Dictionary

Balkanization en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˌbɔːl.kən.aɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/ (UK)
• /ˌbɑl.kən.aɪˈzeɪ.ʃən/ (US)

Etymology

From Balkan + -ization. The term is a reference to the conflicts that the Balkan peninsula experienced in the 20th century.

Meanings

1. (countable, historical, uncountable) The fragmentation of a geopolitical region into several small states that are often hostile or non-cooperative with each other.
2. (broadly, countable, informal, uncountable) Any disintegration or fragmentation process.
   • demographic balkanization
   • Issues that are already hotly contested become even more divisive in the context of social balkanization. 2002, Carol M. Swain, The New White Nationalism in America, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 94:
   • In other words, will the biometric future feature biometric centralization whereby one biometric would dominate multiple applications, or will we see biometric balkanization where multiple biometrics are used for multiple applications? 2006, Anil K. Jain, Ruud Bolle, Sharath Pankanti, Biometrics: Personal Identification in Networked Society, Springer Science & Business Media, →ISBN, page 401:

Forms

Deriveds

cyber-Balkanization · cyberbalkanization

Relateds

Balkanize

Synonyms

fragmentation

Translations (48)

fi balkanisaatio (any disintegration process) · it balcanizzazione (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · ar بَلْقَنَة (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · ca balcanització (any disintegration process) · uk балканіза́ція (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · es balcanización (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · pt balcanização (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · ms balkanisasi (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · bg балканиза́ция (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · tr Balkanlaşma (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · no balkanisering (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · ja バルカニゼーション (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · pt balcanização (any disintegration process) · cs balkanizace (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · cmn 巴爾幹化 /巴尔干化 (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · sv balkanisering (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · sl balkanizacija (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · ca balcanització (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · fr balkanisation (any disintegration process) · el βαλκανοποίηση (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · be балканіза́цыя (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · ru балканиза́ция (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · cmn 巴爾幹化 /巴尔干化 (any disintegration process) · tl balkanisasyon (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · fi balkanisaatio (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · sh balkanizacija (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · hu balkanizáció (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · es balcanización (any disintegration process) · nl balkanisering (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · pl bałkanizacja (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · sk balkanizácia (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · ja バルカン化 (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · ko 발칸화 (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · tr balkanizasyon (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · ru балканиза́ция (any disintegration process) · de Zerfall (any disintegration process) · gl balcanización (any disintegration process) · bg балканиза́ция (any disintegration process) · id balkanisasi (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · mk балканизација (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · sh балканизација (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · ka ბალკანიზაცია (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · gl balcanización (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · ro balcanizare (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · fr balkanisation (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · vi Balkan hóa (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · de Balkanisierung (fragmentation of a region into several small states) · ka ბალკანიზაცია (any disintegration process)