79.409 -> so since breaks it

81.38 -> so just remember Great Britain and

84 -> England the UK and independent country

86.729 -> made up of four non independent

88.35 -> countries and England one of those four

90.81 -> countries oh and there's also the ale of

93.509 -> mine Jersey and Guernsey which are

95.729 -> British but not part of the UK for some

98.34 -> reason they're referred to as chrome

100.32 -> dependencies okay we really need to move

103.259 -> on lots to cover if we go into the AC

105.75 -> north we find the Faroe Islands and

107.79 -> Greenland two places that you wouldn't

110.22 -> think have much in common but they do

112.32 -> they're both Danish they're both

114.689 -> autonomous territories of Denmark and

116.82 -> despite the immense difference in size

118.89 -> between the two they actually both have

121.049 -> a similar population of around 50,000

123.89 -> unsurprisingly Greenland is one of the

126.03 -> least densely populated parts of the

128.16 -> world the åland is literally

129.869 -> three-quarters ace now moving on to line

133.23 -> with

133.56 -> more hospitable climate mainland Europe

136.26 -> first thing to talk about is probably

138.36 -> the European Union an economic and

140.4 -> political union of 27 European states it

143.58 -> used to be 28 but you know breaks it and

146.55 -> the EU has what's called the Schengen

149.04 -> area an area of free travel in which

151.17 -> participating countries have abolished

152.58 -> border controls not all members of the

155.37 -> EU are part of this area and also some

157.29 -> non EU members are same with the euro

160.08 -> zone a monetary union in which all

161.97 -> countries use a shared currency the Euro

164.12 -> 19 of the 27 members are part of the

166.86 -> euro zone four countries have agreements

169.11 -> with the EU to officially use the euro

170.73 -> despite not being part of the EU and

172.5 -> then two others just sort of to say that

175.049 -> they wanted it to without any agreement

177.09 -> in place they're given how much

179.43 -> Europeans loved conquering the world for

181.47 -> a few centuries that are plenty of parts

183.36 -> of European countries outside of Europe

185.61 -> like the large part of France and South

187.769 -> America are smaller islands just off the

190.08 -> coast of Madagascar of course I won't be

192.48 -> able to cover up them all just a quick

195.12 -> mention about the Vatican City which is

197.4 -> considered a country the smallest in the

199.38 -> world entirely strange by Attlee but is

201.66 -> not a member of the United Nations

203.19 -> although as an observer state okay to

206.94 -> Spain next this region here is called

209.28 -> Catalonia it's one of the 17 autonomous

211.859 -> communities of Spain many Catalans have

214.5 -> been fighting for independence from

215.819 -> Spain over the last century with things

217.859 -> really picking up over the last decade

219.959 -> Catalonia saw permission from Madrid to

222.389 -> hold an independence referendum spin

224.519 -> said no Catalonia said they'll do it

226.56 -> anyway spin said we know that's illegal

228.389 -> but they did it anyway

230.04 -> the result was 92 percent in favour of

232.319 -> Independence but everyone who wanted to

234.81 -> remain parts being just boycotted the

236.94 -> vote so it doesn't really count the

239.519 -> president of Catalonia later declared

241.35 -> independence

242.1 -> soare of it was all very confusing and

244.829 -> nobody really knows what happened

246.12 -> Catalonia is still popping though and

248.489 -> the former president is currently living

250.139 -> in self-imposed exile and Belgium on the

253.709 -> southern coast the Iberian Peninsula

255.06 -> there's Gibraltar an overseas British

257.82 -> territory which was ceded from Spain

259.53 -> about three hundred years ago and just

261.329 -> across the Mediterranean there's a

263.34 -> couple of parts of Africa they're still

265.2 -> part of Spain

267.09 -> arrey what's next is the Balkans this is

270.79 -> a part of Europe in which everyone hates

272.5 -> each other probably the biggest point of

274.75 -> contention as the self-declared

276.13 -> partially recognized state of Kosovo or

279.13 -> the autonomous Serbian province of

281.05 -> Kosovo depending on your viewpoint the

283.6 -> prophets declared its independence in

285.07 -> 2008 after a war with Serbia a few years

288.04 -> earlier in which Kosovo received

289.75 -> military support from NATO the

292.03 -> population of kosovo is predominantly

293.98 -> albanian as well as this there is also

297.13 -> the near three-decade naming dispute

299.08 -> between Greece and massa

300.73 -> North Macedonia as it's now called

302.83 -> basically Macedonia is a large

304.96 -> geographic region much of which is in

306.88 -> Greece and was named as such after an

308.89 -> ancient Greek kingdom of macedon so

311.68 -> Greece wasn't too happy in 1981 when

313.72 -> their neighbor declared independence

315.01 -> from Yugoslavia as the Republic of

316.69 -> Macedonia due to Greek objections the

318.82 -> country was referred to as the Former

320.56 -> Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and

322.33 -> diplomatic organizations like the UN

324.04 -> after 28 years the insanity was finally

327.13 -> ended and the country was renamed the

328.75 -> Republic of North Macedonia but I'm

331.18 -> pretty sure neither side was really

332.68 -> happy without calm and they both still

334.39 -> hate each other on to Russia now this is

337.63 -> the Crimean Peninsula it was an expelled

339.79 -> from Ukraine and 2014 after a referendum

342.76 -> of questionable legitimacy it was only

346.39 -> actually part of Ukraine for about a

347.83 -> half a century since was transferred to

349.72 -> Ukraine while both were Soviet republics

352 -> Western governments and the UN do not

354.31 -> recognize the annexation and still

356.2 -> considered the peninsula to be part of

357.7 -> Ukraine nothing has actually been done

359.83 -> about it though one more part of Russia

362.68 -> that's good to be aware of is the small

364.45 -> aids clade here called the Kaliningrad

366.37 -> Oblast

367.27 -> it was originally part of the German

369.1 -> state of Prussia but the Soviet Union

371.08 -> cleaned it after the Allies victory in

372.76 -> world war ii and then after the fall of

375.01 -> the soviet union that became completely

376.87 -> cut off from the rest of russia

378.96 -> traveling to Russia's southern border

381.22 -> with Georgia Georgia has a somewhat

384.01 -> precarious political situation as it has

386.29 -> not one but two parts of the country

388.42 -> that have declared their independence of

390.22 -> cassia and South Ossetia both states

393.55 -> have control over the ADHD claim however

395.74 -> they very much lack international

397.75 -> recognition both states declared during

399.82 -> the payment

400.439 -> in the 1990s with backing from Russia

402.539 -> there was even a brief war over the

404.279 -> dispute between Georgia and Russia in

406.019 -> 2008 no prizes for guessing how that

408.779 -> turned out

410.269 -> next we'll take a trip down to the

412.349 -> Mediterranean to the beautiful summer

414.239 -> getaway of Cyprus the political

416.939 -> situation here though as a bear ugly the

420.059 -> Ale it is currently divided between the

421.769 -> country of Cyprus and the unrecognized

423.419 -> Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus the

426.779 -> zun buffer zone separating the two

428.639 -> political entities that was established

430.349 -> after the inter-ethnic violence between

431.969 -> the Greeks and the Turks of the åland

433.469 -> erupted in the 1960s shortly after

436.11 -> Cyprus gained independence from the UK

437.969 -> there was a Greek who followed by a

440.369 -> Turkish invasion and they all got very

442.499 -> messy oh and there's also some British

444.869 -> bases in Ireland I guess the strategic

446.849 -> location was just too valuable to give

448.739 -> up moving further south and on to Africa

451.889 -> probably the most noticeable

453.509 -> geopolitical dispute in Africa is the

455.639 -> area known as Western Sahara the region

458.369 -> is claimed and mostly controlled by

460.229 -> Morocco but the region has also been

462.449 -> proclaimed as the independent country of

464.249 -> the Sirah we out of democratic republic

466.259 -> by the indigenous rebel group of the

468.119 -> Polisario Front were started off by

470.49 -> fighting against Spanish colonial rule

472.229 -> in the 1970s in 1976 Spain just sort of

476.369 -> knocked over the whole situation and

478.559 -> debated the region between Morocco and

480.419 -> another neighboring country Mauritania

482.369 -> who also claimed the region a latane but

484.889 -> not anymore on the opposite coast of

487.229 -> Africa we have a Somalia at which once

489.599 -> again is a dispute caused by the

491.159 -> Europeans Somaliland was controlled by

493.559 -> the British

494.369 -> while the rest of why's today the

495.689 -> country of Somalia was controlled by

497.309 -> Attlee in 1960 the two were joined to

500.369 -> make a new independent country

502.019 -> Somaliland declared independence in 1991

504.779 -> and a civil war has been ongoing ever

506.999 -> since now moving on to the metal alpha

512.75 -> okay so it's quite literally impossible

515.339 -> to give any kind of explanation of what

516.959 -> the hell is going on here in just a

518.219 -> couple of minutes so just keep in mind

519.569 -> that everything I say is going to be way

521.279 -> over simplified before the beginning of

523.769 -> the currently ongoing situation there is

525.569 -> an area called Palestine which was under

527.61 -> British administration in 1948 the

530.309 -> United Nations passed a resolution to

531.99 -> partition

532.59 -> between Jewish and Arab communities the

534.779 -> descendants of these out of communities

536.279 -> in this region and refugee camps nearby

538.44 -> are what we today call Palestinians

540.54 -> after the resolution was passed the

542.4 -> State of Israel was declared this led to

544.38 -> the first of several wars with its

545.94 -> neighbors in which Israel was often

547.35 -> fighting against most or all of them at

549.21 -> once territory in this region has

551.22 -> bounced back and forth between different

552.839 -> countries and organizations many times

554.61 -> today Israel's also in control of the

556.95 -> Golan Heights where she'd captured from

558.39 -> Syria in 1967 now as well as Israel we

561.99 -> also have the state of Palestine

563.55 -> declared in 1988 which is a partially

566.279 -> recognized state with observer status at

568.17 -> the United Nations his claimed territory

570.27 -> as the West Bank in which an interim

572.37 -> division agreement was reached with

573.57 -> Israel and the 90s as well as the Gaza

575.82 -> Strip which has actually been controlled

577.71 -> by Hamas since 2007 a Palestinian

580.71 -> political party and variously described

582.69 -> as a terrorist organization things are

584.88 -> even more complicated in Jerusalem an

586.8 -> ancient city with profound significance

588.27 -> to Jews Muslims and Christians the city

591.3 -> is fully controlled by Israel but

592.89 -> claimed by both groups as their capital

594.81 -> though with different parts the city

596.67 -> being claimed by each group on top of

599.01 -> all of this there's also the issue of

600.42 -> Israeli settlements which we don't have

602.31 -> time to get to and I'd really like to

603.839 -> move on that please staying in the

606.33 -> Middle East there's the situation in

607.86 -> Syria in which a devastating multi-sided

610.29 -> Civil War has been ongoing for nearly 10

612.51 -> years now this began with a series of

614.88 -> anti-government protests part of a

616.92 -> broader movement known as the Arab

618.63 -> Spring which was violently suppressed

620.69 -> the conflict is one of the bloodiest of

623.25 -> the 21st century and has spilled over to

625.47 -> several neighboring countries there's

628.65 -> also the situation in Iraq that is still

631.23 -> ongoing conflict that stemmed from the

633.12 -> us-led invasion in 2003 to topple the

636.03 -> government of Saddam Hussein with Isis

638.61 -> having mostly lost their territory in

640.35 -> Iraq the violence is continued in the

642.18 -> form of an insurgency featuring several

644.43 -> rebel groups Isis was defeated in the

646.92 -> Civil War with help from the Kurds a

649.05 -> distinct ethnic group in northern Iraq

651.12 -> that is seeking independence the people

653.459 -> overwhelmingly voted in favour of

655.14 -> independence spot the Iraqi government

657.089 -> in the referendum illegal all right

660.12 -> let's move east of the metal east and on

662.67 -> to the Indian subcontinent where we

664.23 -> found the disputed region of Jammu

665.98 -> and cashmere basically this idea was a

668.53 -> princely state of India while under

670.36 -> British control and in 1947 when India

673.15 -> was divided into India and Pakistan

675.57 -> disagreements about which country to

677.47 -> join caused conflict and a de facto

679.45 -> partition of the region that remains

681.37 -> unresolved this day around here is also

685.27 -> several territorial disputes between

686.77 -> India and China along their extensive

688.84 -> border all of which are controlled by

691.12 -> China and speaking of China there's

693.67 -> plenty here to talk about - we've got

695.95 -> today it's Hong Kong Taiwan and probably

698.62 -> much more we don't have time for so

701.92 -> Tibet Tibet is an autonomous region of

704.71 -> the People's Republic of China the

706.51 -> Tibetan people are ethnically distinct

708.49 -> from the Han Chinese majority but the

710.53 -> area has been under Chinese control for

712.27 -> three hundred years

713.17 -> however when in pedia rule in China came

715.63 -> to an end with the fall of the Qing

716.8 -> Dynasty in 1912 today experienced a few

719.68 -> decades of the facto independence this

722.65 -> is when China became a republic for the

724.51 -> first time however when a civil war

726.82 -> broke out between the government and the

728.32 -> Communist rebellion the Communist won

730.6 -> and proclaimed the People's Republic of

732.55 -> China the new communist government

734.68 -> annexed Abed in 1951 albeit with

737.68 -> resistance from Tibet a thousand strong

739.78 -> army now that civil war that was won by

743.47 -> the communists the losing saved the

745.99 -> Republic of China didn't just disappear

748.72 -> in fact this brings us on to our next

751.03 -> stop Taiwan this is where the Republican

753.94 -> / Nationalist government fled to in 1949

757.21 -> while this country is commonly referred

759.28 -> to as Taiwan it's name is actually

761.2 -> unchanged this day the Republic of China

763.6 -> China's stove used haiwan as part of its

766.18 -> territory despite the People's Republic

767.77 -> never having any jurisdiction over the

770.26 -> åland in their history Taiwan has its

772.72 -> own government president militarily etc

775.18 -> etc and is just like any other country

777.34 -> in most ways however given how powerful

779.86 -> China as officially acknowledged in

781.99 -> Taiwan means China

783.43 -> cutting all ties both diplomatic and

785.92 -> more importantly economic Taiwan is not

789.55 -> a member of the UN but plenty of

791.35 -> countries have unofficial relations with

793.45 -> Taipei

794.77 -> there's also Hong Kong which is part of

797.57 -> China but has a special administrative

799.67 -> status under the so called one China two

802.22 -> systems policy mass protests took place

805.37 -> throughout much of 2019 when a

807.44 -> controversial extradition bill was

809.42 -> proposed even after the bail was

811.52 -> withdrawn protests continued for fill

813.86 -> democracy with a list of five demands

816.94 -> protesters were often subject to police

819.5 -> brutality and arrest Hong Kong used to

822.589 -> be British until 1997 when it was

825.02 -> transferred back to China with a 50-year

827.36 -> agreement the Hong Kong would not be

829.01 -> subject to mainland China's economic

830.75 -> system literally no one knows what

834.14 -> happened in 2047 witness agreement

836.57 -> expires close by there's also North and

840.17 -> South Korea Korea had been annexed by

842.63 -> Japan in 1910 but with the Japanese

844.85 -> defeat in world war ii the peninsula was

847.01 -> to be temporarily divided the Soviet

850.52 -> Union controlled North and the United

852.35 -> States the south with the plan to

854.029 -> unified Korea into one country but then

857.33 -> the Cold War happened and suddenly the

859.01 -> two countries controlling Korea hated

860.63 -> each other and were less willing to

862.07 -> cooperate

862.7 -> there was a three-year war which didn't

865.19 -> really accomplish much except massive

867.32 -> casualties on both sides North Korea is

870.589 -> the most isolated country in the world

872.779 -> with its population unable to leave on

875.209 -> with little knowledge of the outside

876.529 -> world North Korea has nuclear weapons

879.23 -> though paints the lack of intervention

881.95 -> elsewhere in Asia to be aware of there's

884.42 -> a country that nobody really knows what

885.98 -> to call it Burma or Myanmar and there's

888.589 -> also the South China Sea which is the

890.72 -> most disputed part of the entire planet

892.94 -> cleaned by like 40 countries or

895.399 -> something probably where do we go from

898.79 -> here we can probably just skip over

901.13 -> Australia and all that down there

902.839 -> they're pretty chill not too much to

904.73 -> talk about licensed dads go all the way

907.01 -> across the Pacific Ocean which is mostly

909.29 -> empty except for Hawaii which is part of

911.69 -> the United States but has a Union Jack

913.37 -> on its flag for some reason so now

916.22 -> around the Americas North and South

918.2 -> America although some people especially

920.24 -> from Latin America refer to them as one

922.55 -> continent America singular

925.459 -> her English speakers generally used this

927.199 -> word to refer to the country the United

929.089 -> States there's plenty going on in the

931.879 -> Caribbean there are 13 independent

934.04 -> nations most of which no one has ever

935.66 -> heard of as well as European colonies

937.91 -> and territories and also abandoned part

940.189 -> of Colombia kill flag though oh and

943.009 -> Puerto Rico that wants to awkwardly add

945.11 -> a 51st star to the American flag a

947.98 -> particularly peculiar case as with a

950.24 -> bunch of Dutch islands Aruba curaçao and

952.67 -> Sint Maarten which are actually

954.41 -> countries within the Kingdom of the

955.879 -> Netherlands making up for constituent

957.889 -> countries along with the Netherlands

959.449 -> itself somewhat similar to the UK both

962.72 -> in the constituent country of the

964.189 -> Netherlands there are three more

965.6 -> Caribbean islands Bonaire Sint Eustatius

967.61 -> and Saba here's a Venn diagram to help

970.519 -> you elsewhere in the Americas there's

973.189 -> the Falkland Islands British islands

975.079 -> with British people who nearly

976.579 -> unanimously voted to remain a British

978.29 -> territory but for some reason Argentina

980.329 -> claims the master own they even fought a

982.699 -> brief war in 1982 when Argentina invaded

985.279 -> the islands but this only happened

987.139 -> because the dictator was trying to

988.459 -> distract his people from the country's

990.019 -> failing economy let's see what else

993.499 -> well there's Antarctica which is mostly

995.869 -> just ice and snow but he is land so

998.329 -> countries will try and stick a flag in

1000.009 -> and claim as their own because why not

1001.99 -> at this point their various claims the

1004.54 -> continent some of which overlap as well

1006.73 -> some unclaimed land but it's mostly

1008.74 -> irrelevant because of the Antarctic

1010.569 -> Treaty the treaty has suspended all new

1013.209 -> claims guarantees freedom for scientific

1015.519 -> exploration and a ban of all military

1017.529 -> activity sometimes when we look at the

1021.549 -> world the lanes on a map don't fully do

1023.799 -> justice to the situation on the ground

1025.649 -> you often have to look beyond the

1028.029 -> borders to see what lies beneath

1030.149 -> geopolitics can be both complicated and

1033.13 -> fascinating in equal measure and it's

1035.289 -> always good to know what's going on in

1037.24 -> the world a great way to keep yourself

1040.659 -> informed as by watching documentaries on

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Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZJFozFsnIU