The demise of the former Yugoslavia was brought about by various secessionist movements seeking international recognition of statehood. This book provides a critical analysis from an international law perspective of the break-up of Yugoslavia.Although international recognition was granted to the former Yugoslav republics of Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Hercegovina and Macedonia, the claims of secessionist movements that sought a revision of existing internal federal borders were reject...

The Routledge Handbook of Self-Determination and Secession explores the various debates surrounding the issues of self-determination and secession, and the legal, political, and normative implications they give rise to.Offering a broad survey of the state of the sub-discipline today, the chapters are divided into seven key parts: an Introduction, Self-Determination, Explaining and Justifying Secession, Secession Strategies, Counter-Secession Strategies, International Law a...

First published in 1997, this volume aims to present a new perspective on the history of the Serbs in the twentieth century, viewing this period through the lives of its most significant Serb participants. Its contributors represent a diverse variety of backgrounds, coming from different countries, academic disciplines, intellectual traditions and generations.The aim of this book is to present a new perspective on the history of the Serbs in the twentieth century through the lives ...

About half of today’s nation-states originated as some kind of breakaway state. The end of the Cold War witnessed a resurgence of separatist activity affecting nearly every part of the globe and stimulated a new generation of scholars to consider separatism and secession.As the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War approaches, this collection of essays allows us to view within a broader international context one of modern history's bloodiest conflicts over secession. The cont...

In Texas v. White (1869), the Supreme Court ruled that the unilateral secession of a state from the Union was unconstitutional because the Constitution created “an indestructible Union, composed of indestructible States.” The Court ruled “there was no place for reconsideration, or revocation, except through revolution, or through consent of the States.” In his iconoclastic work, Peter Radan demonstrates why the Court’s ruling was wrong and why, on the basis of American constitutio...

The era between empire and communism is routinely portrayed as a catastrophic interlude in China’s modern history, but this engagingly written book shows instead that the first half of the twentieth century witnessed a qualitatively unprecedented trend towards openness. Frank Dikötter argues that the years from 1900 to 1949 were characterised at all levels of society by engagement with the world, and that the pursuit of openness was particularly evident in four areas: in governance and the...

A highly original and convincing book by one of our best-informed China specialists, offering an entirely new perspective on the nature of democracy as the Chinese practice it—and, incidentally, as we practice it too.What do the Chinese mean by the word “democracy”? When they say that their political system is “democratic,” does this mean that they share our ideas about liberty, civil rights, and self government? With the recent improvement in relations between Chi...

Colonialism in China was a piecemeal agglomeration that achieved its greatest extent in the first half of the twentieth century, the last edifices falling at the close of the century. The diversity of these colonial arrangements across China’s landscape defies systematic characterization.This book investigates the complexities and subtleties of colonialism in China during the first half of the twentieth century. In particular, the contributors examine the interaction between locali...

Unrecognized states are territories that have achieved de facto independence, yet have failed to gain international recognition as independent states. These territories constitute anomalies in the international system of sovereign states and often present significant challenges to policy makers, as evidenced by the war in Georgia and the continued debate over Kosovo’s independence.This book draws on both theory and case studies to better understand the phenomenon of unrecognized st...

An accessible and critical introduction to the political writings of three seminal figures in modern Chinese democratic thought.Author and political scholar David J. Lorenzo examines the democratic writings of Sun Yat-sen, Chiang Kai-shek, and Chiang Ching-kuo, providing a coherent summary that situates their ideas within the broader traditions of political theory. His comparative study allows the reader to understand each leader's perspective while highlighting imp...

According to the Nations in transit and HDI measurements, Slovenia isregarded as a democratic country yet with some measurements it can alsobe found lower down the scale (problems with corruption). Although suchmeasurements are not completely accurate, most of them rank Sloveniaamong the most successful countries in democratic transition. Since gainingindependence in 1991, Slovenia has completely put in place all democraticinstitutions of sta...

Secession is a detachment of a territory from an existing state with the aim of creating a new state on the detached territory. Secession is usually an outcome of the political mobilization of a population on the territory to be detached and, as a political phenomenon, is a subject of study in the social sciences. Its impact on inter-state relations is a subject of study in international relations. But secession is also subject to regulation both in the constitutional law of sovereign stat...