Title
The Right to Self-Determination under International Law : 'Selfistans', Secession, and the Great Powers' Rule
Files
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Description
This book proposes a novel theory of self-determination; the Rule of the Great Powers. This book argues that traditional legal norms on self-determination have failed to explain and account for recent results of secessionist self-determination struggles. While secessionist groups like the East Timorese, the Kosovar Albanians and the South Sudanese have been successful in their quests for independent statehood, other similarly situated groups have been relegated to an at times violent existence within their mother states. Thus, Chechens still live without significant autonomy within Russia, and the South Ossetians and the Abkhaz have seen their conflicts frozen because of the peculiar geo-political equilibrium of power within the Caucuses region.
The Rule of the Great Powers, which asserts that only those self-determination seeking entities which enjoy the support of the majority of the most powerful states (the Great Powers) will ultimately have their rights to self-determination fulfilled. The Great Powers, potent military, economic and political powerhouses such as the United States, China, Russia, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy, often dictate self-determination outcomes through their influence in global affairs. Issues of self-determination in the modern world can no longer be effectively resolved through the application of traditional legal rules; rather, resort must be had to novel theories, such as the Rule of the Great Powers.
This book will be of particular interest to academics and students of law, political science and international relations.
ISBN
0415668182
Publication Date
2013
Publisher
Routledge
City
London
Keywords
self-determination, successionist groups, great powers, rule of the great powers, selfistans
Disciplines
International Law | Law
Recommended Citation
Sterio, Milena, "The Right to Self-Determination under International Law : 'Selfistans', Secession, and the Great Powers' Rule" (2013). Scholarship Collection. 136.
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/scholbks/136
