A Theory of Secessionist Strategy and Tactical Variation

2021 ◽  
pp. 30-47
Author(s):  
Ryan D. Griffiths
Keyword(s):  
International Community ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Home State ◽  
Iraqi Kurdistan ◽  
International Recognition ◽  
Secessionist Movement

This chapter advances the theory of secessionist strategy and tactical variation, arguing that the strategy and tactics of secession are shaped by the international recognition regime and further contextualized by the setting in which any given secessionist movement operates. The chapter explains how secessionist movements need to compel and persuade their home state to give consent and/or bring the international community into the contest. The chapter uses information drawn from interviews to show that secessionists are well informed about the dynamics of secession. By explaining the logics of compellence and normative appeal, the chapter explicates the different tactics within these two logics. It asserts that the choice of tactics depends on local conditions that cluster around six kinds of movements (democratized, indigenous legal, weak combative, strong combative, decolonial, and de facto). Ultimately, the chapter discusses a prominent hybrid case, Iraqi Kurdistan, and examines the counter-strategy of states.

Catalonia

2021 ◽  
pp. 48-67
Author(s):  
Ryan D. Griffiths
Keyword(s):  
International Community ◽  
Public Debate ◽  
The State ◽  
Democratic Legitimacy ◽  
The Political ◽  
Strategic Game ◽  
Home State ◽  
Northern Cyprus ◽  
West Papua ◽  
Secessionist Movement

This chapter focuses on Catalonia, an exemplar of the democratized movement. Using a substantial number of interviews, the chapter discusses the tactics that the Catalan secessionists have used, and highlights the possibilities and limitations of a fully institutionalized movement. It argues that the Catalan secessionist movement is truly a public debate and much more likely in advanced democracies. Up close it can appear quite different from the efforts in West Papua, Bougainville, and Northern Cyprus, and yet they are playing the same strategic game insofar as they all need to work through the home state and enlist the international community. By this context, the chapter investigates how the democratized movement utilized the political apparatus of the state to achieve its ends — rather than resort to violence — and appeal to norms of democratic legitimacy. Ultimately, the chapter discusses the Catalan secessionist leadership's attempt to get external governments to apply pressure on Madrid to negotiate.

International Recognition, Compliance Costs, and the Formalities of War

Wars of Law ◽  
2018 ◽  
pp. 38-71
Author(s):  
Tanisha M. Fazal
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
International Community ◽  
Laws Of War ◽  
War And Peace ◽  
Compliance Costs ◽  
Interstate War ◽  
Rebel Groups ◽  
International Recognition ◽  
Peace Treaties

This chapter develops the main arguments of the book, focusing on how belligerents in interstate and civil war have reacted to the development of the laws of war detailed in Chapter 2. States involved in interstate war are perversely incentivized to evade the laws of war as these laws have proliferated. Thus, they are decreasingly likely to engage the formalities of war, specifically declarations of war and peace treaties. Secessionist rebel groups fighting civil wars aim to please the international community, and therefore are decreasingly likely to declare independence formally, generally likely to avoid targeting civilians, and increasingly likely to conclude peace treaties.

Iran nuclear deal will reshape Israeli security agenda

2015 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Community ◽  
Regional Power ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Military Aid ◽  
Us Congress ◽  
Us Military ◽  
International Recognition ◽  
International Sanctions

Subject Israel's policy to post-agreement Iran. Significance With the international community on the verge of signing a deal with Iran that would end the decade-long dispute over its nuclear programme, Israel is preparing to deal with the consequences. The deal would bolster Israel's security by preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear weaponised state. However, it is also likely to empower Iran, by leading to the unraveling of the international sanctions regime, and giving Iran de facto international recognition as a regional power. Impacts Israel's Republican allies in US Congress will make it extremely hard for Obama to lift congressional bilateral sanctions. However, neither Congress nor Israel have the power to block a deal from going ahead. Israel will use the deal to secure 'compensation' in the form of additional US military aid. A deal would allow the army to transfer resources to confronting asymmetric campaigns against Hezbollah and Hamas. Israel will strengthen its ties with Sunni states that also oppose Iran.

scholarly journals Iraqi Kurdistan Referendum and its Implications

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-18
Author(s):  
Hemin H. Mirkhan
Keyword(s):  
International Community ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Kurdistan Region ◽  
International Regime ◽  
Iraqi Kurdistan ◽  
Domestic Affair

The Kurds in Iraq have won the international community’s trust as they have been part of the solution to the issues facing the region. Dissatisfied with Baghdad and overconfident that the regional countries will not backlash due to the referendum, the KRG proceeded with the referendum for independence in the Kurdistan region including the disputed areas. The KRG decision-makers were vigilant enough to avoid playing the nationalist card and make the case exclusively as a domestic affair. Neither neighboring countries, in which many Kurds are residents, nor the international community supported the referendum. In this article, I would like to bring certain aspects of the Kurdistan Independence Referendum into a better light of appreciation. It will be argued that it is not about the process rather the structure of the international regime of recognition. The international community has opted for the already dysfunctional Iraq.

scholarly journals Beyond Protection: The Role of the Home State in Modern Foreign Investment Law

2021 ◽  
pp. 19-36
Author(s):  
Tarcisio Gazzini
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Investment ◽  
International Community ◽  
The State ◽  
Foreign Investors ◽  
Home State ◽  
Legal Fiction ◽  
Diplomatic Protection ◽  
Investment Law ◽  
The Way

AbstractThe chapter examines the evolution of the role of the home state in foreign investment law. Traditionally, such a role was essentially limited to norm-setting and protecting nationals and national companies abroad. Protection was typically offered through diplomatic protection, which was based on the legal fiction that the state was vindicating its own right. The conclusion of modern investment treaties, the progressive emancipation of foreign investors and the development of investor-state arbitration meant a marginalisation of the home state. Some recent treaties, however, have paved the way for a new role for the home state that goes well beyond protection of its nationals and national companies. Innovative provisions have introduced obligations and responsibilities for the home state, especially with regard to the fight against corruption and the liability of its own investors. It remains to be seen to which extent these provisions will spread across the international community of states.

scholarly journals Displacement, Protection and Responsibility: A Case for Safe Areas

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 332-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rutger Birnie ◽  
Jennifer Welsh
Keyword(s):  
International Community ◽  
Shared Responsibility ◽  
Responsibility To Protect ◽  
Displaced Persons ◽  
Forced Displacement ◽  
Civilian Protection ◽  
Home State ◽  
Precarious Situation

This article makes the normative case for safe areas as a strategy of civilian protection in forced displacement crises. We start from the idea that the displaced—especially those who remain within the borders of their home state—are in a particularly precarious situation which can, in some circumstances, activate a remedial responsibility to provide protection on the part of the international community. We then argue that this responsibility extends beyond the provision of asylum to include efforts both to prevent displacement and to facilitate the return of displaced persons, and that safe areas may be an important tool to achieve these goals. However, we also note two major risks associated with safe areas which must be considered and mitigated: that they increase rather than decrease overall displacement, and that they diminish rather than enhance protection. We conclude by suggesting why and how the shared responsibility to protect through safe areas should be fairly distributed within the international community.

Secessionist Strategy and Tactical Variation in the Pursuit of Independence

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryan D Griffiths
Keyword(s):  
Original Data ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Regime Type ◽  
Weak State ◽  
Local Conditions ◽  
Civil Resistance ◽  
Playing Field ◽  
Home State ◽  
Strong State ◽  
Normative Appeals

Abstract How do secessionist movements formulate strategy and choose tactics? Secessionism takes place on a strategic playing field that shapes tactical behavior, driving some movements to choose armed rebellion while others prefer nonviolent civil resistance or electoral competition. Secessionist movements attempt to compel and make normative appeals in different combinations depending on local conditions such as regime type, the strength of the state, and the degree to which the region is already de facto independent. These efforts are aimed at not only the home state, but also the international community that can apply pressure on the home state to negotiate with the secessionists. I identify six kinds of movements—democratized, indigenous legal, combative/strong state, combative/weak state, decolonial, and de facto—and I outline the perils and possibilities inherent in each kind. I then construct a theoretical framework and test the implications using original data on secessionist tactics between 1946 and 2011.

The emerging concept of humanitarian diplomacy: identification of a community of practice and prospects for international recognition

2011 ◽  
Vol 93 (884) ◽  
pp. 1211-1237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippe Régnier
Keyword(s):  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Present Article ◽  
International Community ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Humanitarian Organizations ◽  
International Recognition ◽  
Operational Application ◽  
The Way

AbstractIn recent years the term ‘humanitarian diplomacy’ has become fashionable among humanitarian organizations in general, and within the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement in particular. However, the very idea of ‘humanitarian diplomacy’ is not uncontroversial, owing to the imprecise and contested nature of the term, and to its unclear operational application. The present article proposes to explore the definitions and scope of action of humanitarian diplomacy, as well as some of the challenges that it faces, with a view to preparing the way for its eventual recognition by the international community.

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