Regional Politics And State Secession

While a number of movements seek state secession, the majority never achieves internationally recognized statehood. Paradoxically, some movements that have succeeded have had weaker claims to statehood than many movements that have failed. Regional Politics and State Secession seeks to explain the variation in outcomes for secessionist movements. Why do some movements succeed when so many fail?

While a number of movements seek state secession, the majority never achieves internationally recognized statehood. Paradoxically, some movements that have succeeded have had weaker claims to statehood than many movements that have failed. Regional Politics and State Secession seeks to explain the variation in outcomes for secessionist movements and explores the reasons for why some movements succeed when so many fail. The author proposes a novel theory of secession based on the politics of the region, with the argument that only those secessionist movements that have the support of regional state and institutional actors will succeed in achieving internationally recognized statehood. Through an analysis of six movements across three regions, this book demonstrates why and how regional actors hold the key to understanding when a secessionist movement will find success. This work will appeal to an interdisciplinary academic audience. It lies at the intersection of international relations, international law, and comparative politics. While its core argument is based in international relations, its engagement with legal issues and its in-depth case studies, make it particularly relevant for those interested in international law and comparative politics.

Secession is the creation of a new independent state out of an existing state. This key volume examines the political, social and legal processes of the practice of secession. Following an analysis of secessionist movements and their role in attempts at secession, eight case studies are explored to illustrate peaceful, violent, sequential and recursive secessions. This is followed by a look at the theoretical approaches and a discussion that focuses on the economic causes. Normative theories of secession are discussed as well as the status of secession in legal theory and practice. The book systematizes our present knowledge of secessions in an accessible way to readers not familiar with the phenomenon and its consequences. It is ideal as a supplementary text to courses on contemporary political and social movements, applied ethics and political philosophy, international relations and international law, state sovereignty and state formation.

What makes a state? This question has attracted more and more attention in recent years with Catalan's illegal vote for independence from Spain and Palestine's ongoing search for international recognition. And while Scotland chose to remain with the United Kingdom, discussions of independence have only continued as the ramifications of the Brexit vote begin to set in. Kosovo, South Sudan, and the situation in Ukraine--each in its way reveals the perils of creating a nation separate from neighbors who have dominated it. As James Ker-Lindsay and Mikulas Fabry show in this new addition to the What Everyone Needs to Know® series, the road to statehood never did run smooth. Declaring independence is only the first step; gaining both local and global acceptance is necessary before a state can become truly independent. The prospect of losing territory is usually not welcomed by the parent state, and any such threat to an existing culture and its economy is often met with resistance--armed or otherwise. Beyond this immediate conflict, the international community often refuses to accept new states without proof of defined territory, a settled population, and effective government, which frequently translates to a democratic one with demonstrated respect for human rights. Covering the legal, political, and practical issues of secession and state creation, Ker-Lindsay and Fabry provide a sure-footed guide to a complex topic.

Examines the future of domestic and foreign relations between Canada, Quebec, and their neighbors in the event of a "yes" vote.

The boundaries between secessionism and separatism are often blurred, and in many cases study of secessionism encompasses that of separatism and vice versa. Recognising this inherent relationship, this book provides a comparative survey of recent attempts at secession and separatist movements from across Europe and Asia, and assesses the responses of the respective host governments. The essays address two main questions which arise from the relationship between state governments and secessionist movements: first, how secessionist or separatist movements gather support and mobilize their target populations and second, how central political authorities respond to the challenges that secessionist or separatist movements pose to their capacity to control the country. With political analysis of recent cases ranging from the Balkans, the USSR, the UK and the Basque Country, to Sri Lanka, Burma, China, Tibet and Taiwan, the authors identify both similarities and differences in the processes and outcomes of secessionist and separatist movements across the two distinct regions. This volume will be an invaluable resource for those who wish to understand the dynamics of secessionist movements and as such will appeal to students and scholars of Asian and European politics, comparative politics, international relations and conflict studies. It will also be helpful to practitioners and policy-makers who wish to understand and contribute to the resolution of such conflicts.

The present international order is characterized by the rapid globalization of economic activity, by systematic attempts to coordinate state responses to the outbreaks of violence and by unilateral military interventions against sovereign states either by the USA or by one of its regional allies. This collection explores the changes that the current international order has brought to the theory and practice of recognition of secessionist claims and to the conditions for secessionist mobilization. The volume examines how independence movements achieve legitimacy amongst both their target populations and outside states, and how the forces of increasing economic globalization and political interdependence impact on secessionist mobilization. It addresses how the outside states recognize the independence of new states and whether the claims to independent statehood can be justified within normative theories of secession and international law. These issues are explored both through comparative analysis within legal, international relations and political science frameworks and through an examination of several recent attempts at secession.

An examination of the reasons independence movements remain peaceful or become violent