Author Archives: Dr Gerard Toal

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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).

Interview with News.Az

Posted on August 9, 2012 by Dr Gerard Toal

To mark the anniversary of the August 2008 war, the English language Azerbaijani web site News.Az conducted a series of interviews with various specialists on the Caucasus. There are interesting interviews with Lincoln Mitchell and Hans Gotbrod. My interview sought … Continue reading →

Posted in Caucasus conflict, Current affairs, Georgia, Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

More on the Geographies of Violent Death

Posted on July 25, 2012 by Dr Gerard Toal

The events in Aurora this weekend re-awakened some horrible memories for those associated with Virginia Tech. In discussions on television and elsewhere, ‘Virginia Tech’ has unfortunately joined the litany of names of horrific acts of mass violence perpetrated by deranged … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Congo, Current affairs, Geography, Washington D.C. | Leave a comment

Powerless in DC

Posted on July 7, 2012 by Dr Gerard Toal

Washington DC has been through an eventful few weeks, and the action is not all at the White House, Supreme Court and in Congress. A ‘microburst’ weather storm left many residents without power on the 21st of June (including our … Continue reading →

Posted in Current affairs, Obama, Presidency, Washington D.C. | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Geographies of Massacres

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Dr Gerard Toal

A government under severe pressure from rebels unleashes violence that results in a massacre of families, women and children especially. This is the horror scene we’ve seen for the last few weeks in international affairs. But its is hardly confined … Continue reading →

Posted in Current affairs, drones, Syria, Yemen | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Orientalism and War

Posted on May 24, 2012 by Dr Gerard Toal

A new edited volume, Orientalism and War, edited by Tarak Barkawi and Keith Stanski, will appear soon published by Columbia/Hurst. Asked to blurb it, I took some time to read the chapters, some of which I found to be intellectually … Continue reading →

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Mladic Goes on Trial

Posted on May 16, 2012 by Dr Gerard Toal

In early September 2004 I flew to the Hague for an academic conference from Istanbul (where I remember watching the horror at Beslan unfold on BBC TV). I took a day off from the conference to visit the ICTY court … Continue reading →

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Nationalism in New York City

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Dr Gerard Toal

With fragile economic conditions across the globe, it does seem that strong nationalist rhetoric and fear about globalization, immigration and loose borders is with us more than ever (the Dutch government collapse, Le Pen’s showing in France, the worrying situation … Continue reading →

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The Bosnian War Twenty Years Ago

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Dr Gerard Toal

This week marks the twentieth anniversary of the Bosnian War. Its a time for remembrance, of the circumstances that created it, the people who planned it, the perpetrators and the victims. Most of the focus will be on Sarajevo later … Continue reading →

Posted in Bosnian war, ethnic cleansing, Geography, Geopolitics, Radovan Karadzic, war crimes | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Companion to Critical Geopolitics

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Dr Gerard Toal

About three years ago Klaus Dodds, Alan Ingram and Merje Kuus convinced Ashgate to establish a book series with the title Critical Geopolitics. Since then the series has seen the publication of four volumes: Europe in the World, Reconstructing Conflict, Mapping the End … Continue reading →

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Researching the Founding Fathers: Karadzic and Mladic

Posted on March 20, 2012 by Dr Gerard Toal

Last Friday I attended a conference entitled fY + 20 (the former Yugoslavia plus 20 years) organized by my co-author Dr Carl Dahlman at the Miami University in Oxford Ohio (with the help of others and sponsoring institutions). It was … Continue reading →

Posted in Bosnia, Bosnian war, ICTY, Ratko Mladic | Tagged | Leave a comment