ABSTRACT

The problem of self-determination, namely the search for greater auto nomy and even secession, has become important anew-though in a more restrictive dimension. In the international system emerging since September 2001 issues of the State, protection of the suppressed, possible humanitarian intervention, and readiness to redraw external boundaries have given way to immediate concerns of security, terrorism, international terror networks and problems of economic security. Arguably, the world has entered a much more uncertain, unpredictable and indeed insecure period than during the Cold War with its mutually assured destruction and super power hegemony. Besides the fear of terror attacks and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, recent secession crises have also shed light on the influence of organized crime in the realm of activists for selfdetermination, thus providing incentive for central authorities to embark on more restrictive-some would say repressive-policies against activists for independence. While the independence of East Timor was the high point of the search for sovereignty and independence in recent times, sovereignty issues in Kosovo, Chechnya, and Kashmir remain unresolved to this day.