Shatter belt, shatter zone or crush zone is a

concept A concept is an abstract idea that serves as a foundation for more concrete principles, thoughts, and beliefs. Concepts play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied within such disciplines as linguistics, ...

geopolitics Geopolitics () is the study of the effects of Earth's geography on politics and international relations. Geopolitics usually refers to countries and relations between them, it may also focus on two other kinds of State (polity), states: ''de fac ...

referring to strategically-positioned and -oriented regions on a political map that are deeply internally divided and encompassed in the competition between the great powers in geostrategic areas and spheres. The term was first applied in geopolitics in 1961 by Gordon East, an American scholar from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

. It was borrowed from geology, in which a shatter belt refers to a

fault line In geology, a fault is a planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock-mass movements. Large faults within Earth's crust result from the action of plate tectonic ...

, i.e. "belt of broken rock, produced by horizontal movement in a more or less vertical plane".

Definitions

The conceptual foundation of the shatter belt in

stems from the analytical approach of examining the world map of

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

and empires in terms of their

geopolitical Geopolitics () is the study of the effects of Earth's geography on politics and international relations. Geopolitics usually refers to countries and relations between them, it may also focus on two other kinds of states: ''de facto'' independen ...

struggles and military and political relations. Shatter belts are defined as strategically positioned areas which are characterized by a greater inclination towards internal division, which gives rise to a high number of conflicts, and at the same time are strategically important for the

great power A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power ...

s. The fragility of such regions is the result of long-standing clashes with a great deal of disruptive influence, light chaos, and, in general, a propensity for devastating conflicts in these regions. Hence the term "shatter belt" generally refers to a

geographical region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

that is endangered by local conflicts within the states or between countries in the region, as well as the involvement of opposing

great powers A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power ...

outside the region. Regions marked as a shatter belt are often blamed for interstate

war War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

and conflict, especially in relation to major power conflicts. Regarding their engagement and close connection with major and global conflicts of power, shatter belts are at the same time the main crisis hot spots or hard-to-reach areas in world politics and

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

. Unlike most geopolitical regions that have a different degree of cohesion, the regions considered shatter belts are global destabilizers. The

Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

Roof of the World The Roof of the World or Top of the World is a metaphoric epithet or phrase used to describe the highest region in the world, also known as High Asia. The term usually refers to the mountainous interior of Asia, including the Pamirs, the Himalay ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

{{Cite journal , last=Cohen , first=S. B. , year=1992 , title=Middle East geopolitical transformation: The disappearance of a shatterbelt , journal=Journal of Geography , volume=91 , issue=1 , pages=2–10 , doi=10.1080/00221349208979330 have been associated with this concept.

References

Geopolitical terminology Belt regions Metaphors referring to places

Definitions

See also

References