Abstract
How does a group acquire the right to secede from an existing state? This is the central question that contemporary normative theorists of secession-including Christopher Wellman in this volume-address. The question I address in this chapter is quite different: can the use of military force in order to achieve or to prevent a secession be justified on moral grounds? Even if a group does have a right to secede, this does not necessarily imply that it is morally justified to use military force and to kill people in an attempt to secure secession or independence. Whether or not there are rights to independent statehood, one can still ask, is independent statehood worth the sacrifice of human life and the misery that attends any military conflict?
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | Secession as an International Phenomenon |
Editors | Don H. Doyle |
Place of Publication | Athens, GA |
Publisher | University of Georgia Press |
Pages | 259-276 |
Number of pages | 18 |
ISBN (Electronic) | 0820337374 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780820330082 |
Publication status | Published - 2010 |