From Kurdistan to Somaliland, Xinjiang to South Yemen, all secessionist movements hope to secure newly independent states of their own. Most will not prevail. The existing scholarly wisdom provides one explanation for success, based on authority and control within the nascent states. With the aid of an expansive new dataset and detailed case studies, this book provides an alternative account. It argues that the strongest members of the international community have a decisive influence over whether today's secessionists become countries tomorrow and that, most often, their support is conditioned on parochial political considerations.

Challenges the conventional wisdom on whether and how secessionist movements become new countries

Synthesizes the literatures in international law and political science regarding sovereignty and statehood

Utilizes quantitative analyses on new data and detailed case studies in the former Yugoslavia and former Soviet Union, significantly improving upon existing studies

Bridget Coggins

Bridget Coggins is an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Her research examines the intersections of domestic conflict, international security, and international order. Her work has appeared in journals including International Organization, the Journal of Peace Research, the Journal of Conflict Resolution, and Foreign Policy Magazine, as well as in several scholarly edited volumes. She is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, where she received her BA in international relations, and of Ohio State University, where she received a PhD in political science. Previously, Coggins taught in the government department at Dartmouth College.