secession 101

Secession 101Moving toward a Big World of Small Countries?

Heather McCormic

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Outline Defining Secession Defining Norms Premise for the Study Case Studies Findings Further Research

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Defining Secession

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Secession Secession is the process by which a population subset

claims formal autonomy over an occupied territory and removes itself from its parent state by redrawing political boundaries.

Secession begins with revolution

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Why Secession Occurs Grievances and opportunity lead to revolution Grievances:

State fails to provide for population State is corrupt or supports unpopular economic and social

arrangements State represses population State instability or collapse Relative deprivation

“Misery matters.”--Cynthia McClintock

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Why Secession Occurs Opportunity:

State has weak police force, internal conflict, or failing infrastructure

Population overcomes its collective action problem No fear of regime due to inability to repress, or reassurance of numbers Communications

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Why Secession? Why populations choose to secede rather than pursue

internal reform or regime change is debated Self-determination as the motivation for secession

Nationalism and nation-state status Anti-colonial sentiment, or the desire for sub-state or

representative self-determination

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Grievance

OpportunityRevolution

Secession

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Defining Norms

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Norms Regulative norms order and constrain behavior Constitutive norms create new actors, interests, or

categories of action

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Norm Development

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Premise for the Study

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Why Secession Matters Secession is the main mechanism for new state creation

All inhabitable land is claimed Traditional colonialism has ended

State and international level ramifications It is an important phenomenon to evaluate using all three

major International Relations perspectives

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Case Studies

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Structure of the Independent Study Pre-WWI Legacy and Interwar Wilsonianism

Norway Finland and the Aaland Islands

WWII and Decolonization Biafra Bangladesh

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Structure of the Independent Study Post-Cold War and Humanitarianism

The Baltics Yugoslavia Georgia South Sudan

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Wilsonianism

Finland andthe Aaland Islands

1917: Finland recognized by Russia, Sweden, France, and Germany

1920: Aaland Islands not recognized after appeal to League of Nations

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Decolonization

Biafra and the Igbo people Attempted coups evolved

into a plea for secession 1966: Igbo massacre

States’ responses varied 1967: Independent region 1970: Absorbed into Nigeria

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Post-Cold War South Sudan Southerners’ relative

deprivation 1972: Addis-Ababa

Agreement 1983-2005: Civil war 2005: Comprehensive

Peace Agreement 2011: Southern secession

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Findings

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Conclusions Secession, while being the primary avenue for state creation,

will not be a frequent occurrence in the future However, the international community will more readily

recognize states formed through secession The new humanitarian norm will supersede the old norm of

maintaining the territorial integrity of the parent state

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Further Research

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Where from here? Why populations pursue secession in particular How the admission of states formed via secession altered

the balance in the League of Nations and United Nations What regional norms were established (in the European

Community, African Union, etc.)

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Acknowledgements Professor David Dessler Professor Katherine Rahman My Liege, Professor Dennis Smith Family and Friends Mom and Dad

Thank you.

Questions?