In a world in which change is constant, the principle of self-determination is important. Through (collective) acts of self-determination, nations exercise the right to govern themselves. At present the nation-state system with which we are familiar faces several challenges. In Western Europe, sub-state nationalism is on the rise. In the Middle East and North Africa, the state system bequeathed by former colonial powers faces increasing threats from pan-Islamist movements. Overall, the established order faces unprecedented uncertainties. The scholars who have contributed to this volume assess the merits, limitations and trajectories of self-determination in the twenty-first century, pointing to the paradoxes and anomalies that are encompassed by what at first sight is a simple and seductive concept. From the perspective of the twenty-first century and informed by a wealth of experience each of the contributors to this volume offers some valuable and intriguing observations on the future of self-determination and the movements its call engenders.

This book was published as a special issue of Ethnopolitics.

About the Author
Karl Cordell is Professor of Politics at Plymouth University UK. He has numerous publications in the fields of German politics, German-Polish relations and the politics of nationalism and ethnicity. He is also co-editor of the journals Civil Wars and Ethnopolitics. Uriel Abulof is an assistant professor of Politics at Tel-Aviv University and a senior research fellow at Princeton University's LISD / Woodrow Wilson School. He studies political legitimation and violence, focusing on nationalism, democratization, revolutions and ethnic conflicts. Abulof's first book Living on the Edge: The Existential Uncertainty of Zionism (Haifa University Press) received Israel's best academic book award, and he recently completed his second book, The Mortality and Morality of Nations (Cambridge University Press).


Book Information
ISBN 9781138309180
Author Uriel Abulof
Format Paperback
Page Count 144
Imprint Routledge
Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
Weight(grams) 453g