THE BIRTH OF STATES: SUCCESSFUL AND FAILED SECESSIONS

By Jacob Dut Chol Riak

This book examines different domestic and international factors that lead to support for secessions. It questions why South Sudan's secession was successfully supported by Western great powers while Somaliland and Western Sahara were not supported. It argues that support for secessions and international recognition have more to do with the great

• Language: English
• Publisher: Africa World Books Pty Ltd
• Release date: Mar 26, 2021
• ISBN: 9780645146981

Book preview

A Note from the Publisher

The publisher wishes to acknowledge and thank Dr Douglas H. Johnson for his invaluable help and support for Africa World Books and its mission of preserving and promoting African cultural and literary traditions and history. Dr Johnson and fellow historians have been instrumental in ensuring that African people remain connected to their past and their identity. Africa World Books is proud to carry on this mission.

© Jacob Dut Chol Riak, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-6451109-1-3

ISBN: 978-0-6451469-8-1 (e-book)

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Cover image: Balasoiu / Freepik

So no matter where it takes hold, government of people and by people sets a single standard for all who would hold power. You must respect the rights of minorities and participate with a spirit of tolerance and compromise; you must place the interests of your people and the legitimate workings of the political process above your party. Without these ingredients, elections alone do not make true democracy.

President Barack Obama,

Cairo, June 4, 2009

Contents

Dedication

Abstract

1. Introduction

1.1 Methodology

2. The Concept of Secession

2.1 Norms of Sovereignty

2.2 Realist Theory

3. Case Studies and Competing Arguments

3.1 Selection of Cases

3.2 Competing Arguments of Successful and Failed Secessions

3.2.1 Domestic Factors

3.2.2 International Factors

4. Discussion and Presentation of the Results

4.1 Discussion of the Results

4.2 Presentation of Results Using Comparative Method

4.3 Comparative Method

5. Conclusions

Bibliography

Field Interviews

Appendix 1: A sample Interview Guide for South Sudanese Elites

Appendix 2: A sample Interview Guide for the Great Powers

Index

Dedication

To my late lovely mother Daruka Aluel aka Aguet Ajang Duot: your love for education and self-emancipation can never be forgotten! I wish you were around now to see the educational fruits of your son. Continue resting in eternal peace, Mom!

To my lovely wife, Rechoh Achol Dau, thank you for your enthusiasm for our family’s success and education; it is an epitome of my triumph.

Abstract

THIS BOOK EXAMINES different domestic and international factors that lead to support for secessions. It questions why South Sudan’s secession was successfully supported by Western great powers while Somaliland and Western Sahara were not supported. It uses realist theory and norms of sovereignty as an analytical conceptual framework for understanding the national interests of the Western great powers in supporting independence and conferring sovereignty. It argues that support for secessions and international recognition have more to do with the great powers’ own interests, particularly, the U.S., rather than the fulfillment of the criteria of international law.

The analysis examines six competing arguments (hypotheses) such as: history of conflict; agreed framework and commitment of local population; compatible norms and internationalized ethnic politics; status of the mother state in the eyes of the international community; economic benefits, and security and stability interests in the case of South Sudan. A comparison of these hypotheses with the cases of Somaliland and Western Sahara shows that the unique case of support for South Sudan statehood was due to its long and bitter history of conflict, to compatible norms and internationalized ethnic politics—particularly with the U.S., as well as the diminished status of Sudan in the eyes of the international community, especially with regard to human rights violations in Darfur and the security and stability interests triggered by September 11, 2001. The remaining two hypotheses—agreed framework and commitment of the local population, along with economic