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political instability — English
A condition of uncertainty about the jurisdiction or control in a certain, definable area of the world. Politically the world is organised into demarcated (see “demarcation”) states or countries, that is, political units. A state is theoretically an independent (autonomous), territorial, political entity under the jurisdiction of a recognised authority. (Note: do not confuse the different states of the United States of America with the USA as a nation.) In theory, each politic unit is under the jurisdiction of a recognised authority which might be a single ruler (such as a king, queen, dictator, or leader), or a ruling group who have taken control, or a democratically elected person and his/her party. There are, however, so many different types of government or jurisdiction or control, that it is often impossible to describe the jurisdiction or authority in a specific political unit. Moreover, the territories of the individual political units are often not even clearly defined. The geopolitical map of the world is a representation of a fluid pattern of jurisdiction, which changes all the time, because the geopolitical spatial pattern of the world changes all the time. There are numerous border disputes among the global political units, for instance the border between North Korea and South Korea, where the 38˚N parallel (line of latitude) currently serves as the international border, with wide strips of no-man’s land on either side. The border disputes between Israel and Palestine are so complicated that it simply cannot be described in a few simple sentences. Many other examples can be named, but the essence of it all is that the geopolitical pattern is never a fixed certainty. Every geopolitical map of the world is probably “out of date” the moment it is drawn! To complicate an already complicated issue, there is often political turmoil within many of the global political units. In some countries jurisdiction continually shifts from one political party to another or from one military faction to another. Hence, political instability occurs between as well as within political units. Apart from the difficulties ordinary citizens of a country, state, or regions might have to face because of political instability, it has a huge impact on global as well as regional and even national economic activity. It stands to reason that investors are not readily going to invest money in the form of foreign direct investment (FDI) in politically unstable countries or regions because they might lose their money when the regime (the authority) changes. Political instability is rife in Africa, and foreign investors such as the European Union, the USA and China, the World Bank (WB), the International Monitory Fund (IMF) as well as the really big investors like the multinational corporations (MNCs) are hesitant and cautious to invest in countries typified by political instability (such as many of the African states and regions like the Middle East). If the developing countries wish to attract foreign investment they have to be politically stable enough to reassure the investors of making money, rather than losing it.
