Balkanize is a verb that means to break into smaller regions.

The origin of our word of the day comes from the Turkish word ‘Balkan,’ which means ‘mountain.’ It came to refer to a region in Southeastern Europe that includes Albania, Greece, Romania and the European portion or Turkey.

The decline of the Ottoman Empire of the 18th century led to a series of revolts that fractured the region into instability.

Balkanize soon became a word that described a region or group being divided and weakened in some way. For example: I hope no one attempts to Balkanize the nations of that region. Breaking them up and creating division would foster sheer chaos.