Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Bermuda, and the Falkland Islands, a desolate piece of real estate lying off the coast of Argentina, which
attempted to retake them in a war in 1982. At least Hong Kong was returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
France
Hand it to the French. They cannot be accused of bad taste in their choice of territorial posses-
sions. Guadeloupe and Martinique are lovely Caribbean paradises that remain in French hands. A group
of Pacific islands comprises French Polynesia. The French also retain French Guiana, the last European
possession in South America, where France's satellites are launched, and New Caledonia, a major source
of nickel.
The United States of America
In chronological order, begin with Texas and much of the Southwest
and California, “purchased” by treaty after the Mexican War from 1846 to 1848, a war described by
Ulysses S. Grant as one of the “most unjust ever waged by a stronger against a weaker nation.” (Such a
purchase is the diplomatic equivalent of godfather Don Corleone's “offer they can't refuse.”) Half a cen-
tury later in the aftermath of the Spanish-American War in 1898 came the acquisition of Puerto Rico, today
a U.S. commonwealth. But unlike the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Puerto Rico's residents do not get
to vote for president and enjoy no congressional representation. While the issue of Puerto Rican independ-
ence creeps toward a resolution, the question remains in the hands of the U.S. Senate rather than with the
Puerto Rican people. Also in the Caribbean, the United States retains its Virgin Islands possessions and a
base on Cuba at Guantánamo Bay. And way over in the South Pacific are a passel of lovely islands—all
leftovers from the war against Japan—which the United States numbers among its possessions. Among
them, the Marshall Islands are currently being used as a garbage dump.
China
Tibet, an ancient colony of China, was annexed by China in 1958, forcing the tiny nation's spir-
itual leader, the Dalai Lama, into exile. Although Tibet's nationhood is unrecognized, Chinese troops en-
force stiff martial rule, suppressing Tibetan nationalism with deadly force.
Russia
Although there are still so-called autonomous nations inside Russia, the former Soviet Union
has shed most of its former colonies, particularly the three Baltic states. Other questions of Russia's intern-
al makeup are much in doubt, especially the region of Chechnya, which has been battling for independence
since 1991.
Although the era of colonialism is largely over, these lands that remain in distant hands are a reminder
that history is littered with land-grabbing takeovers. It is wise—and sobering—to remember that history is
written, and maps redrawn, by the winners.
Where Is the Third World?
“Poor, strife-ridden, chaotic.”
Russia and Yugoslavia during the past few years? Or the inner-city war zones of Los Angeles during
the bloody riots of May 1992?
No. How about a definition of what it means to be part of the Third World. Those words were the stand-
ard set by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore in 1969. Does that put Russia or Los Angeles in the
Third World? That's not meant to be a funny question. But it is, sadly, a legitimate one.
“Third World” is a 1950s-vintage phrase invented by French intellectuals. The world needed a tidy
reference point for the newly emerging independent nations in Asia and Africa. These former colonies,
mostly poor and politically unstable, were christened
le tiers monde
. The First World was the West, dom-
inated by the United States, Western Europe, and their satellites, most with free-market economies. The
Second World was the Soviet Union and its East European allies, a world characterized by socialist sys-
tems with state-run economies. And the Third World tag was applied to the nonaligned and developing
nations of Africa, Latin America, and Asia. In these developing nations at the time, average incomes were
