Category Archives: Political Geography

Introduction: Virtual Special Issue on Russian Geopolitics

Elsevier has placed a number of its political geography articles on Open Access, in a Virtual Special Issue on Russian Geopolitics. Most, but not all, are from Political Geography. Below is the text of my introduction to the Issue, which was … Continue reading

Posted in Critical Geopolitics, Geography, Political Geography, Presidency, Putin, Robert Kaplan, Russia, state theory, World political map | Leave a comment

Social Survey Research in De Facto States After Crimea

I’m very happy to announce that I’ve a new home office, as a year long house extension project has come to an end. I will seek to renew my writing for this site, though I’m conscious that time spent writing here and … Continue reading

Posted in Abkhazia, Caucasus conflict, Congress, Current affairs, De Facto States, Democracy, Geography, Political Borders, Political Geography, Putin, South Ossetia, World political map | Leave a comment

Bosnia by the Black Sea? Could Crimea be another BiH?

I have an op ed on this topic on the Open Democracy Russia website under the title “Could Crimea Be Another Bosnia?” http://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/gerard-toal/could-crimea-be-another-bosnia-republika-srpska-krajina For Bosnia specialists, below is the source I used for the opening quote. Specialists will know I … Continue reading

Posted in Bosnia, Bosnian war, Current affairs, De Facto States, Political Borders, Political Geography, Putin, Radovan Karadzic, referendum, Rhetoric, unilateral declaration of independence | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Global Conflicts. My Online Course Syllabus

    I’ve been teaching ‘global conflicts’ at Virginia Tech for over twenty years, initially as an undergraduate course called “Geography of Global Conflicts.” In 1995, I offered the course online for the first time. The course has evolved considerably … Continue reading

Posted in ethnic cleansing, forced displacement, Geography, Kurdistan, Kurds, Nagorno-Karabakh, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Nagorny Karabakh, nationalism, Political Borders, Political Geography, South Ossetia, Turkey | Tagged | Leave a comment

‘Land for Peace’ in Nagorny Karabakh? PUBLISHED

My latest publication, with Dr John O’Loughlin, from the De Facto States Research Project, funded by the US National Science Foundation, is “Land for Peace in Nagorny Karabakh? Political Geographies and Public Attitudes inside a Contested De Facto State” which … Continue reading

Posted in Abkhazia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Caucasus conflict, Current affairs, De Facto States, ethnic cleansing, forced displacement, Geography, Nagorno-Karabakh, Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, Nagorny Karabakh, Political Borders, Political Geography, World political map | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

My interview with Bosnia’s Dnevni Avaz

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

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

Inconvenient Truths about the Syria Crisis

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

Chemical Warfare and Place: Lessons from Halabja

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

Inside South Ossetia article published

The article “Inside South Ossetia: a survey of attitudes in a de facto state” has just been published by Post-Soviet Affairs (now owned by Taylor & Francis). This article is based on a research field trip conducted in 2010 and … Continue reading

Posted in August War, Caucasus conflict, Current affairs, De Facto States, ethnic cleansing, Five Day War, forced displacement, Geography, Geopolitics, George Bush, Georgia, nationalism, Political Geography, Saakashvili, South Ossetia, World political map | Tagged , | Leave a comment