Buffer Zone

A buffer zone is a space placed between two or more locations increasing the degree of spatial distance between them. In effect, a buffer zone functions as a geographic insulator, separating zones of differing use, various regions, or countries that may potentially be in conflict from one another. They may be created for reasons of security, convenience, environmental preservation, or for aesthetic purposes. Buffer zones are increasingly used in urban planning, especially in large cities, and also have played an important role in geopolitics, in the form of buffer states.

Buffer states are weaker countries sandwiched between two or more adversarial states. Many buffer states were formed during the era of imperialism in the 18th and 19th centuries. In principle, they are created to spatially insulate potential combatants by placing distance between them. A classic example of a buffer state is the country of Afghanistan. The boundaries of the country were established primarily by outside imperial powers (Great Britain and Russia) to avoid sharing a common border and thereby limiting the potential for conflict. Afghanistan’s role as a buffer can be readily seen in its unusual prorupted shape in the northeast, along what is called the Wakhan Corridor. This portion of the country, consisting of a narrow strip of territory extending about 200 miles to the east, was created by British and Russian diplomats in 1895, who insisted that it be added to the boundary of Afghanistan to separate their respective empires. A second example is Thailand, a country that served as a buffer between French Indochina and British colonial holdings in Burma and India. Functioning as a buffer state, Thailand managed to maintain its independence and avoid colonization by either European power. Over time, buffer states may lose their function, as the political geography or political relationships that brought them into being change. Thailand is no longer considered a buffer, since the colonial powers it separated have withdrawn from the region, and it does not stand between countries that have a history of conflict.

Buffer zones designed to avoid conflict may be much smaller than buffer states. Examples are demilitarized zones and no-fly zones. At the conclusion of organized hostilities in the Korean War, a DMZ (demilitarized zone) was established between North and South Korea along the 38th parallel. This zone is approximately 2.5 miles wide and crosses the entire Korean Peninsula from west to east, a distance of over 150 miles. The Korean DMZ has been in place since 1953, and is the longest-serving demilitarized zone in the world. Other DMZs created after recent hostilities stand between Israel and Syria in the Golan Heights, between Iraq and Kuwait, and between the newly established country of Kosovo and Serbia. No-fly zones are air spaces in which only certain aircraft may operate

and again are frequently established between hostile states.