The right to self-determination and the case of Yugoslavia

Part of : Balkan studies : biannual publication of the Institute for Balkan Studies ; Vol.32, No.2, 1991, pages 335-362

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335-362
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The recent revival of the right to self-determination in cases like Yugoslaviais indicative of the eventual emergence of a new special customaryrule, allowing the secession of a people or a nation (but not of a minority)from an existing independent state, in cases involving federal and multiethnicstates.Historical rivalries, insufficient federal function, and economic crisis,combined with the failure of diplomatic interventions to lead to the disintegrationof Yugoslavia. The current problems of the country raise once more thefundamental question of the optimum size of state structure.
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