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With their geographic and economic dimensions, post-Soviet de facto states are very small structures, yet they have existed for over a quarter of a century. This means that they have already had a generation that has no connection with the mother state from which they have separated. However, because the patron of their independence is (or, in the case of Artsakh, indirectly) Russia, which even officially recognized two of them (Abkhazia and South Ossetia-Alania), many authors keep observing their development. Their geopolitical importance significantly increased after the Russian aggression in Ukraine. Unrecognized states cannot be open economies, even if they wanted. In addition, in the case of post-Soviet de facto states, these are underdeveloped economies with high import costs and whose products are characterized by low competitiveness. The submitted contribution focuses on these structures from the point of view of the theory of small states. Based on geographic, demographic, economic and historical indicators, as well as the ability to resist reintegration, they suggest their theoretical possibilities of defending factual independence and gaining wider international recognition. The theory of small states shows in practice that the benefits of "smallness" cannot be used by de facto states to strengthen their political and economic prestige precisely because of the absence of international recognition and the rivalry of large states over geopolitical influence.

In July 2021 Greenlanders will be commemorating the 300th anniversary of Danish colonization. The anniversary has come at a time when the world is facing a wave of reflections on the injustices of ...

Since its independence in 1948, India has strived to become a major geopolitical power in South Asia, and an important player in the world. Early on, India achieved significant successes especially in the developing world. Failures caused by the lost war with China include, the rise of separatism and international isolation. After 1990, India gradually became an undisputed leader in South Asia but has since faced a number of important challenges. India is trying to consolidate its geopolitical position. The main goal of the article is to analyze Indian geopolitical thought, its sources, and relevance in Indian geopolitics.

The paper is focused on the economic problems of de facto states in the post-Soviet space after Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014, creation of the Eurasian Economic Union in 2015 and the signing of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement between the EU and Georgia and Moldova with effect from 2016. It analyzes long-term economic strategies of Transnistria, Nagorno-Artsakh, South Ossetia-Alania and Abkhazia in the context of such changes. On the basis of statistical analyzes their economic problems, which are closely connected with developments in Russia and its geopolitical interests. Artykuł koncentruje się na problemach ekonomicznych państw de facto w przestrzeni postsowieckiej po aneksji Krymu przez Rosję w 2014 r., utworzeniu Eurazjatyckiej Unii Gospodarczej w 2015 r. oraz podpisaniu pogłębionej i kompleksowej umowy o wolnym handlu między UE a Gruzją i Mołdawią wchodzącej w życie od 2016 r. Poddaje analizie długoterminowe strategie gospodarcze Naddniestrza, Górskiego Arcachu, Południowej Osetii-Alanii i Abchazji w kontekście tych zmian. Bazując na danych statystycznych i innych informacjach poddaje analizie ich problemy gospodarcze, które są ściśle związane z rozwojem sytuacji w Rosji i jej geopolitycznymi interesami. Research for this article was supported by a grant from the Czech Science Foundation (GAČR 15-09249S – De Facto States in Northern Eurasia in the Context of Russian Foreign Policy).

This paper discusses the competing processes between Moldovan and Romanian identities for the creation of a national identity in the Republic of Moldova. The issue of a common national identity for the people of the Republic of Moldova has been a problem since the beginning of this state’s independence. Throughout the 25 years of independence, different concepts of a Moldovan nation have competed in public, scientific, and political discourse. As a result of the historical context, the region has a linguistic specificity, which is based on the example of the Romanians, Moldovans, and Russians living in this region. Through archival research, field research, and interviews with Moldovan intellectuals and officials, this study recognizes the need for a national identity in the creation of unity and a sense of nationalism for Moldovan citizens.

The aim of this chapter is to demonstrate, using the cases of Tuva and Mongolia, that although the de jure recognition of newly formed state entities was perceived as far less important than in the present, these entities shared a number of similarities with present-day de facto states and thus can serve as useful historical analogies. Primarily, this chapter discusses which circumstances led to the incorporation of Tuva into its powerful patron – The Soviet Union – and which helped Mongolia to eventually become a fully recognized state.

De facto states are considered to be highly specific entities, thus meriting a detailed analysis of how conflict transformation functions within such states and what role is played in them by civil society organizations (CSOs), which are traditionally considered one of the key actors in conflict transformation. The authors discuss the factors that limit the activities of these CSOs as a result of the restricted sovereignty of de facto states. The study is based on three field research projects focusing on CSOs in Abkhazia, carried out in 2009, 2014, and 2015.

De-facto states constitute an interesting and important anomaly in the international system of sovereign states. No matter how successful and efficient in the administration of their territories they are, they fail to achieve international recognition. In the past, their claims for independence were based primarily on the right to national self-determination, historical continuity and claim for a remedial right to secession, based on alleged human-rights violations. Since 2005, official representatives of several de facto states have repeatedly emphasised the importance of democracy promotion in their political entities. A possible explanation of this phenomenon dwells in the belief that those states which have demonstrated their economic viability and promote the organization of a democratic state should gain their sovereignty. This article demonstrates the so called “democracy-for-recognition strategy” in the case study of Abkhazia. On the basis of the field research in Abkhazia we identify factors that promote, as well as those that obstruct the democratisation process in the country.

If Armenian and Azerbaijani negotiators ever agree on the future status of Nagorno-Karabakh, it will not necessarily resolve the long-running conflict, because any peace treaty would require the consent of the Karabakh Armenians, whose political representatives are currently excluded from peace negotiations. It is difficult to imagine the Karabakh Armenians consenting to such a treaty without a change in their perception of the Azerbaijanis. According to the theory of conflict transformation/peacebuilding, Nagorno-Karabakh’s civil society should be able to make a contribution to this change. Using the example of four Nagorno-Karabakh civil society organisations, this study shows how they positively or negatively influence conflict transformation.

Bougainville is one of the cases of secession present in the Pacific region. Its uniqueness lies not only in the complexity of the case but mainly in the fact that the region has agreed on an independence referendum with its parent state—Papua New Guinea. The contribution presents local, regional, and other impacts of the case development and factors regarding its process of recognition.

This article analyses Japanese geopolitics of the imperial period by employing critical-geopolitical approaches to examine its formal and practical discursive levels. Its main objective is to explore classic Japanese geopolitical imagination juxtaposed to political (geo)propaganda, from the perspectives of space and their ideological origin. It starts by presenting selected autochthonous contexts and investigates how some Asian and non-Asian geopolitical ideas emerged in Japan. Afterwards, it turns to selected actors involved in the formal discourse, ranging from the academia to religious authorities, and confronts them with the practical discourse of political practice. A partial aim here is to localize some ideological elements supporting the classic geopolitical imagination and its role in legitimizing imperial ideologies. The analysis offers insights into the politization of spatial imagination in Japan of the imperial period. It is accompanied by a cartographic representation and an overview matrix of discursive actors.

After the end of a bipolar world, political, ethnic, religious, social and economic relates have entered into a new phase of development in an effort to discover new forms of balance. The political structures of the world are undergoing changes in different spatial dimensions from global through macro-regional to local ones. We are witnessing of processes leading to democratisation of political systems, but also of the opposite trends. These political processes are very strongly influenced by ethical and religious conflicts and nationalist tendencies, from positive emancipation to negative xenophobia. In terms of education, the disadvantage of reflecting changes of political structures is their relatively high speed, which cannot be reflected in textbooks and which requires constant updating from teachers. It is important to find an optimal level of politico-geographical knowledge for each school grade and to avoid the mere memorising of facts. The relation to political structures is most affected by subjective opinions of every teacher who passes them onto their students. Therefore, a strong emphasis should be placed on the training of pre-service teachers in the context of modern education of political and cultural geography. The political and economic changes in some Central European countries and their perception by the children of secondary schools will be reflected in the chapter.

Conditions of Democratization in De-facto States: Case Study of Abkhazia. De-facto states constitute an interesting anomaly in the international system of sovereign states. No matter how long their control of claimed territory has lasted or how effective their capacities to provide governmental services to its population are, they fail to achieve international recognition. A change in the legitimising strategy adopted by the leaders of de-facto states came with the recognition of Kosovo’s independence by most western powers. In the past, their claims to independence were based primarily on the right to national self-determination, historical continuity and claim to a remedial right to secession, based on alleged human-rights violations. Increasingly, though, these arguments have been supplemented by an emphasis on “democratisation-for-recognition-strategy”. According to this strategy, those states that proved their viability as democratic states should earn their sovereignty. The aim of this article is to demonstrate this strategy on an instrumental case study of Abkhazia. As a result of the study of secondary literature on the topic of de-facto states democratization, supported with field research in Abkhazia, we try to identify those factors which are promoting and on the other hand obstructing a democratization process in such a de-facto state.