Historically, states had extensive control over their territories. Global challenges, on the other hand, have had a substantial impact on state sovereignty in recent years. Climate change, migration, and terrorism are among these challenges.

Small island republics like the Maldives and Tuvalu are threatened by rising sea levels. Climate change-related droughts and floods are causing food shortages and displacement. These concerns have a significant impact on states' ability to control their territories.

Cross-border migration can lead to cultural tensions and economic instability. It can also lead to political instability, as shown in the case of the Syrian refugee crisis. These challenges make it difficult for states to regulate their borders and protect their sovereignty.

Terrorist acts might result in heightened surveillance and limits on civil freedoms. They can even lead to military involvement in other countries. These measures may jeopardize the sovereignty of the states involved.

Global challenges are significantly influencing state sovereignty. States are becoming more interdependent and must collaborate to handle these concerns. As a result, states' total sovereignty is decreasing. Global challenges will most certainly continue to have significant effects on national sovereignty in the future. To protect their sovereignty, states will need to develop methods to collaborate with one another to address these concerns.

This part discusses how globalization or deterritorialization has contended territorialism, where territory is no longer fixed. It was argued that the concept of autonomous regions was being challenged by globalization. There was also a mention of supra-territorialization, which means that state borders cannot limit regions of interaction. In state borders, there is no more control over the communications within a state. Several challenges have been mentioned in this column. One of which is the wide-scale economic migration, wherein it challenges the exclusive territorial power of a state. It was explained by Linklater (1998) that with this overall process, new forms of the political community could emerge and separate the ties between territory, sovereignty, nationalism, and citizenship. Environmental nature is also one of the challenges which cause issues and call for answers that go beyond the bounds of the geographical nation-state. A state alone can not handle problems that require supra-territorial initiatives. Which was mentioned before, the European Union is a supra-national organization. The topic of international involvement and how other countries have benefited from assistance from other nations was also covered. An example is East Timor, where international intervention was able to help with the protection of the claim for independence from Indonesia. Furthermore, it was discussed that the constitutions of governments had undergone significant modifications due to globalization. However, there have been far fewer developments regarding political geography, precisely territory.

Chapter 11 mentioned that the formation of the European Union has given proper freedom to member countries through free trade agreements and allows the free movement of goods and people that would boost their economy. It also promotes political cooperation among its member states, fostering peace and stability in Europe. However, it opens to new challenges of a number of the territorial aspects of the states, such as migration, the loss of sovereignty, and environmental issues. Some member countries believe that there is too much free movement on migration since several Europeans decide to leave their home country. Furthermore, their laws and regulations are highly centralized, implying that some members may feel it is not applicable to them.  

In 2017, the United Kingdom (UK) made a bold decision to leave the European Union that hampers the economic and political relationship between them. This momentous event was named as Brexit as it implies the exit or withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union. This means that the UK will be moving away from close integration and cooperation with its nearest neighbors, but potentially reopening the opportunity to negotiate trade deals directly with non-EU countries (Tetlow & Stojanovic, 2018). One of the reasons is the centralized sovereignty and control of the EU that made it difficult to have proper freedom and appropriate laws for its country. Another one is their decision to allow stricter immigration policies for less migration. Lastly, it provides more opportunities to partake in a globally competitive approach in terms of trade, agreements, and international relations (Hassan et al., 2020).

The initial impacts of the Brexit movement were antagonistic for both the EU and UK. It created financial instability for both in financial markets, trade, and international relations. Furthermore, it led to changes in political actions such as changes in government leadership and divisions in political parties. A few years after its departure from the EU, the UK is redefining its global diplomatic relations. It has pursued new trade agreements with countries around the world and is seeking to strengthen its position as an independent global actor. Meanwhile, the future of the EU seems pessimistic as the Brexit Movement became a controversial topic for them due to member states leaving that questions their unity. These issues may also pose a threat globally due to international relations and trade and due to the European Union playing a significant role in the global economy (Brakman et al., 2023).

Due to the rise and fall of empires, kingdoms, and nation-states throughout history, territorial boundaries have been established. All of these factors have significantly impacted how the world is divided into regions today, from war and colonization to invasions. Consequently, the territorial division is primarily influenced by how political power is organized. Territorial boundaries are frequently set forth by countries, independent political entities the international community acknowledges. Moreover, these boundaries are determined by historical, racial, cultural, or geographic considerations. The method of managing and governing populations, territorial divisions are a handy tool. This is because governments have the ability to exercise power and control within the boundaries of the territories they have identified. 

In terms of geography, as mentioned earlier, it can be used to create territorial divisions and natural boundaries, such as rivers, mountains, and coastlines. The separation of different communities, cultures, or ethnic groups has occasionally been made crucial by the attributes of these natural features, leading to the creation of distinct territories that are ruled by these aspects. Furthermore, people who share common racial or cultural identities may try to create their own states in order to maintain their individuality, encourage self-governance, or protect their legal rights as long as they share similar racial or cultural identities.

Tetlow, G., & Stojanovic, A. (2018). Understanding the economic impact of Brexit. Institute for government, 2-76.

Hassan, T. A., Hollander, S., Van Lent, L., & Tahoun, A. (2020). The global impact of Brexit uncertainty (No. w26609). National Bureau of Economic Research.

Edkins, & Zehfuss, M. (2014). Global politics : a new introduction (Second edition.). Routledge.