Secession: New trends and practice after the cold war

• Main Authors: Efevwerhan, David Ighojohwegba, Ahmad, Rusniah
• 格式: Article
• 语言: English
• 出版: Taipei, Taiwan : Soochow University School of Law 2010
• 主题: JX International law
• 在线阅读: http://repo.uum.edu.my/9595/1/Ef.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/9595/; http://hslib.sinica.edu.tw/?q=en/tocs/4315

In the cold war era, only one case of secession, that of Bangladesh, succeeded.Others like Biafra, Katanga and Southern Rhodesia met with ignominious failure.But the end of the cold war witnessed many more secessions all over the world and brought with them, several newly created states in the comity of nations.Why was this, the case? Why were the post-cold war secessions successful where their precursors failed? Has the attitude of the international community towards secessions changed with the end of the war? This paper sets out to review cold war and post-cold war secessions with a view to ascertaining the current trends and states' practice regarding unilateral secession in international law.It concludes that most of the successful occurred in Europe and that the success of secessions in Europe after the cold war was purely as a result of Regional willingness to jettison territorial integrity in the face of bloody conflicts, in order to preserve Europe.It urges African and Asian leaders to take a cue from the European example and avert fratricidal wars on their continents.It also identifies several placebos and peace-building mechanisms that have been employed by states to placate secessionists