Abstract: This master's thesis focuses on the obstacles of state building for the defacto states Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic ( Tranistria) and the Republic of Abkhazia. Both of which are break-away states from former soviet republics: Moldova and Georgia. The purpose is to give a cross country comparison of factors which hinder state building. Both states have their unique sets of challenges to integrating into a fully recognized state yet share many of the same obstacles. The factors that will be analyzed are relations to their Patron states; The Russian Federation and how this patron state contributes to these de facto states inability to democratize and gain outside recognition with other member state. These challenges for integration as full dejure states and participation within international institutions are a result of ethnic tension, corruption, authorities and complete dependence on Russia as a parent state. The other factors that will be analyzed is the Foreign policy of the Russian within its near abroad and their soft power tactics towards their compatriots.

This thesis argues that neopatrimonialism is vital to understanding the power structure of the secessionist Transnistrian Moldovan Republic (TMR), and that neopatrimonial structures have been manipulated by Soviet-era elites to sustain the unrecognized separatist state's independence. The thesis also argues that neopatrimonialism is not a stable structure and its effectiveness in retaining support for the regime has changed over time. The paper provides an empirical analysis of the TMR in order to answer two questions: "To what extent does neopatrimonialism explain the regime endurance of the Transnistrian Moldovan Republic?" and "What does the case of the Transnistrian Moldovan Republic reveal about neopatrimonialism and regime endurance over time?" The analysis examines the TMR regime's use of Soviet-era industrial and bureaucratic structures, media, party networks, and worker committees to assert and maintain control, distribute patronage, maintain support for secession, and co-opt important interest groups. The paper concludes that although neopatrimonialism is only one of several elements that support the TMR regime's endurance, the analysis of neopatrimonial systems in states with significant neopatrimonialism provides a framework for examining disparate but interwoven elements of a state's political economy. / Master of Public and International Affairs

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-103). Also available via the World Wide Web.

Die internationale Staatengemeinschaft steht Sezessionsbestrebungen zur Aufspaltung bestehender Staaten gewöhnlich ablehnend gegenüber. Gleichzeitig wendet sie in vielen Ländern Instrumente der Entwicklungspolitik an und greift so auch in den dortigen politischen Prozess ein. Untersucht wird, inwiefern Entwicklungspolitik so gestaltet werden kann, dass sie nicht, quasi als Nebenwirkung, einer Sezessionsbewegung zum Durchbruch verhilft. Betrachtet wird dabei neben der gezielten Förderung wirtschaftlichen Wachstums auch das Instrument der Dezentralisierung, das oft als Mittel zur „Beruhigung“ separatistischer Bestrebungen vorgeschlagen wird. Zuvor jedoch wird aufgewiesen, dass eine Politik, die Sezessionen verhindern will, zumindest in vielen Fällen auch moralphilosophisch schlüssig begründet werden kann. Den Abschluss der Arbeit bilden drei Fallstudien zu Sezessionen auf dem Gebiet der ehemaligen Sowjetunion. / The international community is usually set against secessionist movements that aim at the splitting up of existing states. At the same time, in many countries instruments of development policy are applied, that automatically influence the political process there. The investigation here seeks to answer the question whether development policies can be designed in a way that they don’t unwillingly trigger secession as a side effect. In doing so, the focus is not only on growth-enhancing policies, but also on the instrument of decentralization, which is often presented as a tool suited to appease separatist movements. Prior to that, though, it is demonstrated that a policy aiming at the prevention of secessions can – in many cases at least – be justified with sound arguments of moral philosophy. The concluding chapter looks at three case studies of secessions that have been attempted on the territory of the former Soviet Union.

Over the course of history, the organisation of human societies has gone through several evolutionary stages. Their peak, primarily in Europe, took the form of states as polities structured around an ethnical basis-nation states. In many cases, their rise and downfall could be rather violent which led to growing social instability. Therefore, international communities began looking for mechanisms to regulate these processes. From the perspective of international law, it was necessary mainly to define the term state and codify the requirements an entity had to meet in order to be considered one. The Montevideo Convention established an elementary quartet, necessitating the presence of a population, territory, executive power and the ability to fully participate in international relationships, i.e. possess external sovereignty. These four aspects, however, still did not entirely suffice which is why secondary requirements kept being inconsistently added, addressing primarily the entity's inner character and its attitude to, for example, upholding universal human rights or minority rights. Nonetheless, simply meeting the above-mentioned criteria is not enough to establish a fully functioning state. In the modern world, it is essentially impossible for a new state to be created without infringing on...

This thesis comparatively analyses dilemmas arising from the unresolved Georgian-Abkhazian and Moldovan-Transnistrian conflicts. The many existing differences in the nature and dynamics of each conflict point to a sui generis situation, yet, many similarities also exist, including Soviet era legacies. The research premise is based on very considerable resourcing being dedicated to the resolution of these conflicts since their inception, yet no significant conflict transformation (Abkhazia has Russian recognition) has occurred, let alone peace. Given the mandate from the OSCE, EU and UN, the purpose of the thesis is to analyse their involvement. While evidence – local vested interests and strategic interests – illustrates the obvious obstructions, the thesis focuses on the IOs and asks why no tangible successes were achieved. This is done by critically analysing their performance, by assuming that success is often overlooked and by identifying a range of misperceptions. Therefore, by considering conflict transformation and engaging in analysis of many sources, including documents and about five-dozen interviews, the thesis reappraises the ethno-national origins, the geopolitical dimension and the entrenched conflicting party positions in the context of pan-European actors' responses. The analyses of the comparative peace processes illuminate the IOs' own challenges in reaching consensus as well as on the conflicting parties' competing narratives. Answering the question of what to produce first – a political solution to improve societal conditions, or the pursuing exercise of confidence-building measures (CBMs) to settle the status question – is part of the objective. I argue that a typology of success and failure more comprehensively explains IO performance between 1992 and the EU's Vilnius Summit in 2013.

The Republic of Moldova was one of fifteen states to emerge from the dissolution of the Soviet Union. With weak historical legacy of statehood, deteriorating economy and serious national divisions, the young state lacked many of the prerequisites deemed necessary for successful democratization. From the very beginning of independence, Moldova became the battleground of Romanianists, propagating for the Romanian character of Moldova’s majority population, and Moldovanists, who viewed the people as a separate nation. In the literature on democracy and democratization, a divided nation is singled out as a serious threat to statehood and democratization efforts alike. Without a nation in place it is generally understood that democracy cannot take root. Nevertheless, Moldova in a few years time managed to make considerable progress on its path towards democracy. A main theme of the dissertation is thus the issue of national division and how it has affected political developments in general and democracy in specific. This picture is then further expanded by including close analysis of political support. The dissertation contributes to discussions about how nation and democracy goes together in transitional states with no legacy of either of them. The analysis shows that national division in Moldova works on different levels. While political actors often seek support from the electorate according to their positions on the nation, national identity by itself does not suffice to explain differences in political support. Instead other aspects, such as generational values, degree of urbanity and level of education, play a much larger role. Democracy, as a platform where different political ideas and ambitions may form, can both complicate transitions since it provides opportunities for conflicts, but democracy also holds the prospects to find ways to resolve disagreements. In the long run, this carries the seed of consolidation of both democracy and nation alike.

Abstract – From de facto to de jure: A comparative study between three post-Soviet territories path towards diplomatic recognition The purpose of this essay has been to study how well three post-Soviet de facto states live up to the definition of the concepts of state and sovereignty. Basically, the focus has been to, with the help of an analysis scheme constructed specifically for this study, analyse the situation the three de facto states are currently in and then compare their situations to one another. With the study I want to show that the history of the de facto states, as well as their current legal status, carry with them differences and similarities that play a major role in their future. By analysing a number of scientific articles and other research material within the social science sphere, I have been able to compile a table that shows how well the case studies live up to the seven criteria of the state outlined by Martin Glassner in Political Geography (2004). The main result of the study has been that various historical and demographic circumstances in the three de facto states have distinguished them from one another during the more than three decades that have passed since the fall of the Soviet Union. However, this is in stark contrast to the strong ties they all have to a patron state, which in all cases is crucial to the legal state of limbo they are all currently residing in.

Author Samuel Lavoie Thesis Diplomacy and Diplomatic Institutions of Unrecognized De Facto States Somaliland, Transnistria and Artsakh (2020) Abstract As a topic, international recognition has been increasingly studied over the past twenty years, particularly since Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008. This thesis attempts to advance our understanding of the underlying causes of the inability to gain political recognition by examining several factors that have been omitted from the academic literature. Specifically, it examines several key aspects of the diplomatic institutions, personnel, and approaches of three unrecognized de facto states that meet most of the criteria for statehood under international law, but have so far received no recognition recognized states. These entities are Somaliland, Transnistria, and Artsakh. This paper also draws on partially recognized states and finds that geopolitical and ideological factors generally prevail over diplomatic ones as the main drivers of political recognition. This is especially true when an entity is located in an area of fierce rivalry for influence, such as the PMR and the Republic of Artsakh. However, while remaining a secondary factor, diplomacy becomes more important for international recognition when the interests of...

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