国家とは何でしょうか。カタルーニャが、スペインの中央政府が違法とみなす分離独立を問う住民投票を行ったことや、パレスチナが国際的な承認を求め続けていることで、この問いかけは近年ますます注目を集めています。また、スコットランドは英国への残留を選択したものの、Brexit投票の影響が出始めた中、独立についての議論は続いています。
国家としての地位確立への道は平坦ではありません。独立宣言はその第一歩に過ぎず、真の独立を果たすためには、地域と世界の両方から受け入れられなければなりません。通常、領土の喪失は親国家にとって受け入れ難いことで、既存の文化や経済に対する脅威と見做せば、武装してでも抵抗するでしょう。そして、国際社会は、領土、定住人口、有効な（そして人権を尊重する民主的な）政府を証明できない限り、新しい国家を承認することを拒否します。分離独立と国家創設に関する法的、政治的、実践的な問題を網羅している本書は、このタイムリーなテーマについて考える上で欠かすことのできない手引きとなっています。
    

• Explores the intersection of politics, law, history, and international relations in state creation
• A lucid and authoritative look at a timely issue
• Provides an introduction to the difficult but unavoidable questions that arise when regions contemplate secession

  
What makes a state? This question has attracted more and more attention in recent years with Catalan's illegal vote for independence from Spain and Palestine's ongoing search for international recognition. And while Scotland chose to remain with the United Kingdom, discussions of independence have only continued as the ramifications of the Brexit vote begin to set in. Kosovo, South Sudan, and the situation in Ukraine--each in its way reveals the perils of creating a nation separate from neighbors who have dominated it. 
  
As James Ker-Lindsay and Mikulas Fabry show in this new addition to the What Everyone Needs to Know® series, the road to statehood never did run smooth. Declaring independence is only the first step; gaining both local and global acceptance is necessary before a state can become truly independent. The prospect of losing territory is usually not welcomed by the parent state, and any such threat to an existing culture and its economy is often met with resistance--armed or otherwise. Beyond this immediate conflict, the international community often refuses to accept new states without proof of defined territory, a settled population, and effective government, which frequently translates to a democratic one with demonstrated respect for human rights. Covering the legal, political, and practical issues of secession and state creation, Ker-Lindsay and Fabry provide a sure-footed guide to a complex topic.