John O'Loughlin

Research Interests

John O'Loughlin's research interests are in the political geography of the post-Soviet Union, including Russian and Ukrainian geopolitics, Eurasian quasi-states, and ethno-territorialial nationalisms. He has also published on the diffusion of democracy, electoral geography, the geography of conflict, and the political geography of Nazi Germany. He teaches undergraduate classes in Political Geography, Geographies of Global Change, and the Geography of Western Europe, and graduate classes in Political Geography. He serves on the Advisory Committee of the International Affairs undergraduate program. He is Editor-in Chief of Political Geography.

Selected Publications

J. O’Loughlin, V. Kolossov and G. Toal (G. Ó Tuathail) . (2011). Inside Abkhazia: A survey of attitudes in a de facto state. Post-Soviet Affairs 27,1 1-23.

O’Loughlin, J. and Witmer, F. (2011). The Localized Geographies of Violence in the North Caucasus of Russia, 1999-2007. Annals. Association of American Geographers. 101,1 178-201.

J. O’Loughlin, F. Witmer and A. Linke . (2010). The Afghanistan-Pakistan wars, 2008-2009: Micro-geographies, conflict diffusion and clusters of violence. Eurasian Geography and Economics 51,4 437-471.

Bakke, K., O’Loughlin, J., and Ward, M.D. (2009). Reconciliation in Conflict-Affected Societies:Multilevel Modeling of Individual and Contextual Factors in the North Caucasus of Russia. Annals, Association of American Geographers 99, no. 5, 1012-1021.

G. Ó Tuathail (G. Toal) and J. O’Loughlin. (2009). After Ethnic Cleansing: The Returns Process in Bosnia-Herzegovina a Decade beyond War. Annals. Association of American Geographers 99, 1045-1053.

Publications updated February 2011

Recent Courses Include

Spring 2013  GEOG 4712/5712 (3) Political Geography

Graduate Students

	Meredith DeBoom	M.A.		political geography, natural resources
	Andrew Linke	Ph.D.		Political Geography; Political Violence
	Meagan Todd	Ph.D.		Political & cultural geography in post-Soviet space
	Sarah Tynen	M.A.		Chinese autonomous regions; demolition and redevelopment
	Jennifer Bartmess	M.A.	Alumni 2012	Securitization in Yemen, 2000-2010: Shifting Geographies of Political Contention
	Edward Holland	Ph.D.	Alumni 2012	Buddhism in Post-Soviet Russia: The Geographic Contexts of 'Revival'
	Natalie Koch	Ph.D.	Alumni 2012	The City and the Steppe: Territory, Technologies of Government, and Kazakhstan's New Capital
	Natalie Koch	M.A.	Alumni 2009	Nation-Building, Geopolitics, and the Andijon Uprising: Securitizing Discourses in Uzbekistan
	Adam Levy	Ph.D.	Alumni 2012	Territory and Sovereignty in a Borderland: The Case of Moldova
	Frank Witmer	Ph.D.	Alumni 2007	The Effects of War on Land-Use/Land-Cover Change: An Analysis of Landsat Imagery for Northeast Bosnia

What's New

The dynamics of war outcomes project with Gerard Toal, Mike Ward, Kristin Bakke, Frank Witmer and Vladimir Kolossov, resulted in 8-10 papers appearing in 2009-11. A project titled ""The Dynamics of Secessionist Regions: Eurasian Unrecognized Quasi-States after Kosovo's Independence"" (with Mike Ward, Duke University and Gerard Toal, Virginia Tech) was funded by NSF in late 2008. Quasi-states are secessionist regions that have established internal territorial sovereignty but lack widespread recognition and legitimacy as states. We will focus on five quasi-states in the Balkans-Black Sea region - Kosovo, Transdniester Moldovan Republic (TMR) in Moldova, Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia, and on Nagorno-Karabakh. We have completed surveys in Moldova, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Transdniestria and are preparing for further surveys in Georgia and Nagorno-Karabakh. Updates on the papers and presentations from this project are available from its website; http://www.colorado.edu/ibs/pec/defacto_states/.

A more recent project with Mara Goldman and colleagues from NCAR on “climate change/variability and conflict in subSaharan Africa” was funded in 2010 by the National Science Foundation. Updates on this research endeavor is available from http://www.colorado.edu/ibs/pec/climateconflict/.

I am in my 31st year as Editor of POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY and I am also one of the editors of Eurasian Geography and Economics, I continue to teach Political Geography (Geog 4712/5712) and Geographies of Global Change (Geog 2002) on a regular basis, (usually yearly) as well as mentoring 6 graduate students and directing about 3-4 undergraduate honors theses a year.

I also continue on the Advisory Committee of the International Affairs undergraduate program for the 22nd year. Recently, I have joined the National Geographic Society's Committee on Research and Exploration.

"What's New" updated February 2011

More Info

Running waaaaaay too many miles on Boulder's streets and trails in preparation for my twice-yearly marathons, hiking with my son, and traveling as much as I can to places off-the-beaten-path.

I am editor-in-chief of Political Geography and editor of Eurasian Geography and Economics. I serve on the Advisory Committee of the International Affairs undergraduate program. I also serve on the National Geographic Society's Committee on Research and Exploration.