The phrase "an effort to split" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when describing an attempt or initiative aimed at dividing something, whether it be a group, an organization, or an idea.
Example: "The committee made an effort to split the budget evenly among all departments."
Alternatives: "an attempt to divide" or "a move to separate".
In the 1990s, he claimed, American special services financed and supported Chechen terrorists in an effort to split Russia.
But this amendment goes too far in what looks like an effort to split the reform coalition.
They recruited Ms. Cortes in what was an effort to split the anti-Pearce vote, particularly among Latinos, a judge later found.
In an effort to split the difference, some importers are adding back labels that impart information in English that Americans can remember.
Instead, it seemed to be an effort to split more moderate Hamas officials in the West Bank from their more militant brethren in Gaza.
Mr. Mugabe's maneuvers were widely seen as an effort to split the Commonwealth along the lines of race and wealth, and in some views he nearly succeeded.
Unusually, this month's war games were given advance billing, and their aim was spelled out publicly: to warn Taiwan "separatists" and other "outside forces" that China will not tolerate any effort to split the island away.
"I think that any efforts to split the labor movement, whether it's Democrats or Republicans, are unwelcome and not helpful to long-run stability in the state," said Michael Podhorzer, the political director for the A.F.L.-C.I.O.
And Dr. Martin and Governor Walker spent months on an unsuccessful effort to split the Madison campus from the rest of the state's higher-education system, giving it greater flexibility in an era of reduced state financing.
The source goes on to say that political strife is growing within the Islamic Republic, stating that "recent speeches reflect an ongoing effort to split [Supreme Leader Ali] Khameini from the Ahmedinejad group".
The Southern Baptist Convention's Internet site, in a section called "Baptist2Baptist," carries an essay by R. Albert Mohler, a seminary president, denouncing the proposal on the seminaries as a "propaganda effort" to split Texas from the denomination.
