The Survival of Unrecognized States in the Hobbesian Jungle

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract: Unrecognized states have been a consistent feature of the international system, at least since 1945, but have not received much attention from the scholarly and policymaking community. This thesis examines various factors that could determine the survival of unrecognized states. It compiles and analyzes a data set consisting of 36 cases that have existed at some point in time since 1945. The results of the data analysis find that foreign military support received by the unrecognized state, prior autonomous status, and the presence of third- party intervention all positively affect unrecognized state survival. Moreover, the data discovers a dramatic increase in the number of unrecognized states born after 1991 as opposed to the period between 1945 and 1991. Lastly, the data reveals that an unrecognized state born from administrative actions is likely to die the same way, while an unrecognized state born from a secessionist war is likely to die by military defeat. These findings call into question the assumption made by scholars and policymakers that broadly defined foreign support is the sole factor determining the survival of unrecognized states, and calls for a rigorous and new look at this phenomenon of the international system, how it survives, and how sovereign states should address it.

Type of resource	text
Date created	May 25, 2005

Author	Parseghian, Seepan V.
Advisor	Fearon, James D.

Subject	Center for International Security and Cooperation
Subject	CISAC
Subject	Stanford University
Subject	sovereignty
Subject	Recognition International law
Genre	Thesis

Location	https://purl.stanford.edu/vd481fm5312

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License: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).

Preferred Citation: Parseghian, Seepan V. (2005). The Survival of Unrecognized States in the Hobbesian Jungle. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at: http://purl.stanford.edu/vd481fm5312

Stanford University, Center for International Security and Cooperation, Interschool Honors Program in International Security Studies, Theses

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