The early origin of this book derives from a workshop on International Law and Secession that I organised at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva in March 2000. Some of the contributors were present and many enthusiastically supported the idea of publishing a comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon of secession from an international law perspective, without any preconceived views or any hidden political agendas. On the basis of a list of topics I had suggested at that time, invitations to contribute were subsequently addressed to scholars from different legal and cultural backgrounds as well as regional origins. The result is a list of eighteen contributors hailing from Western and Eastern Europe, North and Sub-Saharan Africa, North and Latin America, and Asia. Diversity also finds its expression by the existence of four chapters in French with summaries in English.

This volume is divided into two parts, the first encompassing a theoretical analysis of the issue and the second, a scrutiny of regional practice. As the fourteen chapters show, both aspects are interwoven. The reader will find specific analysis of particular situations in both parts of the book. Similarly, authors of the chapters devoted to the study of regional practice also arrive at theoretical conclusions through the examination of cases of secession and separatism in their respective regions, including the way regional institutions or systems approach the problem. Core questions are addressed from different perspectives – and in some cases with divergent views – in several chapters.