“After the Melting of Frozen Conflicts: Systemic Transformations and Legitimation of Secessionist Bids”
Conference to be held on 28-29 May 2010, Tartu, Estonia
Outline
The end of the Cold War marked a new phase in nation-building and state-formation. Suddenly, within a very short time period, 23 newly-born political entities made their way into the privileged club of sovereign states. This wave of self-determination had nothing to do with post-colonial “salt water tests”, according to which the right of independent statehood applied only to territories which were separated from their metropolis by sea, thus encouraging national self-determination of colonial peoples and renouncing other secessionist attempts. To the contrary, almost two dozen new independence acts became possible only due to the dissolution of the pre-existing parent states.
The current practices of sovereignty have moved well beyond the colonial era. Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence (2007) was justified as a remedial right to secede (as the last resort against serious injustices). While not finding unanimous acceptance by the international community, Kosovo’s drive for independence had an impact on sovereignty claims in other secessionist conflicts. The large-scale
Russian military involvement in Georgia can be seen as an analogue to the NATO-led intervention in ex-Yugoslavia in 1999. Although the principle of territorial integrity is still largely respected, the number of states recognising South-Ossetia and Abkhazia is increasing rather than decreasing. On the other hand, only a few countries recently questioned the brutal solution of the secessionist conflict in Sri
Lanka, regardless of the number of civilian casualties and the fact that the Tamil minority now finds itself living in a state whose legitimacy it does not recognize.
About 11 de facto states can be located on the world map today, all challenging the existing system in that they are acting outside of the legal framework, pretending to achieve de jure status themselves. Most of them exist as a result of incomplete and contested state-formation in the intermediate zones of great power rivalry, thus depending on patron states and their power leverage. Whereas some scholars argue that the best option for granting them legitimacy in the eyes of the international community is either a negotiated re-entry resulting in a decentralised federal system or forceful incorporation into the parent state, there are equally valid arguments in favour of the status quo since power-sharing is not easy to achieve (for example, in Bosnia and Herzegovina), and because re-unification by crude force would bring about unnecessary casualties. Hence the need to discuss emerging realities after the “melting of frozen conflicts”.
This workshop will address two main issues:
- Transformation of international (legal/value/ power) system. Is the international community becoming more accommodative towards political entities which assert their sovereignty, thus placing post-Westphalian values such as human rights, democracy and rule of law on the front line? Or, on the contrary, the emergence and toleration of secessionist bids correspond to the balance of power shifts in the world and therefore alter the normative international framework which prioritises the preservation of existing state borders.
- Legitimacy of secessionist entities. Since secessionist entities are seldom internationally recognized, no one ever debates their domestic legitimacy. May it turn out that secessionist entities are more legitimate “compounds”, having a population with a shared identity (demos) and remarkable regime support, compared to the parent states from which they seceded?
Proposed sub-themes:
• sustainability of de facto states;
• parent states and external powers;
• economy and security of de facto states;
• popular sovereignty vs external recognition;
• solutions to the problem: reunification through federal arrangement, reunification through absorption of de facto state into the parent state by force, independent statehood, status quo;
• dynamics of domestic politics in de facto states (elections, referenda, mass-elite relationship) ;
• role of international organisations with regard to normalisation;
• international approaches towards de facto states: quasi-recognition, tolerance, boycott, negation.
Organisation
The Institute of Government and Politics at the University of Tartu has the honour and privilege to host this conference which will bring together about 30 participants from universities and research institutes. The objective of the meeting is to enhance our understanding, in practical, empirical and theoretical terms, of the systemic transformations and legitimacy-related issues in a rapidly changing world. The conference seeks to promote discussion as well as to develop and to sustain collaborative networks among leading researchers involved in the field of conflict studies.
Conference venue
The conference will take place outside of Tartu, at guesthouse „Trofee”
(http://www.trofee.ee/eng/trofee). Local transfer and full board will be provided to all participants (for May 28-29).
Getting there, staying there
When planning your itinerary please consider that your destination should be Tartu airport. Today there are connecting flights to Riga and Stockholm. If you prefer to land in Tallinn then you should take an express bus which takes you to Tartu in 2 and a half hours (10 EUR one way). We would expect you to arrive in Tartu on Thursday, May 27, and stay there two nights, with May 30th as the departure date. We will
pre-book your accommodation at Hotel Dorpat (www.dorpat.ee) (single room 50 EUR/night).
We would kindly ask you to send your paper abstract (200-300 words) by 15 November 2009
For further information, please contact Sandra Kamilova,
sandra.kamilova@ mail.ee
Kindest regards,
Eiki Berg, Professor of International Relations
Institute of Government and Politics
University of Tartu
Estonia
Please quote 10 Academic Resources Daily in your application to this opportunity!
