Unrecognised countries recognised

[Melvin Loh]

Just saw a documentary on several breakaway self-declared countries in various parts of the world which aren't recognised as such by the international community, namely Somaliland (in northern Somalia, which actually from the capital Hargeysa does, unlike Mogadishu, have its own functioning govt), Transniestra which broke away from Moldova after the USSR's disssolution, nad of course Taiwan. Now, WI such entities as the 1st 2-mentioned were indeed recognised as such by the UN and other countries generally ?

[NomadicSky]

http://www.cypnet.com/.ncyprus/root.html
http://www.abkhazia.org/home.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/ajaria
and the famous Chechnya with chechnya being such a tiny place I don't see why it would be a problem for Russia

[zoomar]

http://www.cypnet.com/.ncyprus/root.html
http://www.abkhazia.org/home.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/ajaria
and the famous Chechnya with chechnya being such a tiny place I don't see why it would be a problem for Russia

Chechnya: It's the principle of the thing.

[david3565]

The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montevideo_Conference) set out the declarative theory of statehood (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declarative_theory_of_statehood): The political existence of the state is independent of recognition by the other states. Instead, it lays out three criteria that an entity has to meet in order to be considered a sovereign state: The state as a person of international law should possess the following qualifications: (a) a permanent population; (b) a defined territory; (c) government; and (d) capacity to enter into relations with the other states.

The constitutive theory of statehood (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constitutive_theory_of_statehood) defines a state as a person of international law which is recognised as sovereign by other states. Not diplomatic recognition/relations, but a recognition of its existence.

The former, of course, is more of a post-WWI doctrine, most likely descendant from Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points. The latter is the far older--ancient really--common law method of establishment of a new state.

There are three paths for recognition of these previously unrecognized nations. First, a general trend toward recognition of these nations. Second, a general acceptance of the declarative theory. And third, a POD involving Somaliland.

In the case of Somaliland, it is possible that the US and Europe might recognize it in hopes of establishing some stability in the region. With a stable government, comes trade, and then trade to the surrounding region. If this is successful, you may see a general trend of the major powers recognizing breakaway nations as a method of wiping the slate.

[Melvin Loh]

Thx David very informative re the doctrine of recognition under international law. You by any chance specialised in studying int'l law ? I touched on this area briefly, including the Montevideo Conv, when I did public int'l law in my 4th year of uni.

[david3565]

No problem. I'm just well read, with a good bit of time on my hands :rolleyes:. I was mining some info on micronations (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micronations), particularly Sealand (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sealand).

[Grey Wolf]

former entities such as East Timor are one thing, but then again Somaliland is a former entity, so one assumes that annexation by a LATTERLY sovereign power is key there, though India and Sikkim also negate the universality of this. The maintenance of a sufficiently different population is also important as Sikkim has been inundated with Indian settlers and lost its ethnic cohesion, whereas the Baltic states although similarly colonised retained to different degrees ethnic populations representing the historical entity. The Krimea for example lost its last real possibility in 1918 when the Krim Tatar state of Celebicihan was subjugated to the Bolshevik Tauranian one. Russian and/or Ukrainian settlement increased, and WW2 saw the last depopulations similar to some of those in the Caucasus of populations seen as pro-Nazi. In the modern age, there are not enough left in the 'home' land to be able to achieve political dominance

Grey Wolf