Unrecognized States: A Theory of Self-Determination and Foreign Influence

Abstract

Unrecognized states are characterized by stagnant or crumbling economies and political instability, often serve as havens for illicit trade, and challenge the territorial sovereignty of recognized states. Their persistence is both intellectually puzzling and normatively problematic, but unrecognized statehood can be a remarkably stable outcome, persisting for decades. Our four-player model reveals that unrecognized statehood emerges as an equilibrium outcome when a patron state is willing and able to persistently invest resources to sustain it. We assess options available to actors in the international community who seek to impose their preferred outcomes in these disputes and find that, although sanctions are the most frequently employed, they can often lead to renewed conflict instead of the intended resolution.

Power and Recognition: How (Super)Powers Decide the International Recognition Process

“…The de facto outcome is thus based primarily on the logic of power politics (cf. Buzard, Graham, and Horne ) while the de jure position is more influenced by the principle of collective recognition and normative justification . The former cannot succeed over the opposition of a (super)power, the latter will fail due to lack of support of the UNSC permanent members.…”

“…The next important work is Heraclides’ (1990) article on external involvement that, as will be discussed later on, constitutes an important reference point regarding a definition of (super)power. Our analysis is also based on a work of Buzard, Graham, and Horne () who identify four players inside the recognition process as the secessionist elite, the central government of the parent state, the patron, and the international community. Nevertheless, our study problematizes this model by pointing at the disunity inside the international community and the importance of the level of an external involvement of single actors or regional bodies.…”

Para-states as an instrument for strengthening Russia's position - the case of Transnistria

“…A non-recognized State is an entity where a separatist center of power controls the territory concerned on the path of armed conflict, but is not strong enough to force recognition of the territory's independence from the home State. 2 The collapse of the Soviet Union implied the creation of many such entities within the post-Soviet area, e.g. the Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), Abkhazia or the Pridnestrovian Republic of Moldova.…”

“…Journal of StrategicSecurity, Vol. 13,No. 2 https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/jss/vol13/iss2/1 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5038/1944-0472.13.2.1750…”