What is it like living in an ‘unrecognized state’ ?
In this blog post I discuss some of the practical problems faced by the people living in what are called ‘unrecognized states of the world’. Also I present here some case studies on few unrecognized states (not all) and about their current economic situation. Its kind of a lengthy write up but worth a read if you are really interested in knowing about the international politics.
Unrecognized states are those which do not have a legal status of a separate geopolitical entity as a sovereign state from the eyes of the international platform. That means they do not appear on any official world political maps. Also they are not allowed to engage in international affairs. In other words, all the rules and regulations within the framework of the international politics just dont apply for them. In short, the rest of the world just dont care about them.
As per the international law formulated at the Montevedio Convention in 1930, an entity can be treated as a sovereign state if it has all the four properties: a defined territory, permanent population, an operating government, and capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. This law was termed as declarative model for statehood and it does not demand any recognition from other sovereign states to be a sovereign state itself. This law was widely accepted and practised until the World War 2. After WW-2, there was a slight international instability in most states regarding their territories and that gained momentum during the Soviet Union breakup and as a result, lot of regions which claim themselves as ‘independent’ mushroomed across the globe. There is also a wide diversity in their purpose to become independent. Some meant for their state betterment and some meant to gain control over the natural resources. What ever be the purpose, this international instability has attracted terrorism and illegitimate trade, smuggling etc. To gain firm control over their territories and political situation, many states in the international community have drifted from the declarative model for state recognition in favor of the constitutive model for state recognition which also requires recognition from other sovereign states for an entity to be sovereign state itself.
Today, there are many unrecognized states across the globe which have their own independent governments which have been operating for some years now. They have their own flags, army, police. Some issue their own currency. They have border checkpoints, development agencies. They even collect taxes and issue their own visas. Though these states do not have worldwide diplomatic recognition, some states have been flourishing and their economy is getting better. But some other states have turned a disaster by becoming hubs for illegitimate activities such as terrorism, drugs, piracy and smuggling.
There are many practical problems faced by the people living in an unrecognized state. Sending mail, remitting money, travel, basic communication and many everyday activities are serious issues. They cannot do trade with other countries as their money is invalid or do not have official foreign exchange rates. They cannot travel abroad as their passports stand no valid authorization else where. They pretty much operate as the rest of the world except that they dont have a legal status. The only advantage for being disconnected from the rest of the world is that wont be affected by the global recession or economic meltdowns as they have no dependence on the international community. These states have a strong desire to gain international recognition and are ready to establish friendly and trade relations with other sovereign states for their economic development.
The below link lists out all the unrecognized countries across the world: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_with_limited_recognition
The rest of the blog post deals with few case studies on some unrecognized states (not all, only few) and their current economic situation.
