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Tag: sovereignty
The Peace of Westphalia in the news, March, 2022
March was a busy time for people referring to the Peace of Westphalia, mostly because of the Ukraine war. (I wonder what we will call this war when it is done? The Russo-Ukraine War? The 7 Weeks’ War (he suggested optimistically)? The Steppe War?) I got notification of 10 references for March, half of which …
Peace of Westphalia in the news, February, 2022
It occurred to me recently that I could Google Alerts to let me know about new references to the Peace of Westphalia online. Naturally, most of them will probably just reference it as a byword for sovereignty (or, sometimes, balance of power), but there may be more enlightened usages. In any case, it could be …
Somaliland
If you’re like me, when you saw the title of this post you wondered, “Has the country of Somalia changed its name?” But, no, Somaliland is not an alternative name for Somalia, but rather the name for a region that is fighting for independence from Somalia (see map at right). I do not intend this …
Sovereignty and Separatists: Abkhazia and South Ossetia
Independence movements have been a lot on my mind since the harsh European reaction to Catalonian independence. Actually, independence movements have always been a lot on my mind; one of the main reasons I wanted to study the Peace of Westphalia was to learn about how the European map achieved its modern shape. One aspect …
Sovereignty and Separatists: Abkhazia and South OssetiaRead More
Catalonia and Westphalia
I recently learned that Catalonia is scheduled to vote on independence on October 1st, which is less than a week away. How is this related to the Peace of Westphalia? Very closely, as the fate of Catalonia was perhaps the touchiest part of the negotiations, and was certainly the main reason France and Spain could …