Gerard Toal ( ga, Gearóid Ó Tuathail; born 1962 in the
Republic of Ireland[Hague, Euan (2004): Gearóid Ó Tuathail (Gerard Toal). In: Hubbard, Phil, Rob Kitchin and Gill Valentine (Eds.): Key thinkers on space and place. London: Sage Pubn Inc. pp. 226–230.]) is Professor of Government and International Affairs at
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Career
Toal holds a B.A. in
History and
Geography from
National University of Ireland, Maynooth, an M.A. in Geography from the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1984), and a Ph.D. in
Political Geography
Political geography is concerned with the study of both the spatially uneven outcomes of political processes and the ways in which political processes are themselves affected by spatial structures. Conventionally, for the purposes of analysis, po ...
from
Syracuse University
Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...
(1989).
He served for ten years as an Assistant Professor of Geography at
Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, before establishing the Government and International Affairs program in th
School of Public and International Affairs.He has held fellowships at the
Copenhagen Peace Research Institute The Copenhagen Peace Research Institute (COPRI) was a Danish research institute established in 1985 by the Danish Parliament. Its aim was to support and strengthen multidisciplinary research on peace and security. Established as an independent insti ...
, and the Center for International Studies at the
University of Southern California.
Toal has authored, co-authored, and/or edited eight books. ''Bosnia Remade: Ethnic Cleansing and Its Reversal'', co-authored with Dr Carl Dahlman, won the Julian Minghi Book Prize from the Political Geography Specialty Group. ''Near Abroad: Putin, the West, and the Contest over Ukraine and the Caucasus'' won th
ENMISA Distinguished Book Awardfrom the International Studies Association in 2019.
He has served as an associate editor for the academic journals ''
Geopolitics
Geopolitics (from Greek γῆ ''gê'' "earth, land" and πολιτική ''politikḗ'' "politics") is the study of the effects of Earth's geography (human and physical) on politics and international relations. While geopolitics usually refers to ...
'' and ''
Eurasian Geography and Economics.'' He currently serves on the editorial board of ''
Political Geography
Political geography is concerned with the study of both the spatially uneven outcomes of political processes and the ways in which political processes are themselves affected by spatial structures. Conventionally, for the purposes of analysis, po ...
'', ''
Eurasian Geography and Economics'', ''
Nationalities Papers'' and ''
Communist and Post-Communist Studies
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a Far-left politics, far-left Political sociology, sociopolitical, Political philosophy, philosophical, and Economic ideology, economic ideology and current within th ...
''.
His research specializations include
critical geopolitics,
nationalism,
political geography
Political geography is concerned with the study of both the spatially uneven outcomes of political processes and the ways in which political processes are themselves affected by spatial structures. Conventionally, for the purposes of analysis, po ...
,
post-Communism
Post-communism is the period of political and economic transformation or transition in former communist states located in Eastern Europe and parts of Africa and Asia in which new governments aimed to create free market-oriented capitalist economi ...
,
globalization,
territorial disputes
A territorial dispute or boundary dispute is a disagreement over the possession or control of land between two or more political entities.
Context and definitions
Territorial disputes are often related to the possession of natural resources su ...
, and
discourse analysis. He has published on various field research projects in
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and Pars pro toto#Geography, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of Southern Europe, south and southeast Euro ...
,
Georgia,
Armenia,
Moldova, and
Ukraine.
In 2005, Toal testified before the United States Congress on political developments in
Bosnia-Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and Pars pro toto#Geography, often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of Southern Europe, south and southeast Euro ...
.
Selected books
* G. Toal, ''Near Abroad: Putin, the West, and the Contest over Ukraine and the Caucasus'' Oxford University Press, 2017.
* G. Toal, C. Dahlman, ''Bosnia Remade: Ethnic Cleansing and its Reversal.'' Oxford University Press, 2011.
* G. Ó Tuathail, S. Dalby and P. Routledge, ''The Geopolitics Reader''. Second edition. Routledge, 2006.
* J. Agnew, K. Mitchell and G. Toal, eds. ''A Companion to Political Geography''. Blackwell, 2004.
* S. Dalby and G. Ó Tuathail, eds., ''Rethinking Geopolitics''. Routledge, 1998.
* G. Ó Tuathail, S. Dalby and P. Routledge, ''The Geopolitics Reader''. First edition. Routledge, 1998.
* A. Herod, G. Ó Tuathail and S. Roberts, eds. ''An Unruly World? Geography, Globalization and Governance''. Routledge, 1998.
* G. Ó Tuathail, ''Critical Geopolitics: The Politics of Writing Global Space''. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press (Volume 6 in the Borderlines series) and London: Routledge, 1996.
Further reading
*Hague, Euan (2004): ''Gearóid Ó Tuathail (Gerard Toal)'' in: Hubbard, Phil, Rob Kitchin and Gill Valentine (Eds.): ''Key thinkers on space and place''. London: Sage Pubn Inc. pp. 226–230.
*Louis, Florian (2014). ''La géopolitique critique (Gearóid Ó Tuathail)'' in: ''Les grands théoriciens de la géopolitique''. Presses universitaires de France, Paris, 2014, pp. 179-188.
References
External links
Gerard Toal's blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toal, Gerard
1962 births
20th-century Irish people
21st-century Irish people
People from County Monaghan
Geopoliticians
Irish geographers
Living people
Political geographers
Virginia Tech faculty
Alumni of St Patrick's College, Maynooth