International law is routinely examined by legal scholars as if international law exists separately from economics, politics, and, most importantly, the class struggle. When discussing international law, scholars hesitate to ask difficult questions, such as why some secessionist-seeking movements succeed while others fail. An example is Heiko Krüger’s analysis of Nagorno-Karabakh, where Krüger refuses toContinueContinue reading “Review: “The Right to Self-Determination Under International Law: ‘Selfistans,’ Secession, and the Rule of the Great Powers” – Milena Sterio”
Tag Archives: Abkhazia
Review: “Russia and the Right to Self-Determination in the Post-Soviet Space” – Johannes Socher
I was not very enthusiastic about Johannes Socher’s “Russia and the Right to Self-Determination in the Post-Soviet Space” when I first ordered it on Amazon. The title of the book sounded like it was going to be some kind of Russophobic ‘analysis’, i.e., U.S.-NATO propaganda, like books by Svante Cornell, Kamal Makili-Aliyev, Bahruz Balyev, andContinueContinue reading “Review: “Russia and the Right to Self-Determination in the Post-Soviet Space” – Johannes Socher”
Review: “Discordant Neighbours: A Reassessment of the Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-South Ossetian Conflicts” – B. George Hewitt
George Hewitt’s “Discordant Neighbours: A Reassessment of the Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-South Ossetian Conflicts” is the most authoritative account of the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, especially since the ‘Five-Day War’ in August 2008. In this book Hewitt takes aim at many of the myths propagated by Georgia and its Western allies that Abkhazia andContinueContinue reading “Review: “Discordant Neighbours: A Reassessment of the Georgian-Abkhazian and Georgian-South Ossetian Conflicts” – B. George Hewitt”
Review: “Understanding Ethnopolitical Conflict: Karabakh, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia Wars Reconsidered” – Emil Souleimanov
Emil Souleimanov’s “Understanding Ethnopolitical Conflict: Karabakh, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia Wars Reconsidered” offers an excellent theoretical and methodological analysis of the ethnic conflicts in Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia. Souleimanov ‘tests’ the efficacy of the major on-set and in-process theories of the origins of ethnic conflicts and civil wars, including the role of elites, naturalContinueContinue reading “Review: “Understanding Ethnopolitical Conflict: Karabakh, South Ossetia, and Abkhazia Wars Reconsidered” – Emil Souleimanov”
Review: “The Politics of Ethnic Separatism in Russia and Georgia” – Julie A. George
Julie George’s “The Politics of Ethnic Separatism in Russia and Georgia” examines the factors that contributed to the decision of ethnic and regional leaders in both countries to pursue violent or non-violent strategies to achieve their political, economic, and personal goals.On the one hand, Georgie examines the factors that contributed to the strategies pursued byContinueContinue reading “Review: “The Politics of Ethnic Separatism in Russia and Georgia” – Julie A. George”
T. J. Petrowski 