EBOOK Recognizing States:International Society and the Establishment of New States Since

This book examines recognition of new states, the practice historically employed        to regulate membership in international society. The last twenty years have        witnessed new or lingering demands for statehood in different areas of the world.          The claims of some, like those of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Eritrea, Croatia, Georgia        and East Timor, have achieved general recognition; those of others, like Kosovo,        Tamil Eelam, South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Somaliland, have not. However, even asmost        of these claims gave rise to major conflicts and international controversies, the        criteria for acknowledgment of new states have elicited little systematic        scholarship. Drawing upon writings of English School theorists, this study charts        the practice from the late eighteenth century until thepresent. Its central argument        is that for the past two hundred years state recognition has been tied to the idea        of self-determination of peoples. Two versions of the idea have underpinned the        practice throughout most of this period - self-determination as a negative and a        positive right. The negative idea, dominant from 1815 to 1950, took state        recognition to be acknowledgment of an achievement of de facto statehood by a people        desiring independence. Self-determination was expressedthrough, and externally        gauged by, self-attainment. The positive idea, prevalent since the 1950s, took state        recognition to be acknowledgment of an entitlement to independence in international        law. The development of self-determination as a positive international right,        however, has not led to adisappearance of claims of statehood that stand outside of        its confines. Groups that are deeply dissatisfied with the countries in which they        presently find themselves continue to make demands for independence even though they        may have no positive entitlement to it. The book concludes by expressing doubt that        contemporary international society can find a sustainable basis for recognizing new        states other than the original standard of de facto statehood.