Author Archives: Dr Gerard Toal

Unknown's avatar

About Dr Gerard Toal

Irish born academic living in Washington DC researching geopolitical competition and territorial conflicts in post-Communist Europe. Author of CRITICAL GEOPOLITICS (1996), BOSNIA REMADE (w C Dahlman) and NEAR ABROAD: PUTIN, THE WEST AND THE CONTEST OVER UKRAINE AND THE CAUCASUS (Oxford University Press, 2017).

Top 5 Things I learnt at “The PKK, Kurdish Nationalism and Future of Turkey” Conference

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Dr Gerard Toal

Our program hosted this conference which was mostly organized by Tugrul Keskin, a VT graduate now at Portland State University and Kemal Silay, Director of the Turkish Studies program at Indiana University, at 1021 Prince Street, Alexandria yesterday. We received … Continue reading →

Posted in conference, Current affairs, Iraq, Kurdistan, Kurds, Middle East, PKK, Turkey, World political map | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

My interview with Bosnia’s Dnevni Avaz

Posted on October 21, 2013 by Dr Gerard Toal

Just after my return from Ireland two weeks ago, the largest daily newspaper in Bosnia-Herezegovina, Sarajevo-based Dnevni Avaz, got in contact for a feature interview in their weekend supplement. The resultant feature, entitled “Bosnia is Not a Failed State” was published on … Continue reading →

Posted in Current affairs, films, genocide, nationalism, Northern Ireland, Political Borders, Political Geography, Radovan Karadzic, restitution, war crimes, Washington D.C., World political map | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The PKK, Kurdish Nationalism and the Future of Turkey, 7 November 2013: Conference Program

Posted on October 7, 2013 by Dr Gerard Toal

Kurdish Conference Program available here International Conference The PKK, Kurdish Nationalism and the Future of Turkey Thursday November 7, 2013 VIRGINIA TECH NATIONAL CAPITAL REGION 1021 PRINCE STREET ALEXANDRIA, VA 22314 RSVP IS REQUIRED: kurdishandturkish@yahoo.com Tel: 202-378-8606 kurdishandturkish@yahoo.com http://turkeyandkurds.blogspot.com/ Organized … Continue reading →

Posted in conference, Current affairs, Kurds, nationalism, PKK, Political Geography, Turkey | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Bridging Division Conference: Derry/Mostar

Posted on October 2, 2013 by Dr Gerard Toal

Gabriela Vojvoda-Engstler (Univ of Saarland) and Eamonn O Ciardha (Univ of Ulster, Magee campus) were the two inspirational forces behind the conference, and they weaved German, Irish and ex-Yugoslav networks together to create an enjoyable high quality academic conference on … Continue reading →

Posted in Current affairs | Leave a comment

Derry – Londonderry reaches for Culture

Posted on October 1, 2013 by Dr Gerard Toal

“When(ever) I hear the word culture, I release the safety catch of my Browning.” Thus speaks a character in the play Schlageter by the Nazi poet laureate Hans Johst. Written to celebrate Hitler’s 44th birthday and rise to power in … Continue reading →

Posted in Current affairs, Ireland, Northern Ireland | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Bridging Division: (London) Derry & Mostar

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Dr Gerard Toal

Derry and Mostar are divided by histories of sectarian strife and ethnoterritorialism,  and physically united by bridges as symbols of aspirational unity (like the peace bridge above, photo credit Peter MacDiarmid). At the end of this month I am participating in … Continue reading →

Posted in Bosnia, Bosnian war, Current affairs, Northern Ireland | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Inconvenient Truths about the Syria Crisis

Posted on September 6, 2013 by Dr Gerard Toal

The time for more detached scholarly research on the interstate conflict over responding to the Syrian civil war, and war crimes therein, will come later. Clearly the 21 August chemical weapon attacks intensified this conflict greatly. The affective geopolitical complex … Continue reading →

Posted in Congress, Current affairs, George Bush, Israel, Middle East, Obama, Political Borders, Political Geography, Presidency, Russia, Syria, US Senate, war crimes, Washington D.C., World political map | 1 Comment

The Saddest Place: Beslan Plus 9

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Dr Gerard Toal

Nine years ago the siege of School Number 1 in Beslan, North Ossetia ended in disastrous circumstances with 336 people killed, almost two hundred of them children. The mundane ramshackle ruins of the gutted school buildings are deeply affecting reminders … Continue reading →

Posted in Beslan, chemical weapons, Obama, Putin, Syria | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Chemical Warfare and Place: Lessons from Halabja

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Dr Gerard Toal

As the United States and France consider military strikes in retaliation against the Assad regime it is worth recalling the use of chemical weapons by Saddam Hussein’s regime in Halabja, north east Iraqi Kurdistan on 16 March 1988. It is … Continue reading →

Posted in Beslan, Critical Geopolitics, Current affairs, genocide, Halabja, Iraq, Kurdistan, Political Geography, Syria, war crimes, World political map | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

“The Map is not the Territory”: Parallel Paths: Palestinians, Native Americans, Irish

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Dr Gerard Toal

Friday September 6 from 6 to 8 pm is the gala opening at the Jerusalem Fund Gallery Al-Quds (2425 Virginia Avenue, NW, Washington DC) of an exhibition of 64 original paintings, photographs, prints, drawings, artist books and films by 39 … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Cartography, Current affairs, forced displacement, Native American, Palestine, Washington D.C., World political map | Tagged , , | Leave a comment