Citation

Tuathail G. Polit. Geogr. 2010; 29(5): 256-265.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Butterworth-Heinemann)

DOI

10.1016/j.polgeo.2010.01.011

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Critical geopolitics began as a critique of Cold War geopolitical discourses that imposed homogenizing categories upon diverse regional conflicts and marginalized place-specific structural causes of instability and violence. This critique is still relevant. Implicit within it is the promise of a more geographical geopolitics that, arguably, has not been realized by research. Using Bosnia-Herzegovina as an example, this paper examines the challenges of developing a critical geopolitics grounded in the study of contested geopolitical regions and places. Reviewing anthropological and other place-sensitive studies of violent population displacement and post-war returns in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the paper considers some conceptual dilemmas and questions raised by attempting to create a grounded critical geopolitics.