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1. Exchange Over Troubled Waters: The Anioma and the War-Time Trade with Biafra, 1967–1970

Author:
Odigwe A. Nwaokocha
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Institution:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Abstract:
The Nigeria-Biafra war was fought between the secessionist state of Biafra and Nigeria between 1967 and 1970. It witnessed intense struggles between the two contending parties to gain victory. Biafra struggled against many odds to survive not just militarily. This included the attempt by the Nigerian Federal Military Government to economically strangulate her, by stiffly enforcing a blockade that denied her of all goods, including food, nec-essary for her survival. The federal aim was to force her into surrendering and abandoning her proclaimed status as a state. Reacting to the exigency of the time, Biafra looked west and traded with the Anioma people in a way that enabled her to procure needed items. This prolonged the war with her Nigerian foe and elongated her survival. Many works exist on the Nigeria-Bi-afra war (Achuzia 1986; Akpan 1976; Alabi-Isama 2013; Anwunah 2007; de St. Jorre 1972; Madiebo 1980; Obasanjo 1980; Ogbemudia 1991; Okocha 1994; Okocha 2012; Tamuno and Ukpabi 1989; Uchendu 2007). One was authored by a top civil servant; five by ex-soldiers; two by a journalist and two by professional historians. They said very little on the war-time economy and trade on both sides of the divide. However, a few works focused on the economies of both sides during the war (Aboyade and Ayida 1971, 15-37; Adisa 1984, 93-104; Nafziger 1972, 223-245; Ogbudimkpa 1985; Okigbo 1989, 201-212). None of these works discussed the cross-border trade between the Anioma people and Biafra during the war. Gloria Chuku (2002, 216-228) and Egodi Uchendu (2007, 135-145) have, however, discussed aspects of the trans-border trade between Biafra and the Anioma. Both were restricted to the role of women in the trade. This work attempts a general examination of the trade, as it concerned the Anioma people.
Topic:
War, History, Economy, Trade, and Secession
Political Geography:
Africa, Nigeria, and Biafra

2. Threat of Secession

Author:
Hussain Taofik Oyewo
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Conflict Trends
Institution:
The African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (ACCORD)
Abstract:
There is a considerable popular feeling of exclusion and perceived sense of injustice among various units of the Nigerian federation – a situation that has led to alienation, suspicion and apprehension among various groups in the country. Over time, different groups have pursued separatist ambitions in Nigeria – some examples are Ogoni nationalism and the Boko Haram insurgency. This article focuses on Nigeria’s unresolved ethnic tensions and suspicions of domination that led to the declaration of the state of Biafra, leading to the Nigerian civil war between 1967 and 1970, and the subsequent persistent agitation for an independent state of Biafra since the end of the war.
Topic:
Minorities, Ethnicity, Discrimination, State Building, and Secession
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

3. One hundred years of State Secessions

Author:
Ricardo Torres
Publication Date:
07-2019
Content Type:
Commentary and Analysis
Institution:
Argentine Council for International Relations (CARI)
Abstract:
The basic idea behind this short paper is to analyze secessionism in the last century.
Topic:
Nationalism, History, Self Determination, Woodrow Wilson, Lenin, Nation-State, and Secession
Political Geography:
Argentina and Latin America

4. Between Domestic and Global Politics: The Determinants of Eritrea’s Successful Secession

Author:
Albano Agostinho Troco
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Institution:
Brazilian Journal of African Studies
Abstract:
Secessionist conflicts are not a novel occurrence in the African continent. Since the dawn of independence in the 1960s, a number of countries have been home to rebellions involving marginalized communities or ethno-linguistic groups demanding territorial separation from existing states with the goal to create new independent states. The list is long and includes territorial units in countries such as Angola (Cabinda), Comoros (Anjouan and Mohedi), The Democratic Republic of Congo (Katanga, South Kassai) Ethiopia (Eritrea, Ogaden, and Oromia, Afar), Mali (Tuaregs), Niger (Tuaregs), Nigeria (Biafra, Niger Delta), Senegal (Casamance), Somalia (Somaliland) and Sudan (South Sudan) only to mention a few amongst others. [...] ants of successful secessions with particular reference to the African continent. Its central argument is that the successful outcome of the secessionist struggle in Eritrea is the result of a tight combination of domestic and external factors. These include Eritrea’s historical and legal claims for territorial self-determination, the Dergue’s policies of alienation, the effectiveness of the Eritrean Peoples Liberation Front’s strategies (EPLF), the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, and the supportive role of the United States of America.
Topic:
Politics, Domestic Politics, Conflict, and Secession
Political Geography:
Africa, Sudan, Ethiopia, Senegal, Nigeria, Somalia, Angola, Eritrea, Mali, Niger, Comoros, and Democratic Republic of Congo

5. Stateless Rohingyas: From Crosshair to Crossroads

Author:
M. Ihsan Qadir, Saif Ur Rehman, and S. M. A. Gardezi
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Journal of Political Studies
Institution:
Department of Political Science, University of the Punjab
Abstract:
The distressing ethno-demographic conflict in Myanmar is a sordid reality of recent human history. The two ethnic groups; Buddhists and Rohingyas (mainly Muslims) living in North Westerly state (Rakhine State) are at daggers drawn with each other since last many decades. History of this intra-state conflict dates back to British colonization of Burma in 1824. The widespread state sponsored persecution of Rohingya community after Myanmar‟s independence in 1948 has created waves of ethnic and political instability one after the other. Few contributory causes of the conflict include; systematic denial of citizenship rights, restrictions on freedom of movement, absence of healthcare facilities and deprivation of education for Rohingya community. The most serious of all is denial of citizen rights which has rendered the community stateless. The prolonged sufferings at the hands of majority population (Buddhists) have forced this stateless community to contemplate carving out a separate autonomous state by seceding from Myanmar. This resulted in creating gulf of distrust between both the parties triggering a major intrastate conflict in South Asia. The conflict lifecycle has witnessed many rounds of violence resulting in huge destruction of life and property. This article examines regional repercussions of recent cycle of violence and suggests few conflict resolution strategies.
Topic:
Demographics, Ethnic Conflict, Secession, and Rohingya
Political Geography:
Southeast Asia and Myanmar

6. Countdown for Brexit: What to Expect for UK, EU and Turkey?

Author:
Burak Cop
Publication Date:
04-2019
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Global Political Trends Center (GPoT)
Abstract:
As the most divisive issue of the British politics since 2016, the Brexit phenomenon continues to shake the two biggest mainstream parties, Conservatives and Labour. The Conservative Party is affected by the tension between the Soft and Hard Brexiters, but the divisiveness Brexit brings about hits Labour even worse. A No Deal or Hard Brexit is likely to strengthen Scotland’s bid for independence. Scotland’s probable departure from the UK will surely be encouraging for other secessionist movements in Europe, however it should be noted that the window of opportunity Brexit opens for Scottish nationalists constitutes a rather exceptional case in Europe. One could argue that the “Norway model” for post-Brexit UK could be valid for Turkey too, but that model aims to bring about a deeper integration than what the proponents of “EU-Turkey exclusive partnership” prescribe for Turkey.
Topic:
European Union, Brexit, Political Parties, and Secession
Political Geography:
United Kingdom, Europe, Turkey, Middle East, North America, Scotland, and European Union

7. Secessionist Conflict: A Happy Marriage between Norms and Interests?

Author:
Rafael Biermann
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Journal Article
Abstract:
This roundtable debates how norms, values, and interests are balanced and harmonized in a world of conflict. My contribution focuses on one specific policy field: secessionist conflict. Like Megan Bradley’s contribution on the international refugee regime,1 this essay takes a metaperspective and does not investigate any one specific case or actor.2 I assume a political science perspective, paying attention first to social norms (as standards of appropriate behavior), which encompass but go beyond legally codified norms of international law;3 and second to interests, whether they be national, group, personal, or other. My perspective here is a critical social constructivist one, investigating the dialectic relationship of norms, interests, and power. I introduce the concept of “norm selection” in a policy field, which offers choice within a cluster of competing norms. Finally, following Bernd Bucher’s call to bring back agency into what he terms international “norm politics,” this contribution prioritizes agency, arguing that it is actors with diverging interests who do the balancing of norms, values, and interests.4 This was one of the major insights we gained from the workshop preceding this roundtable.5 The central argument of my contribution is that the policy field of secessionist conflict is structured around a set of five rival norms, of which territorial integrity and self-determination form the core. This normative structure permits the parties involved in a secessionist conflict to select from a menu of norms those that best suit their interests. The selection displays remarkable regularities, indicating default positions for each type of actor. However, significant outlier cases signal that interests do not simply trump norms but that actors accord different values to those norms. This attribution is influenced by the dynamics of a normative environment in which norms rise and fall. In particular, since the Cold War ended, discourse as well as state practice have shifted away from the traditional taboo on secession toward more revisionist concepts, such as remedial secession or earned sovereignty, providing an opening for the secessionist wave that started with the breakup of the Soviet Union and of Yugoslavia. I present my argument in three steps. First, I introduce the above-mentioned cluster of norms that shape discourse and policies on secession, distinguishing the two core norms and the three circumjacent ones of noninterference, human rights, and democratic good governance. Second, I identify five major types of actors in secessionist conflicts and investigate how each balances those norms. Since this balancing is actor-specific and conforms to the interests that each pursues, I arrive at distinct default positions for each actor type. Whereas this analysis suggests that norms serve primarily as legitimation devices to advance the diverging interests of various actors, the last section discusses outlier cases where norms and interests do not match as presumed.
Topic:
International Law, Self Determination, Norms, and Secession
Political Geography:
Global Focus

8. How Catalan's Independence Leader Failed by Design

Author:
Liam Hunt
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Centre for the Study of Security and Development, Dalhousie University
Abstract:
Catalonia unilaterally declared independence from Spain on October 27, 2017, and with that, the fate of the European Union was briefly, once again, put in jeopardy. Since then, the international community, including Canada, the US, UK, Germany, and France, have all come forward to call for Spanish unity and quash the separatist tide. The Spanish Constitutional Court has ruled the results of the October 1 secession referendum illegal. In response, the Spanish Senate triggered Article 155 of the Constitution, which effectively gave Madrid direct rule over the region of Catalonia. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy then dissolved the Catalan Parliament and installed a caretaker government under the leadership of vice-premier Soraya de Santamaria before calling snap regional elections for December 21.
Topic:
Sovereignty, Elections, European Union, Separatism, and Secession
Political Geography:
Europe, Spain, and Catalonia