balkanization

1. Division of a place or country into several small political units, often unfriendly to one another. The term balkanization comes from the name of the Balkan Peninsula, which was divided into several small nations in the early twentieth century.

Example Sentences

“What we’ve seen is the Balkanization of the Conservative Party — and Balkanization leads to constant strife, turbulence and an inability to achieve anything as a united force.”

From New York Times

The corporate balkanization of the internet into unusable-yet-unavoidable platforms full of garbage is a predictable foreshadowing of what the continued privatization of space is going to look like.

From Salon

The corporate balkanization of the internet into unusable-yet-unavoidable platforms full of garbage is a predictable foreshadowing of what the continued privatization of space is going to look like.

From Salon

On the left, we have become distracted by narrow identitarian questions that reflect the Balkanization of our politics into a zero-sum game of competition between interest groups.

From Slate

This balkanization is not the way of Christ or the way of the church.

From Washington Times