The Rise of De Facto State’s Foreign Policy Identity: From Self-Proclamation to International Legal Subjectivity. The Case of Abkhazia
https://doi.org/10.46272/2587-8476-2024-15-1-154-172
Abstract
The article focuses on the foreign policy identity of the de facto state, citing Abkhazia, which gained partial recognition from Russia and a number of other states, as an example. Using comparative analysis of the Abkhazian Intellectuals’ Adresses (1977 and 1988) and content analysis of the annual Presidential Addresses as basic research methods, the study attempts to answer the question: what is the foreign policy identity of the de facto state (from 2008 – partially recognized state) under issue. The conducted research concludes that the conceptual foundations of Abkhazian foreign policy identity, formulated in the Intellectuals’ Addresses, are reflected in the official discourse and reproduced at the level of everyday perception, still they are not static. The main implication to be made is that although today Abkhazia is increasingly positioned as a sovereign state, the opposite – Abkhazia’s identity as a de facto state – is still evident enough in official speeches and everyday communication.
About the Author
A. V. Pavlova
MGIMO University
Russian Federation
Competing Interests:
Russian Federation
Anastasia V. Pavlova - analyst, Institute for International Studies, MGIMO University.
76, Vernadsky avenue, Moscow, 119454
Competing Interests:
None
References
1. M.Yu. Chumalov, ed. Abkhazskii uzel: Dokumenty i materialy po etnicheskomu konfliktu v Abkhazii. Vypusk II. Narodnyi forum Abkhazii «Aidgylara» i ego soyuzniki. 1989–1990 gg. Moscow: Institute of Anthropology and Ethnography RAS, 1995 [In Russian].
2. Avidzba, Aslan F. “Stanovlenie nezavisimogo Abkhazskogo gosudarstva i Rossiiskaya Federatsiya (1993–2008 gg.).” In Uchenye zapiski Tsentra izucheniya Tsentral’noi Azii, Kavkaza i Uralo-Povolzh’ya IV RAN. Tom I: Abkhaziya, edited by A.Yu. Skakov, 209–226. Moscow: Institute of Oriental Studies RAS, 2013 [In Russian].
3. Aiba, Badra. Malye strany mira. Sukhum: GPP “Dom pechati,” 2006 [In Russian].
4. Basariya, Simon. Abkhaziya v geograficheskom, etnograficheskom i ekonomicheskom otnoshenii. Sukhum-Kale, 1923 [In Russian].
5. Bgazhba, Oleg Kh., and Stanislav Z. Lakoba. Istoriya Abkhazii s drevneishikh vremen do nashikh dnei. Sukhum, 2007 [In Russian].
6. Gamakharia, Jemal. Political History of Abkhazia/ Georgia (Brief sciense information), edited by Nana Kvaratskhelia. Tbilisi, 2012.
7. Gamakhariya, Dzhemal, and Badri Gogiya. Abkhaziya – istoricheskaya oblast’ Gruzii (istoriografiya, dokumenty i materialy, kommentarii). S drevneishikh vremen do 30-kh godov XX veka. Tbilisi: Izdatel’stvo OOO “Agdgoma,” 1997 [In Russian].
8. Kukhianidze, Alexander. “Georgia: Conflicts, Crime, and Security.” The Caucasus & Globalization 6, no. 4 (2012): 54–62.
9. Lakoba, Nestor. Iskry Oktyabr'skoi Revolyutsii v Abkhazii (vospominaniya). In K istorii revolyutsionnogo dvizheniya v Abkhazii. Sbornik Glavpolitprosveta Abkhazii, 3–22. Sukhum: Tipografiya Sov. Nar. Khozyaistva Abkhazii, 1922 [In Russian].
10. Lakoba, Stanislav Z. Abkhaziya – de-fakto ili Gruziya de-yure? Sapporo: Slavic Research Center, 2001 [In Russian].
11. Lordkipanidze, Mariam, and Georgi Otkhmezuri. “Abkhazia’s status as part of Georgia: historical perspective.” The Caucasus & Globalization 4, no. 1–2 (2010): 172–183.
12. Markedonov, S. “Post-Soviet De Facto States: Trajectories of Their Struggle for Sovereignty.” World Economy and International Relations 65, no. 12 (2021): 79–89 [In Russian].
13. Markedonov, Sergei, and Aleksandr Skakov. “Postsovetskaya Gruziya: ot turbulentnosti k stabil'nosti i predskazuemosti.” In Evolyutsiya postsovetskogo prostranstva: proshloe, nastoyashchee, budushchee : khrestomatiya, 131–140. Moscow: NP RSMD, 2017 [In Russian].
14. Marykhuba, Igor. Istoricheskie, gosudarstvenno-pravovye obosnovaniya suvereniteta Abkhazii. Sukhum: SPPA, 2004 [In Russian].
15. Papaskiri, Zurab. “Abkhazia and the Abkhazians in the common Georgian ethno-cultural, political, and state expanse.” The Caucasus & Globalization 2, no. 2 (2008): 105–121.
16. Platonova, Maria A. “De-facto Independent States of the Caucasus: Redefining the Terminology.” Science Journal of Volgograd State University. History. Area Studies. International Relations, no. 1 (2012): 98–101 [In Russian].
17. Silaev, Nikolai. “Chto poluchilos’ u Gruzii?” In Evolyutsiya postsovetskogo prostranstva: proshloe, nastoyashchee, budushchee : khrestomatiya, 41–46. Moscow: NP RSMD, 2017 [In Russian].
18. Broers, Laurence. “Unrecognised Statehood?” In Routledge Handbook of the Caucasus, edited by Galina M. Yemelianova and Laurence Broers, 1st ed., 466. London: Routledge, 2020.
19. Brubaker, Rogers. “Nationhood and the National Question in the Soviet Union and Post-Soviet Eurasia: An Institutionalist Account.” Theory and Society 23, no. 1 (1994): 47–78. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00993673.
20. Caspersen, Nina. “Making Peace with De Facto States.” In Unrecognized States and Secession in the 21st Century, edited by Martin Riegl and Bohumil Doboš, 11–22. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56913-0_2.
21. Comai, Giorgio. “Conceptualising Post-Soviet de Facto States as Small Dependent Jurisdictions.” Ethnopolitics 17, no. 2 (March 15, 2018): 181–200. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449057.2017.1393210.
22. Florea, Adrian. “De Facto States: Survival and Disappearance (1945–2011).” International Studies Quarterly 61, no. 2 (2017): 337–351. https://doi.org/10.1093/isq/sqw049.
23. Hicks, Tim. “Another Look at Identity-Based Conflict: The Roots of Conflct: The Roots of Conflict in the Psychology of Consciousness.” Negotiation Journal 17, no. 1 (2001): 35–45. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1571-9979.2001.tb00225.x.
24. Kazantsev, Andrei A., Peter Rutland, Svetlana M. Medvedeva, and Ivan A. Safranchuk. “Russia’s Policy in the ‘Frozen Conflicts’ of the Post-Soviet Space: From Ethno-Politics to Geopolitics.” Caucasus Survey 8, no. 2 (October 22, 2020): 142–162. https://doi.org/10.1080/23761199.2020.1728499.
25. Ker-Lindsay, James. “The Stigmatisation of de Facto States: Disapproval and ‘Engagement without Recognition.’” Ethnopolitics 17, no. 4 (August 8, 2018): 362–372. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449057.2018.1495363.
26. Kharitonova, Oxana. “Ethnic Conflicts and Nation-Building Trajectories in Post-Soviet States.” In Transitions in Post-Soviet Eurasia, by Archana Upadhyay, 83–102, 1st ed. London: Routledge India, 2021. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003193418-6.
27. Kudryashova, Irina. “Secession and de Facto State-Building as a Tool for Managing Ethno-Cultural Diversity.” In Transitions in Post-Soviet Eurasia, by Archana Upadhyay, 103–113, 1st ed. London: Routledge India, 2021. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003193418-7.
28. Markedonov, Sergey. “The Unrecognized States of Eurasia as a Phenomenon of the Ussr’s Dissolution.” Demokratizatsiya 20 (2012): 189–196.
29. O’Loughlin, John, Vladimir Kolossov, and Gerard Toal. “Inside the Post-Soviet de Facto States: A Comparison of Attitudes in Abkhazia, Nagorny Karabakh, South Ossetia, and Transnistria.” Eurasian Geography and Economics 55, no. 5 (September 3, 2014): 423–456. https://doi.org/10.1080/15387216.2015.1012644.
30. Pegg, Scott. De Facto States in the International System. Working Paper 21. Institute of International Relations The University of British Columbia, 1998.
Review
For citations:
Pavlova A.V. The Rise of De Facto State’s Foreign Policy Identity: From Self-Proclamation to International Legal Subjectivity. The Case of Abkhazia. Journal of International Analytics. 2024;15(1):154-172. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.46272/2587-8476-2024-15-1-154-172
Views:
467
Email this article 