It's a basic truth of international politics that countries hate losing territory.
All around the world, we can see countries fighting to stop independence movements from breaking away
and forming a new state.
But why exactly do countries want to hold onto territories that want to secede?
In this video I'm going to look at the seven main reasons why countries hate losing land.
[MUSIC]
Hello. My name is James Ker-Lindsay.
Welcome to Independent Thinking
- a channel dedicated to international relations, statehood, independence and the origins of countries.
Independence movements are a fact of contemporary international politics.
At any given moment, there are dozens of different groups striving to create their own countries
around the world.
And in almost every case these efforts are strongly opposed by what we usually term the 'parent States'.
However, despite this deep opposition to separatism, it's surprising how often people from a country dealing
with the separatist movement are unable to explain clearly why they want to hold on to the territory.
Even senior officials from the country often have a hard time explaining why they're
so fiercely opposed to secession.
So why do countries hate losing land?
In fact, there are at least seven key reasons why states will try to prevent a part of their territory from seceding.
First of all, land often has both an important emotional and symbolic value.
This can be surprisingly powerful, even for people who think they're untainted by nationalism.
Most of us have been brought up with a clear sense of our own countries as a defined space on the world map.
Children are often taught to recognize and draw their countries at school.
Even in adulthood, it's something that we confront on a daily basis.
For example, in weather forecasts.
Many people therefore have a natural sense of what their countries should look like.
Changing that perception can be very difficult.
A new map would not look or even feel right.
On top of this, there can be a sense of what the nation is, or should be.
Even within many seemingly homogeneous countries, there can be a rich variation of groups
that in fact make up the national identity.
In fact, almost every country has internal differences.
Taking one of these away may have a deep impact on how a country understands itself
- even if that group wants to go its own way.
Secondly, territory can also have a deep cultural historical significance in a more tangible sense.
For example, it may be the location of a major - perhaps even nation-defining - battle.
Or it may be a site of special archaeological significance.
A third reason why countries may oppose secession is because the land has particular strategic value.
For instance it may be an important buffer against a feared neighbor or link to an ally.
Or offer some sort of natural defensive advantage, such as a mountain range.
Alternatively, it may occupy strategic position linking parts of the country to one another.
For example, an important transport link may pass through the territory in question.
It may even provide an important outlet to the sea.
Fourthly, there may be important economic reasons to keep control of a territory.
For example, it may have important natural resources - like oil, precious metals or even water.
Alternatively, it could be an important industrial region or important for tourism.
That said, the economic arguments don't always add up.
There are plenty of examples of countries that have wanted to keep territories that are economically costly.
A fifth reason why a state may wish to hold on to a piece of territory could relate to the
will of the people living there.
There are many places where there are sizable and often very loud independence movements, but evidence
suggests that a majority of the population of the territory in fact wants to remain part of the country.
Governments will often want to respect their wishes, even if there's no other intrinsic reason to want to
maintain sovereignty over the land in question.
In other cases, where a territory has already broken away, the people forcibly displaced from that land
can often become an important political force.
They can put pressure on the government not to accept the loss of the land in question.
A sixth reason why countries will often want to hold on to territory is because they fear
the consequences of letting it go.
In many cases, countries don't just face one separatist challenge.
They may in fact face several such movements.
If one area is allowed to break away, there's a natural fear that others may want to follow.
Therefore, even if there may be a willingness to consider independence for a particular region,
the government in question will often hold off from doing so out of a concern it may have a snowball effect.
Finally, there's often an element of pride and/or justice.
This most usually occurs where state has lost territory due to some outside support for a separatist group.
In many cases, a territory may only been able to declare independence with military support from a third country.
In such cases, there will often be a strong desire not to allow that very territory to achieve its goal.
It would be about denying the other side the right to legitimize what they may have achieved
through illegal means.
Of course, these are broad categories.
Moreover, they don't stand in isolation from one another.
In any given case, it's likely we see several of these elements in play.
The emotional factor would seem to be a part of many of the cases.
However, beyond this, there could be all sorts of combinations.
For instance, opposition to secession may be about preventing the loss of economic resources,
but also this will be supported by politically active displaced community.
In another, concerns about giving up one region may be shaped by the potential loss
of another strategically important region.
Ultimately, while every secessionist dispute is by its very nature shaped by opposition from parent states,
as I've hoped to show the precise reasons for that opposition can be vastly different.
I hope you enjoyed this video.
If you did, I've posted a couple more that you may find interesting.
And don't forget to subscribe for regular content every Friday.
And do let me know in the comments section below if you've got any other topics you'd like to see me cover.
Thanks for watching.
[MUSIC]