tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post6763203957052368264..comments2023-10-20T05:51:51.625-04:00Comments on The THINK 3 INSTITUTE: Secession, Independence and the Rights of NationsSamuel Wilsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post-87167232169487461862008-02-20T13:46:00.000-05:002008-02-20T13:46:00.000-05:00Yes it applies to the Basques. It also applies to...Yes it applies to the Basques. It also applies to the Kurds, etc.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post-23050534786819907652008-02-20T13:17:00.000-05:002008-02-20T13:17:00.000-05:00As far as nations or nationalities go, the only ri...As far as nations or nationalities go, the only rights they'll ever have are those they earn. None of them have a natural or "god-given" right to independence, for obvious reasons. The international community can't assert a universal right of every self-defined nation to political sovereignty without completely revolutionizing the existing world order. That doesn't mean you can't desire such a state of affairs, but it does require you to acknowledge the price that everyone will have to pay. Whether nationalism has been a force for good in world history is still subject to debate. Whether the world will be better off with an independent, perhaps ethnically-cleansed Kosovo or Basque Country is also debatable.Samuel Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00934870299522899944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post-60045161284122507092008-02-20T09:00:00.000-05:002008-02-20T09:00:00.000-05:00Crhymethinc, you said:If an indigenous group of pe...Crhymethinc, you said:<BR/><BR/><I>If an indigenous group of people are forced to join an existing country, they have the right to secede, just as a slave has a right to freedom. If a country willingly joins an existing group - say the client states of the USSR or even the states of the USA, then the people of that state should have a right at any point in the future to democratically decide whether the decision their forbears made was a good one. That is, they have a right to secede.</I><BR/><BR/>So, this surely applies to the Basques doesn't it?Aleksuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06716014048753454048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post-36600070563086828502008-02-20T08:45:00.000-05:002008-02-20T08:45:00.000-05:00If an indigenous group of people are forced to joi...If an indigenous group of people are forced to join an existing country, they have the right to secede, just as a slave has a right to freedom. If a country willingly joins an existing group - say the client states of the USSR or even the states of the USA, then the people of that state should have a right at any point in the future to democratically decide whether the decision their forbears made was a good one. That is, they have a right to secede.<BR/><BR/>The confederate states had a right to secede, but they did not have a right to enslave other human beings. Since their secession was based primarily on their thwarted desire to create more slave states, then their secession was right, but not righteous.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8820814198873126054.post-81712051968206712782008-02-20T00:11:00.000-05:002008-02-20T00:11:00.000-05:00Serbia (without any Russian help) was already taki...Serbia (without any Russian help) was already taking care of business in Kosovo when the USA and NATO decided to side with the Kosovars. So, according to you, the Kosovars already lost their right to be independent.Aleksuhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06716014048753454048noreply@blogger.com