Quasi-state

Map of the British Empire under Queen Victoria at the end of the nineteenth century. "Dominions" refers to all territories belonging to the Crown.
Maximum extent of the territory of the Islamic State (frequently described as a proto-state) in Iraq and Syria, on 21 May 2015[1]

A quasi-state (sometimes referred to as a state-like entity[2] or formatively a proto-state[3][2]) is a political entity that does not represent a fully autonomous sovereign state with its own institutions.[4]

The precise definition of quasi-state in political literature fluctuates depending on the context in which it is used. It has been used by some modern scholars to describe the self-governing British colonies and dependencies that exercised a form of home rule but remained crucial parts of the British Empire and subject firstly to the metropole's administration.[5][6] Similarly, the Republics of the Soviet Union, which represented administrative units with their own respective national distinctions, have also been described as quasi-states.[4]

In the 21st century usage, the term quasi-state has most often been evoked in reference to militant secessionist groups who claim, and exercise some form of territorial control over, a specific region, but which lack institutional cohesion.[5] Such quasi-states include the Republika Srpska and Herzeg-Bosnia during the Bosnian War,[5] the Republic of Serbian Krajina during the Croatian War of Independence,[7] and Azawad during the 2012 Tuareg rebellion.[8] The Islamic State is also widely held to be an example of a modern quasi-state or proto-state.[9][2][10][11]

  1. ^ Fairfield, Hannah; Wallace, Tim; Watkins, Derek (21 May 2015). "How ISIS Expands". The New York Times. New York. Archived from the original on 23 May 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b c John P. Grant; J. Craig Barker (2009). "Quasi-State". Parry and Grant Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 493, 580. ISBN 978-0-19-538977-7. LCCN 2009016654. OCLC 319247427. OL 23213349M. Wikidata Q105755921. A term sometimes used to describe entities with many, but not all, the criteria of statehood . . . which are nonetheless possessed of a measure of international personality. . . . a term of international relations, and certainly not of international law, it connotes former colonies . . .
  3. ^ "How the Islamic State Declared War on the World". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
  4. ^ a b Hahn, Gordon (2002). Russia's Revolution from Above, 1985-2000: Reform, Transition, and Revolution in the Fall of the Soviet Communist Regime. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers. p. 527. ISBN 978-0765800497.
  5. ^ a b c Griffiths, Ryan (2016). Age of Secession: The International and Domestic Determinants of State Birth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 85–102, 213–242. ISBN 978-1107161627.
  6. ^ Jackson, Robert H. (1991). Quasi-States: Sovereignty, International Relations and the Third World. Cambridge University Press. pp. 21–22. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511559020. ISBN 978-0-521-44783-6.
  7. ^ "HIC: VJESNIK, Podlistak, 16 i 17. travnja 2005., VELIKOSRPSKA TVOREVINA NA HRVATSKOM TLU: IZVORNI DOKUMENTI O DJELOVANJU 'REPUBLIKE SRPSKE KRAJINE' (XXIX.)". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  8. ^ Alvarado, David (May 2012). "Independent Azawad: Tuaregs, Jihadists, and an Uncertain Future for Mali" (PDF). Barcelona: Barcelona Center for International Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  9. ^ Lia (2015), pp. 31–32.
  10. ^ "The caliphate cracks". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
  11. ^ "The Islamic State: More than a Terrorist Group?". E-International Relations. 3 April 2015. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
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