Introduction

This chapter introduces the idea of analysing geographical solutions to secessionist conflicts where secessionists have established de facto independent states from within the territories of confirmed states. It emphasises the timely element of analysis: there have been important shifts occurring among commentators and state practices, which in various cases advocate the peace agreements in a non-traditional partitionist way. It then turns to four de facto state–parent state pairs, Kosovo–Serbia, Nagorno-Karabakh–Azerbaijan, Northern Cyprus–Republic of Cyprus, and Abkhazia–Georgia, and concludes that these pairs all have pieces of territory that could possibly be exchanged for peace. The chapter ends with a structural overview of the book.