The Dictionary of Human Geography

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projects of domination and dispossession.

For this reason, Coronil (1996) prefers to

treat Occidentalism as the condition of possi-

bility of Orientalism itself: ‘the conceptions of

the West’ that underwrite – that make

possible – its own representations of non-

western cultures. This tactic reminds us that

Orientalism not only constructs ‘the Orient’

but also simultaneously constructs and privil-

eges the West-as-Subject (seeeurocentrism).

Occidentalism in a more populist sense

gained new impetus in the aftermath of the

terrorist attacks on New York City and

Washington on 11 September 2001. A com-

mon response was to ask ‘Why do they hate

us?’ and to look for answers among ‘them’

rather than ‘us’ and, in particular, ‘their’ sup-

posed hostility to the political and cultural

formations of a universalmodernity. So, for

example, Buruma and Margalit (2004) pro-

vided a thumbnail sketch of Occidentalism as

‘the West in the eyes of its enemies’ and sought

to locate ‘today’s suicide bombers and holy

warriors’ within a larger history of ‘hatred’

and ‘loathing’ of the West and all works.

Theirs was a remarkably shallow reading,

which revealed more about the authors than

their object of enquiry, and in this sense was

another mapping of the Occidentalism that

Coronil had so presciently in mind. dg

Suggested reading

Bonnett (2005); Coronil (1966).

occupation, military The assumption of

effective control through military action by a

sovereign powerover aterritoryto which it

has no legal title. Military occupation is thus

distinct frommilitary rule, though both may

rely on the suspension of the pre-existing

rule oflaw, the imposition of martial law

(cf. exception, space of) and the violent

domination of the civilian population (see,

e.g., Hudson-Rodd and Hunt, 2005).

Occupations have taken place throughout

human history, most obviously in the expan-

sion ofempiresthrough conquest and annex-

ation, and these often involved transfers of

population: slaves to Rome, Roman settlers

to the colonies. But since the Second World

War modern occupations have been governed

by internationallawthat both proscribes the

acquisition of territory by force (so that occu-

pations are supposed to be temporary affairs)

and specifically forbids population transfers.

The same body of law requires the occupying

power to restore and maintain public order, to

respect privateproperty, and to safeguard the

healthand welfare of the occupied popula-

tion. In practice, however, as Benvenisti’s

(2004) review of twentieth-century occupa-

tions reveals, these obligations have been

more honoured in the breach: most either de-

nied their status as Occupying Powers (even

though international law makes it clear that

occupation is a matter of fact, not intention

or proclamation) or assumed wide discretion-

ary powers.

Military occupations raise at least three sets

of crucial geographical questions:

 Strategy. What are the objectives of military

occupation? Some are the result of military

success in war: they may be directed

towards permanent annexation and the

creation of tributary states for geopolitical

and geo-economic reasons (e.g. the Nazi

occupation of continental Europe between

1939 and 1945, or the Soviet occupation

of much of Central and Eastern Europe

between 1945 and 1989); or they may be

temporary (but nonetheless protracted) af-

fairs directed towards the replacement of

one political system by another (e.g. the

US occupation of Japan, 1945–52: see

also geopolitics). Many contemporary

occupations are the result of international

interventions to end regional or civil war

(‘peace-keeping’; e.g. the NATO occupa-

tions of Kosovo and Bosnia from 1995 to

the present), though some have entailed

the use of militaryviolenceon a scale

that recalls Tacitus’ description of the

Roman occupation of Britain: ‘They create

a devastation and call it peace.’ Still others

are attempts to create buffer zones to guar-

anteesecurity(e.g. the Israeli occupation

of southern Lebanon, 1982–2000: and see

Schofield, 1993). But many occupations

have a mix of motives – occupation is rarely

a coherent or transparent project – and

while modern occupations often cloak

themselves in the rhetoric of ‘liberation’,

they often have long-term, transformative

ends in view (Bhuta, 2005) and the pres-

ence of foreign troops often meets fierce

resistancefrom the occupied population.

 Logistics. What power-geometries are

necessary to maintain control over an

occupied population (e.g. Weizman, 2004)?

Military occupations depend on the spatial

circulation of information (intelligence

about the occupied population and its

activities, military orders and public

announcements), on supplynetworksto

provide essential resources for occupiers

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OCCUPATION, MILITARY