Taiwanisation and the Foreign Policy of Counter Secession: Preventing the Legitimisation of Contested States

Abstract: Traditionally, countries engaged in secessionist disputes have concentrated their efforts on preventing breakaway territories from being granted formal recognition by third party states. However, while the prevention of recognition remains the key goal, attention is increasingly turning also to efforts to prevent the legitimisation of contested states; a process that is often, though somewhat inaccurately, referred to in the literature as Taiwanisation. Such legitimisation encompasses a range of activities, including engagement by states, membership of international and regional organisations and participation in international economic, cultural and sporting activities. Drawing on the examples of Kosovo, Northern Cyprus, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, this talk will explore what sort of role the prevention of legitimisation now plays in wider counter recognition strategies.

About the speaker: James Ker-Lindsay is Eurobank Senior Research Fellow on the Politics of South East Europe at the European Institute, London School of Economics and Political Science. His research focus is on conflict management, peace processes, secession and recognition. His books include, Kosovo: The Path to Contested Statehood in the Balkans (I.B.Tauris, 2009), The Cyprus Problem: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press, 2011), and The Foreign Policy of Counter Secession: Preventing the Recognition of Contested States (Oxford University Press, 2012).