Not on the Map : The Peculiar Histories of De Facto States

"This book analyzes how de facto states--including Nagorno Karabakh, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria, Kosovo, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Somaliland, and Taiwan--have developed without recognition of sovereignty from the international community."-- back cover Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 6 Chapter 1: A World of States 8 Introduction: “I Can’t Find It on My Map!” 8 A World of States 9 What’s a Country? 10 It Takes One to Know One 13 Modern States Are Modern 14 Recognizing Each other and Getting Along: The State System 16 Triumph of the Nation-State 17 It Is So Hard to Become a State 18 Defining de Facto States 19 Our Nine de Facto States 20 Notes 21 Chapter 2: Mountain Republic: Nagorno Karabakh (Artsakh) 22 Introduction to Artsakh 22 Mountain of Languages: The Caucasus Region 23 Just Say Hi! Who Are the Armenians? 24 The Armenian Genocide 25 Historical Karabakh 26 Background to the Conflict 27 Karabakh under Soviet Rule 28 Who Are the Azeris? 30 “We Were Here First”: History Wars and Identities 31 The Karabakh War 32 Independent Nagorno Karabakh 34 An Unresolved Conflict 36 Nagorno Karabakh and Ethnic Cleansing 37 Is Karabakh a Country? 37 Will Nagorno Karabakh Ever Be Recognized? 39 Notes 41 Chapter 3: Breakaway States from a Breakaway State: Abkhazia and South Ossetia 44 Abkhazia 44 Mountains and the Sea 45 More Consonants than People: Who are the Abkhaz? 46 Historical Background 47 Wild Swings in Ethnic Populations 48 Abkhazia in the Soviet Era 49 Breakaway State 1990–2008 50 We Were Here First: More History Wars 53 The 2008 War and its Aftermath 53 De Facto State 55 Is Abkhazia a Real Country? 57 Viability as a State 58 Prospects for Recognition 59 South Ossetia 60 Geography 61 History 62 Conflict 63 Since Independence 65 South Ossetia as a de Facto State 67 Notes 68 Chapter 4: Shoestring of Europe: Transnistria 72 Historical Background 73 Becoming Moldovan 75 Transnistria Becomes More Russian 77 The End of the Soviet Union and the Birth of Moldova and Transnistria 78 The Transnistrian Conflict 80 Transnistria Today 82 Russia as Patron 85 A Shady Reputation 85 Transnistria—How Viable? 87 Notes 88 Chapter 5: Born of Ethnic Cleansing: Kosovo 92 Albanians and Serbs 93 Long Histories and Long Memories 94 Kosovo in the Twentieth Century 97 An Unhappy Member of Yugoslavia 99 The End of Yugoslavia and the Resurgence of Serbian and Kosovar Nationalism 100 Violent Birth of the Kosovo State 101 Kosovo Becomes Independent 103 Two Contrasting Heroes 105 Kosovo, the De Facto State 107 The Serbian Minority 108 How Long Before de Facto Becomes de Jure? 109 Notes 110 Chapter 6: Divided Island: Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus 114 Divided Island 115 The Island of Copper 116 Toward Independence 117 Power Sharing Fails 119 The Turks Invade 120 Birth of the TRNC 121 Northern Cyprus as an Independent State 123 Turkish Puppet State? 126 Divided Countries 126 The Uncertain Status of the TRNC 127 Notes 129 Chapter 7: State in Waiting: Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic 132 Western Sahara before the Spanish Arrived 133 Berbers and Arabs 134 Arrival of the Spanish 135 Instant but Intense: The Origins of Sahrawi Nationalism 138 The Spanish Exit and the Moroccans Enter 139 Why Was Morocco so Determined tO Rule Western Sahara? 143 Algeria’s Support for Polisario 145 The Tented State 145 Western Sahara Mostly under Moroccan Rule 149 How De Facto is the SADR? 150 Notes 150 Chapter 8: Not Being Somalia: Somaliland 154 Introduction 154 Somalia and Somaliland and Somalis 156 A Long but Not Well-Understood History 157 The Scramble for Africa and Colonial Somalia 158 The Shortest-Lived State: Independence 159 The Birth of a Nation 162 Somaliland since Independence 163 Somaliland the De Facto State 164 More Democratic than Its Neighbors 166 Drought and Hunger 167 Somaliland and the International Community 168 Why Is the International Community Not Recognizing Somaliland? 169 Somaliland, A Truly de Facto State 173 Notes 173 Chapter 9: One China, Two Countries: Taiwan 178 Ilha Formosa: The Beautiful Island 179 Taiwan: The Wild Frontier Land 180 Taiwan Becomes Part of the Japanese Empire 181 Taiwan Becomes Part of China Again (But Only Briefly) 182 Saved by a Fluke 183 The Government-in-Exile State 184 The First Taiwan Strait Crisis 185 Taiwan Becomes More Isolated 186 The Taiwan Miracle 189 Democratization and “Taiwanization” 190 Coping with Diplomatic Isolation 192 Being Taiwanese vs Being Chinese 195 Taiwan Stuck in International Limbo 197 Notes 198 Chapter 10: Not Quite De Facto States 202 Introduction 202 Vatican City: Recognition without State 202 Palestine: Limited State with Recognition 204 Kurdistan 207 The Kurdistan Regional Government 209 Rojava: The Other Kurdistan “Near State” 211 Luhansk People’s Republic and the Donetsk People’s Republic 212 Kachin State 214 Other Would-be States 216 AZAWAD 217 AMBAZONIA AND DAR EL KUTI 218 Nagalim 219 De Facto States are Rare 219 Notes 220 Conclusion: What Can We Learn from De Facto States? 222 Nagorno Karabakh: Can a Country not want to be a Country and Still be One? 222 Abkhazia: Can a Minority become a Nation by Expelling a Majority? 223 Transnistria: Can a Secessionist State with Fluid Identities Be Viable? 224 Kosovo: What Right does a Country have to Deny Recognition of Another? 225 TRNC: How Can a Country be Dependent on another and Survive without being Absorbed? 227 Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic: More Recognition than Country? 227 Somaliland: Just what does a Country have to do to Be Recognized? 228 Taiwan—Can a Country Be a Country If It Insists It Is Not? 229 Is De Facto State a Meaningful Category? 230 Bibliography 232 Index 240 About the Author 246 This book analyzes how de facto states — including Nagorno Karabakh, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transnistria, Kosovo, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, Somaliland, and Taiwan—have developed without recognition of sovereignty from the international community.