ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the significance of the entities for academic international theory. It addresses the general relationship of the de facto state to international theory as a whole first. The chapter considers the potential significance of these entities to specific theoretical traditions such as realism, rationalism, and post-modernism. One interesting method of assessing the potential impact of these entities on international theory is by considering their effect on the states system itself. The chapter analyzes the implications of de facto statehood for each of these traditions, as well as for three other distinct avenues of theoretical inquiry: feminism, post-modernism, and international law. The de facto state is obviously only one small part of such a possible scenario but the significance of its presence should be of interest to international legal scholars. One interesting avenue of inquiry suggested by Hurst Hannum and Richard Lillich focuses on the concept of autonomy.
