ABSTRACT
Claims by minority groups for secession have often resulted in virulent clashes between minority groups on the one hand and the State (which is normally controlled by the majority community) on the other creating a threat to the stability of modem pluralist societies and to international peace. This chapter examines the background o f secessionist movements in contemporary multiethnic polities to lay a foundation for an analysis o f the legitimacy o f secessionist claims in chapters 9 to 10, and a critical examination of the attitudes o f the international community to such claims (see chapter 12).
