Secession, Violence and Reason of State

Abstract

What means do we have to create new states by secession? The use of force is still a widespread instrument of state creation. But following the successful secession, in 1776 of the USA from Great Britain, mobilizing ordinary citizens to demand and support a state of their own (a state which they control) gradually became the principal instrument of state creation. The paper discusses various patterns of mass mobilization for secession and a few related ethical questions.