Balkanization

Balkanisation (British English), or Balkanization

(American English), is a geopolitical term for the
process of fragmentation or division of a region or
state into smaller regions or states that are often
hostile or uncooperative with one another.[1][2]

Contents
Nations and societies
Balkanisation in Africa
Balkanisation in Levant
History of Central Europe and the Balkans from
See also
1796 to 2008.
References
Footnotes
Bibliography
External links

Nations and societies

The term refers to the division of the Balkan peninsula, formerly
ruled almost entirely by the Ottoman Empire, into a number of
smaller states between 1817 and 1912.[3] It was coined in the early
19th century and has a strong negative connotation.[4] The term
however came into common use in the immediate aftermath of the
First World War, with reference to the numerous new states that
arose from the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the
Ottoman Empire.
The Bulgarian campaign, showing
the state of the Balkans during The larger countries within Europe, often being the result of the
the First World War union of several historical regions or nations, have faced the
perceived issue of Balkanisation. The Iberian Peninsula and Spain
especially has from the time of Al-Andalus had to come to terms
with Balkanisation,[5] with several separatist movements existing today including the Basque Country
and Catalan independentism.

Canada is a stable country but does harbor separatist movements, the strongest of which is the Quebec
sovereignty movement which seeks to create a nation-state that would encompass the majority of
Canada's French-Canadian population. Two referendums have been held to decide this question, one in
1980 and the last one in 1995 being lost by the separatist side by a small margin. Less mainstream,
smaller movements also exist in the western provinces, namely Alberta, to protest what is seen as a
domination by Quebec and Ontario of Canadian politics. Saskatchewan premier Roy Romanow had also
considered separation from Canada if the 1995 Quebec independence referendum had succeeded; which
would have led to the balkanisation of Canada.

Quebec has been the scene of a small but vociferous partition movement from the part of anglophone
activist groups opposed to the idea of Independence of Quebec, as such a country would be dominated by
francophones on the order of 80%. One such project is the Proposal for the Province of Montreal, which
wishes for the establishment of a separate province from Quebec for Montreal's strongly anglophone and
immigrant communities.

In January 2007, regarding the growing support for Scottish independence, the then-Chancellor of the
Exchequer of the United Kingdom, and later Prime Minister, Gordon Brown talked of a "Balkanisation of
Britain".[6] Independence movements within Great Britain also exist in England, Wales, Cornwall, and
Northern Ireland.

Balkanisation in Africa
As Bates, Coatsworth & Williamson would argue, Balkanisation was observed to a great extent in Africa.
During the 1960s, countries in the Communauté Financière Africaine started to opt for "autonomy within
the French community" in this post-colonial era.

Countries within the CFA zone were allowed to impose tariffs, regulate trade and manage transport
services. Zambia, Malawi, Uganda and Tanzania achieved independence in the post-colonial era. This
period also saw the break down of the Federation of the Rhodesias and Nyasaland as well as the East
African High Commission. Balkanisation was a result of the movement towards a closed economy.
Countries were adopting antitrade and anti-market policies. Tariff rates were 15% higher than OECD
countries during the 1970s and 1980s.[7] Furthermore, countries took approaches to subsidise their own
local industries yet the market within the country was small-scale. Transport networks were fragmented;
regulations on labor and capital flow were more regulated; prices were under control. Between 1960 and
1990, Balkanisation led to disastrous results. The GDP of these regions were one-tenth of OECD
countries.[7] Balkanisation also resulted in what van de Valle called "typically fairly overvalued
exchanged rates" in Africa. Balkanisation contributed to what Bates, Coatsworth & Williamson claimed
to be a lost decade in Africa.

Economic situations only took a turn during the mid-1990s. Countries within the region started to input
more stabilization policies. What was originally a high exchange rate eventually fell to a more reasonable
exchange rate after devaluations in 1994. Eighteen countries had an exchange rate 50% higher than the
official exchange rate, by 1994, the number of countries that had such exchange rate was decreased to
four.[8] However, there is still limited progress in improving trade policies within the region according to
van de Walle. In addition, the post-independent countries still rely heavily on donors for development
plans. Balkanisation still has an impact on today's Africa.

Balkanisation in Levant
Balkanisation has been claimed to apply to Lebanon's political division between Muslims and Christians
and to the Syrian civil war, as an attempt to create buffer states based on ethnic backgrounds in the
Levant near Israel for its protection.[9][10]
See also
Balkan Federation
Balkanism
Boroughitis
Bosnian War
Feudal fragmentation
Irredentism
Kleinstaaterei
Multinational state
Pakistanism
Pillarisation
Protracted social conflict
Sectarian violence
Social polarization
Titoism
Treaty of Sèvres
Yugo-nostalgia
Yugoslav Wars
Yugoslavism

References

Footnotes
1. "Balkanize" (http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/balkanized). Merriam-Webster Online.
Retrieved 15 October 2017.
2. Vidanović 2006.
3. Pringle 2016.
4. Simic 2013, p. 128.
5. McLean, Renwick (29 September 2005). "Catalonia steps up to challenge Spain" (https://w
ww.nytimes.com/2005/09/28/world/europe/28iht-spain.html). The New York Times.
Retrieved 15 October 2017.
6. "UK's Existence is at Risk – Brown" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6258089.stm).
BBC News. 13 January 2007. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
7. Bates, Coatsworth & Williamson 2007.
8. Van de Walle 2004.
9. Georges Corm, La balkanisation du Proche-Orient, [1] (https://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/1
983/01/CORM/37130), Le Monde diplomatique, janvier 1983, pages 2 et 3.
10. Guetta, Bernard (28 May 2013). "La balkanisation du Proche-Orient" (https://www.liberation.
fr/planete/2013/05/28/la-balkanisation-du-proche-orient_906392). Libération.fr (in French).
Retrieved 28 September 2019.

Bibliography
Bates, Robert H.; Coatsworth, John H.; Williamson, Jeffrey G. (2007). "Lost Decades:
Postindependence Performance in Latin America and Africa" (https://dash.harvard.edu/b
 itstream/handle/1/12211559/S0022050707000447a.pdf?sequence=1) (PDF). The
Journal of Economic History. 67 (4): 917–943. doi:10.1017/S0022050707000447 (http
s://doi.org/10.1017%2FS0022050707000447). ISSN 1471-6372 (https://www.worldcat.or
g/issn/1471-6372).
Pringle, Robert W. (2016). "Balkanization" (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Balkanization).
Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 15 October 2017.
Simic, Predrag (2013). "Balkans and Balkanisation: Western Perceptions of the Balkans in the
Carnegie Commission's Reports on the Balkan Wars from 1914 to 1996". Perceptions.
18 (2): 113–134. ISSN 1300-8641 (https://www.worldcat.org/issn/1300-8641).
Van de Walle, Nicolas (2004). "Economic Reform: Patterns and Constraints". In Gyimah-Boadi,
E. (ed.). Democratic Reform in Africa: The Quality of Progress. Boulder, Colorado:
Lynne Rienner Publishers. pp. 29–63. ISBN 978-1-58826-246-2.
Vidanović, Ivan (2006). Rečnik socijalnog rada (in Serbian). Udruženje stručnih radnika
socijalne zaštite Srbije; Društvo socijalnih radnika Srbije; Asocijacija centra za socijalni
rad Srbije; Unija Studenata socijalnog rada. ISBN 978-86-904183-4-3.

External links
The dictionary definition of Balkanization at Wiktionary

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Balkanization&oldid=941165780"

This page was last edited on 17 February 2020, at 00:07 (UTC).

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using
this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.