Page 111 - Journal of Special Operations Medicine - Spring 2014

Secession as an International Phenomenon:
From America’s Civil War to

Contemporary Separatist Movements

Don H. Doyle, Editor. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press; 2010. Paperback: 392 pages.
ISBN-13: 978-0820337128
Review by Warner “Rocky” D. Farr, MD, MPH

o the American South tried secession in 1860s and it This book is a great contribution to the study of nations
Sdid not go that well, so it is all just ancient history, all and the study of nation making. Since Special Forces
already decided, right? But wait, Scotland has just sched- has the mission of unconventional warfare, works with
uled a secession referendum for indigenous forces, many times ethnic minorities, and
2014?! Don H. Doyle is the Mc- travels to all the world’s unsettled hot spots, this volume
Causland Professor of History in germane for us to read. While most of the particular
at the University of South Caro- instances have been studied, the general historical phe-
lina and the author or coeditor nomenon has not been well studied before this book.
of several books, including Na-
tionalism in the New World and It is the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War,
Nations Divided: America, Italy, and this collection of essays views secession within the
and the Southern Question. This broader international context. The contributors to this
book is a collection of thought- book discuss a wide range of topics related to secession,
provoking essays that explore separatism, and the nationalist passions that drive such
the role played by secession in conflicts. The first section of the book examines the ethi-
state making and state breaking cal and moral dimensions of secession, while subsequent
in the modern world. About half of today’s nation-states sections look at the American Civil War, conflicts in the
originated as some kind of breakaway state. The end of Gulf of Mexico, European separatism, and elsewhere.
the Cold War has brought resurgence in separatist activ-
ity affecting nearly every part of the globe and brought The contributors exhibit no common position advocat-
a new view to the study of separatism and secession. ing or opposing secession in principle or in any particular
This book covers a wide variety from Mexico (the Yuca- case. All describe it both as a common feature of the mod-
tecan Republic) to the Balkans to the former Soviet ern world and as a historic phenomenon of international
Union (Chechnya, Abkhazia, Transnistria, Nagorno- scope. Some propose that political divorce by secession
Karabakh) to the Middle East (the Kurds) and to Africa. should be subject to arbitration and ethical norms, in-
The Africa section has a great map showing the 21 sepa- stead of being decided by insurgency. They will be of
rate secessionist activities since World War II. great interest to students of nationalism and national
identity. For those who think they have heard everything,
It appears that nationalism with or without secession I recommend the last essay in the book: “Did Abraham
constitutes an important present-day global phenom- Lincoln Oppose Taiwan’s Secession from China?”
enon, accounting for half of the world’s nation-states.

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