Breakaway States: Understanding When The International Community Recognizes The Legitimacy of Separatist States

This essay focuses on these conditions that result in the extension of international legitimacy, asking the question; “which factors lead external actors to recognize separatist regions as legitimate states?” In particular, the essay hones in on the factors that lead the international community to recognize separatist states despite the seemingly dominant norm of sovereign territorial integrity. In the subsequent analysis, the essay finds that concerns for international stability and systemic order best explain the variation of international recognition among cases. These concerns are manifested through two distinct mechanisms by which secessionists may undermine the international order. First, separatist behavior that defies the expected normative behavior dictated by the current normative system might encourage future violations and eventually wholesale change of the international structure. Second, the separatist unrecognized states create uncertainty by working outside of the expected convention of the international community, which in turn generates systemic instability.