The Performativity of State Non-Recognition in Sports: The Case of Spain over Kosovo

Abstract This article focuses on the use of sport by the Spanish Government to perform its non-recognition of Kosovo’s statehood. Our main goal is to analyse the practices and narratives through which Spain’s public authorities have carried out this policy in the sporting arena. Likewise, we set two specific objectives: to examine the administrative measures adopted by the Spanish government when a Kosovan team has participated in an event hosted in Spain; and to describe the policies and discourses regarding the display of Kosovo’s national symbols in these competitions. The study is based on a qualitative approach of five major tournaments that have taken place (or due to) in Spain between 2018 and 2019. The documentation has been mainly gathered through desk-research. The three major data sources have been media press releases, Spanish Government’s communiqués and sporting federation’s statements. We underline that the policies adopted by the Spanish authorities respond to a systematic strategy to give no room for a potential understanding of Kosovo as a sovereign state. Likewise, we highlight that Madrid’s attitude towards the Balkan country must be understood keeping in mind its own internal politics, specifically the nationalist claims from Catalonia and the Basque Country.

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Spain, La Roja, and the forging of the nation: truth or fiction?

Review of Nationalities ◽

10.2478/pn-2020-0006 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 77-91

Author(s):

Filip Kubiaczyk

Keyword(s):

Basque Country ◽

Poor Performance ◽

National Unity ◽

Spanish Society ◽

National Team ◽

Integrating Factor ◽

National Symbols ◽

The Face ◽

Political Differences

Abstract The paper analyzes the role of the national team of Spain denoted by the neologism La Roja in promoting patriotic sentiments and building national unity. In a 2014 study entitled Goles y banderas. Fútbol e identidades nacionales en España, Alejandro Quiroga Fernández de Soto argues that the successes of the team in 2008-2012 (Champions of Europe in Austria and Switzerland, World Champions in South Africa and again Champions of Europe in Poland and Ukraine), brought about a patriotic revival, while La Roja itself became an integrating factor which united the Spanish regardless of political differences and distinct identities. The assertion is highly debatable for two reasons: firstly, the resurgence of the national symbols was temporary and did not occur uniformly across the country, especially in Catalonia and the Basque Country; secondly, it would be more fitting to speak of journalistic patriotism rather than actual patriotic revival within the Spanish society. The paper critically assesses the patriotic discourse rooted in the successes of La Roja in 2008-2012. Their poor performance in the last major tournaments in 2014-2018 and absence of any particular euphoria surrounding the national team confirm that the wave of flags which swept the country in the successful period was not an expression of profound, patriotic renewal of national symbols. At most, it may be argued to have been a forced attempt to boost Spanish (centralist) nationalism in the face of the increasingly active peripheral nationalisms, especially its most radical, Catalan embodiment.

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Civil Suits

Imagining Justice for Syria ◽

10.1093/oso/9780190055967.003.0008 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 315-339

Author(s):

Beth Van Schaack

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

International Law ◽

Criminal Liability ◽

The United States ◽

Public Authorities ◽

Sovereign State ◽

Domestic Courts ◽

The Matrix ◽

The Icj ◽

Convention Against Torture

Rounding out the matrix of accountability, chapter 8 presents several nonpenal options to bring justice to Syria, including civil suits in domestic courts against responsible individuals and entities and options for exercising jurisdiction over the sovereign state of Syria. Because there is no notion of state criminality under international law, only civil claims seeking money damages can be advanced against sovereign states. Jurisdiction over Syria exists before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) under the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment; however, so far no state has been willing to take Syria to task before the ICJ. And so, victims must bear this burden. In this regard, some tort law options exist in domestic courts, especially in the United States with its suite of statutes giving its domestic courts jurisdiction over certain international law violations in certain circumstances. This chapter features a groundbreaking suit against Syria under the United States’ Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, which resulted in a $300 million judgment for the surviving family members of Marie Colvin, the intrepid war correspondent assassinated by the Syrian regime. The chapter observes that although civil remedies are no substitute for vigorous criminal liability, these suits do extend victims some dignitary benefits that may not accrue with participation in a criminal process, even as a partie civile, including the opportunity to control the litigation process and act where the public authorities may be unable or unwilling to do so.

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La nueva política lingüística en el País Vasco Norte

RVAP 118 - Revista Vasca de Administración Pública / Herri-Arduralaritzarako Euskal Aldizkaria ◽

10.47623/ivap-rvap.115.2019.12 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 403-460

Author(s):

Eguzki URTEAGA

Keyword(s):

Local Governance ◽

Basque Country ◽

Advisory Board ◽

Public Works ◽

Public Authorities ◽

Public Office ◽

The Public ◽

Politica Publica ◽

The One ◽

Pais Vasco

LABURPENA: 2004ko urteak inflexio-puntua markatu zuen Ipar Euskal Herrian landu eta ondoren ezarritako hizkuntza politikan; batez ere, Hizkuntza Politikarako Obragintza Publikoa Euskararen Erakunde Publiko (EEP) bilakatzearen ondorioz. Aldaketa horrek botere publikoen borondatea erakusten du, toki-gobernamenduan eskema klasikoago batera itzultzeko —alde batetik, administrazio publikoak, eta bestetik, elkarte-eragileak, aholku-batzorde batean bilduta—, bai eta haien asmo bat ere: euskara berpiztearen aldeko politika publiko handinahiago bat aurrera eramatea. Entitate berri horrek, interes publikoko elkargoaren forma juridikoa hartu baitu, misio edo eginkizun bikoitza du: euskararen aldeko hizkuntza politika publikoa eta hitzartua asmatzea, definitzea eta obratzea; eta behar diren finantza baliabideak bermatzea, bere egitasmoan ezarri dituen ekintzak edo obralari batzuekin hitzartu dituenak gauzatzeko. Euskararen Erakunde Publikoa da bere baitan diren erakundeen aginduz euskara berpizteko politika prestatzeko ardura duena. Lan horren ondorioz, 2006an, Hizkuntza Politika Proiektu bat sortu zen, epe labur eta ertaineko orientazioak eta helburuak finkatzen zituena, hala nola, jarraitu beharreko estrategia, eta programa operatibo bat, haiek lortzeko bidea zabalduko zuena, ahaztu gabe, jakina, jarraipen-adierazle batzuk, ebaluazioa errazte aldera. Politika horri ministerioarteko ebaluazio bikoitza egin zaio, zeinak ondorio hauek atera dituen, besteak beste: Euskararen Erakunde Publikoak esku-hartzeko duen gaitasuna areagotua, Eusko Jaurlaritzarekin lankidetza indartua, aurrerapen nabarmenak hezkuntzaren bidezko euskararen transmisioan, euskarazko baliabideen hobekuntza, eta Aholku Batzordeak ez duela bere tokia aurkitu. ABSTRACT: 2004 is a turning point in the linguistic policy elaborated and thereafter implemented in northern Basque Country, particularly because of the transformation of the Direction for the Public Works into the Public Office for the Basque Language. That change gives an account of the willingness of public authorities to go back to a classic scheme in the local governance with, on the one hand, public administrations and, on the other hand, associative actors gathered at the Advisory Board, and their wish to carry out a more ambitious public policy for the revitalization of Basque. This new entity, which acts as a public interest group, is equipped with a twofold function: to design, define and initiate a linguistic policy for the Basque; and to mobilize the necessary financial resources for its implementation. The elaboration of a policy for the linguistic revitalization was commissioned by its member institutions to the Public Office for the Basque Language. This effort results, in December 2006, in the drafting of a Project for a Linguistic policy that sets out the main guidelines and objectives to be achieved in the short and medium term together with the strategy to follow and an operative program to be applied in order to attain them; without neglecting some monitoring indicators in order to facilitate assessment. This policy has undergone a double interdepartmental assessment which concludes among others the increasing of the intervention ability by the Public Office for the Basque Language, an enhanced cooperation with the Basque Government, significant advances in the transmission of Basque by means of education, an improvement in euskera resources, but also an Advisory Board which has not found its rightful place yet. RESUMEN: El año 2004 marca un punto de inflexión en la política lingüística elaborada y posteriormente implementada en el País Vasco norte, en particular como consecuencia de la transformación de la Dirección de la Obra Pública en la Oficina Pública de la Lengua Vasca (OPLV). Ese cambio da cuenta de la voluntad de los poderes públicos de volver a un esquema más clásico en la gobernanza local, con, por un lado, las administraciones públicas, y, por otro, los actores asociativos reunidos en un Comité Consultivo, y de su deseo de llevar a cabo una política pública más ambiciosa a favor de la revitalización de la lengua vasca. Esta nueva entidad, que toma la forma jurídica de una Agrupación de Interés Público, es dotada de una doble misión: concebir, definir y poner en marcha una política lingüística a favor de la lengua vasca; y, movilizar los recursos financieros necesarios a su implementación. La OPLV es encargada por las instituciones que la componen de elaborar una política de revitalización lingüística. Esa labor desemboca, en diciembre de 2006, en la confección de un Proyecto de Política Lingüística que fija las grandes orientaciones y los objetivos a alcanzar a corto y medio plazo, así como la estrategia a seguir y un programa operativo a aplicar que permita alcanzarlos; sin omitir unos indicadores de seguimiento que faciliten su evaluación. Esta política ha sido objeto de una doble evaluación interministerial, que concluye, entre otros, a un incremento de la capacidad de intervención de la OPLV, a una cooperación reforzada con el Gobierno Vasco, a unos avances significativos en la transmisión de la lengua vasca a través de la enseñanza, a una mejora en los recursos en euskera, pero también, a un Comité Consultivo que no ha conseguido encontrar su lugar.

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The political language of modern Islamism: practices of legitimation of the International Terrorist Organization “Islamic State” (terrorist organization banned in Russia)

Конфликтология / nota bene ◽

10.7256/2454-0617.2021.3.36729 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-17

Author(s):

Andrey Ruslanovich Suleimenov ◽

Igor' Valer'evich Ryzhov

Keyword(s):

Russian Language ◽

Islamic State ◽

Sovereign State ◽

National Symbols ◽

Terrorist Organization ◽

Political Linguistics ◽

The Times ◽

Administrative Structures ◽

The Russian Language

This article analyzes the ways of legitimation that are characteristic to the Russian-language propaganda of the terrorist group “Islamic State” that is banned in Russia. The arguments the extremist propaganda resorts to are revealed on the example of the online magazine “Istok”: founded on Muslim law, legitimation on the basis of Quranic texts, appeal to moral justice of the establishment of “Caliphate”, and positioning of “Caliphate” as the traditional sovereign state with its attributes. Description is given to the peculiarities of the Russian-language jihadist propaganda and radical discourse of the “Islamic State” overall: an important distinctive feature of the Islamist propaganda is the archaic motives. Having studied the propagandistic materials, the author outlines such features of jihadist propaganda as propensity to determinism and fatalism, orientation towards eschatological worldview, reference of the logical and political arguments to the times of the establishment of Islam. Application of the methods of political linguistics to the information product of terrorist organization reveals the basic strategy of legitimization of the “Islamic State”, which resorts to the archaic, establishment of the “caliphate” of Islamists to the time of origination of Islam and the era of the “righteous caliphs”. The elements of the traditional state are largely translated onto the external, non-Muslim environment: coverage of the activity of the administrative structures of Islamic State, demonstration of the own economic system, and abundance of national symbols. The analysis of propagandistic materials allows concluding on the nominal role of the leader of the jihadist group Islamic State Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, whose name is associated not only with the phenomenal success of the jihadist project, but also the equally painful defeat that the “Islamic State” suffered in the end.

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Kosovo-Spain Relations and the Dilemmas on the Problem of Non-Recognition

SEEU Review ◽

10.2478/seeur-2019-0005 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (1) ◽

pp. 69-90

Author(s):

Pol Vila Sarriá ◽

Agon Demjaha

Keyword(s):

Basque Country ◽

Self Determination ◽

Diplomatic Relations ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

Internal Dynamics ◽

Declaration Of Independence ◽

Unilateral Declaration ◽

Desk Research ◽

Political Decisions ◽

The Eu

Abstract Eleven years after Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence, Spain’s position vis-à-vis Kosovo has not only not varied, but it has become stronger, turning Madrid into the leader of the Kosovo non recognizers club within the EU. This paper analyses Kosovo-Spain relations in the last eleven years. More specifically, the paper examines the reasons behind the non-recognition of Kosovo and the approach of the Spanish governments toward Kosovo’s statehood. This is followed by a thorough analysis on how Kosovo’s path for self-determination played a major role in Catalonia’s quest for independence in 2017. The empirical research demonstrates that Spain’s main reason not to recognise Kosovo is based on the country’s internal dynamics; namely, Catalonia and the Basque country. Likewise, the paper argues that the Spanish governments throughout the last eleven years have created an analogy between Kosovo and Catalonia; not in their political statements, but in their political decisions, by worsening the almost inexistent diplomatic relations with Kosovo, when the Catalan path for independence was at its highest peak. By the same token, the paper reveals that this position was enhanced and driven by Catalan separatism, that continuously used Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence as a model to further their own path for self-determination. The data provided and analysed in this paper as well as the statements made are based on desk research and seven semi-structured interviews conducted in Prishtina, Brussels, Madrid and Barcelona in 2018.

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Newcomers as Accessories: A Study of Basque and Catalan Autonomy Campaigns through Immigrant Integration Strategies

10.26686/wgtn.16973803.v1 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Danielle Davies

Keyword(s):

Political System ◽

Basque Country ◽

State Level ◽

Immigrant Integration ◽

The Political ◽

State Structure ◽

Sovereign State ◽

Political Autonomy ◽

International Immigration ◽

Integration Strategies

<p>This thesis examines the political autonomy campaigns of subnational entities. Subnational entities may be defined as political entities located below the state level whose members are connected through historic territories and socio-cultural identities. Catalonia and the Basque Country are presented as the two case studies of this thesis and are approached with a comparative framework. From the outset, an examination of the Westphalian state structure of the international political system is provided, with particular emphasis on the political position of subnational entities. The thesis then utilises the contemporary phenomenon of international migration and explores the international immigration trends that affect Catalonia and the Basque Country. The potential tension at the intersection of international immigration and subnational autonomy campaigns is analysed, guided by the question of whether Catalonia or the Basque Country approach foreign immigration as a hindrance or a help to their political autonomy campaigns. The integration policies of Catalonia and the Basque Country are then assessed, as well as an analysis of the alternative political relations which Catalonia and the Basque Country have formed based upon the issue of foreign immigrant integration. This thesis finds that although the sovereign state structure continues to dominate the international political system, Catalonia and the Basque Country demonstrate how subnational autonomy campaigns continue to be pursued. Furthermore, this thesis finds that Catalonia and the Basque Country have recently utilised the issue of foreign immigrant integration as a stratagem for enhancing their informal political competencies.</p>

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LOS DERECHOS AMBIENTALES DE INFORMACIÓN, PARTICIPACIÓN Y JUSTICIA Y SU RÉGIMEN EN LA COMUNIDAD AUTÓNOMA VASCA

RVAP 118 - Revista Vasca de Administración Pública / Herri-Arduralaritzarako Euskal Aldizkaria ◽

10.47623/ivap-rvap.87.88.2010.28 ◽

2010 ◽

pp. 867-904

Author(s):

JOSÉ ANTONIO RAZQUIN LIZARRAGA

Keyword(s):

Public Participation ◽

Basque Country ◽

Access To Justice ◽

Access To Information ◽

Public Authorities ◽

Environmental Rights ◽

Aarhus Convention ◽

The Impact

Los derechos de acceso a la información, participación pública y acceso a la justicia han avanzado con la aplicación del Convenio de Aarhus de 1998 y de las Directivas comunitarias de 2003 por la Ley estatal 27/2006, que ha afectado a su pionera regulación por la Ley vasca 3/1998, General de protección del medio ambiente. Aquí se estudia el régimen jurídico de los derechos ambientales de la ciudadanía en la Comunidad Autónoma Vasca, mostrando los cambios derivados de la nueva normativa y su incidencia en la legislación autonómica, así como su aplicación práctica y los retos pendientes para su cumplimiento real y efectivo. Informazioa eskuratzeko, bizitza publikoan parte hartzeko eta justizia eskuratzeko eskubideek aurrera egin dute 1998ko Aarhus Ituna eta, Estatuaren 27/2006 Legearen bidez, 2003ko Erkidegoko Direktibak aplikatzearen ondorioz, eragina izan baitu Ingurumena Babesteko EAEko 3/1998 Lege Orokor aitzindarian. Euskal Autonomia Erkidegoko herritarren ingurumeneko eskubideen araubide juridikoa ikertzen da, arau berrietatik ondorioztatzen diren aldaketak eta autonomiaren legeetan duten eragina erakutsiz. Araudi horren aplikazio praktikoa eta benetan eta ganoraz betetzeko erronka ere izan dira lanaren xede. The rights of access to information, public participation in decisionmaking and access to justice in environmental matters have improved by the Act 2006/27 approved in application of Aarhus Convention on 1998 and European Directives on 2003, affecting the pioneering regulation in Basque Act 1998/3. This paper studies the system of environmental rights in the Basque Country, showing the changes prompted by the new regulation, the impact in regional legislation and the measures envisaged to implementation. At the end, public authorities must continue working to real and effective fulfilment of environmental rights.

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Struggles for Self-Determination

10.1017/9781108966825 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Josiah Brownell

Keyword(s):

Southern Africa ◽

African State ◽

Self Determination ◽

Component Part ◽

Right Wing ◽

State Structure ◽

African Countries ◽

Sovereign State ◽

Literal Sense ◽

National Symbols

Katanga, Rhodesia, Transkei and Bophuthatswana: four African countries that, though existing in a literal sense, were, in each case, considered by the international community to be a component part of a larger sovereign state through which all official communications and interactions were still conducted. This book is concerned with the intertwined histories of these four right-wing secessionist states in Southern Africa as they fought for but ultimately failed to win sovereign recognition. Along the way, Katanga, Rhodesia, Transkei, and Bophuthatswana each invented new national symbols and traditions, created all the trappings of independent statehood, and each proclaimed that their movements were legitimate expressions of national self-determination. Josiah Brownell provides a unique comparison between these states, viewed together as a common reaction to decolonization and the triumph of anticolonial African nationalism. Describing the ideological stakes of their struggles for sovereignty, Brownell explores the international political controversies that their drives for independence initiated inside and outside Africa. By combining their stories, this book draws out the relationships between the emergence of these four pseudo-states and the fragility of the entire postcolonial African state structure.

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TO THE QUESTION OF AUTONOMY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN MODERN RUSSIA

Central Russian Journal of Social Sciences ◽

10.12737/16969 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. 197-201

Author(s):

Модникова ◽

Tatyana Modnikova

Keyword(s):

Local Government ◽

Russian Federation ◽

Local Governments ◽

Modern Science ◽

Public Authorities ◽

Sovereign State ◽

Municipal Law ◽

The Russian Federation ◽

The Right

The article investigates the autonomy of local governments in addressing to issues of local importance in the modern science of constitutional and municipal law. The author shows the different approaches to this issue, analyzing the role of public authorities and their powers. The author substantiates the Russian Federation as a sovereign state which has the right to provide adequate measures of responsibility of local authorities and elected officials of local self-government.

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