Balkanization, or Balkanisation, is a geopolitical term, originally used to describe the process of fragmentation or division of a region or state into smaller regions or states that are often hostile or non-cooperative with each other, and it is considered pejorative.

The term refers to the division of the Balkan peninsula, formerly ruled almost entirely by the Ottoman Empire, into a number of smaller states between 1817 and 1912. The term however came into common use in the immediate aftermath of the First World War, with reference to the numerous new states that arose from the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Russian Empire.

The term is also used to describe other forms of disintegration, including, for instance, the subdivision of the Internet into separate enclaves, the division of subfields and the creation of new fields from sociology, and the breakdown of cooperative arrangements due to the rise of independent competitive entities engaged in "beggar thy neighbour" bidding wars.

Rajiv Malhotra, born September 1950, is an Indian-American author, philanthropist, public speaker and writer on current affairs, world religions and cross-cultural encounters. He is the founder of the Infinity Foundation. He is also a former telecommunication entrepreneur. After a career in the software, computer, and telecom industries Malhotra took an early retirement to pursue philanthropic and educational activities. He founded the Infinity foundation in 1995.

Prema A. Kurien considers him to be at "...the forefront of American Hindu effort to challenge the Eurocentricism in the academia." He has been considered by Hinnells to lead the traditional Hindu criticism of Wendy Doniger's methodology for the examination of Hinduism

He considers that a positive stance on India has been underrepresented in American academia, this was derived from programmes staffed by Westerners, their "Indian - American Sepoys" and Indian Americans wanting to be white - whom he describes as "career opportunists" and "Uncle Toms" who in their desire to become even marginal members of the Western Grand Narrative sneer at Indian culture in the same manner as colonialists once did. Academia according to him promoted "a perscective on India using worldviews which are hostile to India's interests", and that "...Indian American donors were hoodwinked into thinking that they were supporting India through their monetary contributions to such programmes". He has claimed that American scholarship has undermined India by encouraging paradigms that oppose its unity and integrity, with scholars playing crirical roles, often under the garb of 'human rights' in channeling foreign intellectual and material support to exacerbate India's internal cleavages. He has accused the academia of abetting the Talibanisation of India, which would also lead to the Talibanisation of other Asian countries.

Neil B. Rolnick (born 22 Octoboer 1947, in Dallas, Texas, United States) is an American composer and educator living in New York City.

Rolnick's compositions have appeared on 16 records and CDs. A pioneer in the use of computers in performance, he was a researcher at the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) in Paris in the late 1970s.

Since 1981 Rolnick has taught at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he founded the iEAR Studios. In 1991, as head of Rensselaer's Arts Department[1], he led the establishment of the nation's first MFA program in Integrated Electronic Arts. As of 2007, he is still a professor at the RPI arts department, commuting weekly from NYC to teach.

Much of Rolnick's musical output involves the use of computers and digital media, but it is generally notable for its accessibility and good humor. His music has been characterized by critics as "sophisticated" (Ken Smith, Grammophone), "hummable and engaging" (Steve Barnes, Albany (NY) Times Union), and as having "good senses of showmanship and humor" (Kyle Gann, The Village Voice).