Secession and the Sovereignty Game: Strategy and Tactics for Aspiring Nations

Secession and the Sovereignty Game provides a strategic theory for secessionist movements to win independence by navigating the sovereignty game, using tactics of electoral capture, nonviolent civil resistance, and violence, and appealing to normative arguments. It offers solutions to make the sovereignty game less conflictual.

Format: Hardback
Length: 246 pages
Publication date: 15 May 2021
Publisher: Cornell University Press

Secession and the Sovereignty Game presents a comprehensive strategic framework for understanding how secessionist movements strive to achieve independence. Through a combination of original data analysis, fieldwork, in-depth interviews with secessionist leaders, and case studies on Catalonia, the Murrawarri Republic, West Papua, Bougainville, New Caledonia, and Northern Cyprus, Ryan D. Griffiths explores how the rules and informal practices of sovereign recognition shape a dynamic strategic landscape between existing states and aspiring nations. This interplay, referred to as the sovereignty game, sets the stage for secessionist movements to navigate and adapt their tactics to secure recognition and ultimately achieve sovereign statehood.

To secure sovereign statehood, all secessionist movements must operate within the same strategic framework while adapting their strategies to local contexts. Recognition is a crucial objective for secessionist movements, and they employ various tactics to achieve it. These tactics include electoral capture, nonviolent civil resistance, and even violence. To persuade both the home state and the international community, secessionist movements appeal to normative arguments related to earned sovereignty, decolonization, the right to self-determination, inherent sovereignty, and human rights.

The pursuit of independence can be highly disruptive and often fraught with violence. By advancing a theory that explains the historical and ongoing success of sovereign recognition and by anticipating the practices of future secessionist movements, Secession and the Sovereignty Game offers valuable insights and solutions to mitigate the conflict associated with the sovereignty game. By understanding the dynamics and strategies employed by secessionist movements, policymakers, and international actors can work towards fostering peaceful resolutions and promoting stability in regions facing secessionist challenges.

Weight: 542g
Dimension: 237 x 159 x 26 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781501754746