Abstract
This thesis looks at the problem of secession in international relations. An opening section defines secession, exposes hypocrisy on this issue, and makes a case for the significance of the issue. Next, I turn to a search for answers to three closely related questions on the right to secession. First I ask, what is the status of a right to secession in international law? I frame my search around the right to self-determination and find that, while a right to self-determination does still exist in international law, it no longer contains a sub-right to secession or independence. Next I look for a right to secession in normative international relations theory: what normative theories of a right to secession have normative international relations theorists developed. I find four distinct categories, provide examples, and arrange them on an ideological continuum. In my concluding chapter, I look at the various issues and concerns that one would need to take into account to develop a feasible and complete right to secession, with attention to what is politically possible at the international level.