Strategies of Secession and Counter-Secession [Paperback]

One of the tensions at the heart of international law is that between the norms of sovereignty and self-determination. Griffiths (Syracuse Univ.) and Muro (Univ. of St. Andrews, UK) have assembled a collection that explores what leads to success when a territory or people attempts to secede and what accounts for the very low probability of success. The essays examine dynamics between states in the international realm and between governments and their people. Electoral strategies, universal declarations, protest movements, demonstrations, and violent uprisings are looked at both theoretically and in the context of specific case studies, as movements appeal to popular, governmental, and international actors for recognition. States, for their part, play a game of blocking in both domestic and international?realms. In the end success is extremely rare and seems to honor no general formulas. Cases examined range both temporally and geographically: Europe (Flanders, Scotland, Catalonia, Kosovo), North America (Qu?bec), Asia (Bangladesh, Abkhazia, East Timor, Aceh, and West Papua), and Africa (Somaliland) all factor in comparative analysis. Relevant for theorists and empiricists, this volume prepares the ground for future work. Summing Up: Recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty.From Scotland to South Sudan, movements are aspiring to independence  and governments are trying to stop them. This collection of essays edited by Ryan D. Griffiths and Diego Muro breaks new ground by considering both sides of the argument. Combining, law, international relations and comparative political science, the book is a most valuable primer for anyone interested in the struggle to create new states - and in the politics of maintaining territorial unity.The often intense diplomatic battles between states and secessionist territories over independence and recognition is of increasing interest to academics and policy makers alike. This impressive and wide-ranging volume showcasls4