I thought it might be interesting to take a quick tour of some of the main independence movements around the world. Remember, this is just PART I. Stay tuned for PART II! So, which cases do you think I should include in the next one?
roger darthwell Thanks a lot, Roger! That’s a great list. Unfortunately, I’ve only got room for 10 more and I’ve got to try to ensure I cover all regions. But you’ve given me a great idea of another one of these videos looking at various European independence movements! So many interesting ones out there. 🙏🏻👍 in the meantime, I hope you’re having a good weekend.
I think that the next 10 will be such: Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Republika Srpska, Catalonia, Flanders, Palestine, Somaliland, Kurdistan, Wa State and Azawad. I'm curious, how many from 10 I did name right? :-)
Thank you for your English accent and perfect tone which is very understanble for non-native English speakers. You are treating your subjects with a lot of honesty, integrity and professionalism. That is rare on RUclips. I will keep on following your channel.
Thank you so very much for the extremely kind comment. I really appreciate it! I know how important it is to try to be clear. I also make sure that I add captions to all my videos as well as I know this can help people even more. But it is so nice of you to offer such positive feedback.
What bothered me the most was the rejection by the AU and the United Nations of the independence of Somaliland, the only part of Somalia with a working government and civil service for the past 30 years, but both supporting the secession of South Sudan, which quickly fell into a failed state shortly after independent.
It’s no longer stable two of the three clans who founded this no longer want a divided Somalia rather a united one one clan whoever is killing the two clans for simply wanting a united Somalia Another thing is somalia is recovering slowly
This video is just amazing!! Thanks for such hard work and this interesting content. I can't wait to see next week's episode!! (I am really excited to see what will happen with Scotland, Bougainville and New Caledonia)
Filippo Ardizzone Thank you so much, Filippo. Yes, those three are indeed the most interesting to follow, aren’t they!? Those definitely fall into my group of very possible states. But none is straightforward. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with New Caledonia. Will it vote for independence this time? If so, will it overtake Bougainville to be the next UN member? And how will Scotland break or bypass London’s opposition to another referendum? Interesting times.
Although the 2016 Brexit referendum undeniably lent urgency to the movement for Scottish independence, the Yes side already had a slender majority in 2014 among Scots-born residents of Scotland, with progressively higher majorities in younger age groups, and the SNP won a landslide victory in the 2015 general election (albeit under FPTP). Those who claim that the 2014 referendum settled the issue for a generation may well therefore be guilty of a degree of wishful thinking.
The problem with the independence of Scotland is it will be hard to reform (even if London's propaganda saying Scotland can not survive on its own) Myself as a scot i do want independence but right now with various external and international factors such as a looming affect from Covid-19 crisis remains and will not go away soon there is also the factor an economic reaction will indeed happen again but how severe remains the question. We barely have any full on industry our main exports are not exactly profitable to an extent to keep the entire nation afloat. The Snp are also very blunt and no not show physical progress on how Scotland will survive on its own how will we achieve the criteria to meet EU standards how will we rebuild our industry especially in a world where green everything is on the rise. Not to mention already existing infustrcuture in Scotland is poor or is state of needing repairs. These are just few of the issues Scotland will face they are never talked about and what if Scotland somehow does win its freedom? I do not want to have a bad lighted perdition of my nation, but the current state of Scotland free will most likely go through polictal collapse or into division's (some extremist) even if this does not happen, Scotland will most likely face poverty i also fear younger citizen's especially in my age range (15 - 21) of the nation may turn to various form's of crime, drug abuse etc.
Why can't Scottish born Scot who live in their country vote? Scots living in other parts of they UK, which is legally their country, were banned from voting. Why were children allowed to vote? If you're a kiddywinckle of 16, why let them vote? Include both of these factors, and there is no. chance of independence. Wales voted out too.
Hi, I used to live in Ghana and there was a movement for a certain region which used to called Volta region but now has been divided Into two regions called Oti and Volta to be independent state because they used to be part of Togo which is the neighboring country of Ghana but was added into the regions of Ghana through referendum. But now it has been somehow neglected so there have been movement of independence from the rest of Ghana but the government is fighting against the movement. I just wanted to know if you know about this? And thank you for this video.🙂
Hi there. You are in luck! I actually made a video about Western Togoland. (It is actually probably my favourite video; not in terms of production, but in terms of topic. Hardly any work had been done on the issue and I had to do a lot of detective work.) In any case, here is the video if you are interested: ruclips.net/video/HGrHFjN2y1M/видео.html And thanks so much for the kind words about this video!
Hi FYI There is a vibrant independence movement in the former British colony of Sarawak once an independent state from 1841 to 1941. It was occupied by Japan from 1941 to 1945. In 1946 the UK annexed Sarawak as a crown colony in the face of major popular opposition. In 1963 the UK reneged on its promise to restore Sarawak independence and transferred it to the Malayan Federation renamed "Malaysia". The people rose to resist this annexation leading to the Brunei Uprising 1962 against the "neo-colonial plan" and a guerilla war that lasted till 1990. From 2010, the nationalist movement reactivated following 50 years of a failed federation which saw Sarawak being treated a no more than a vassal state. Since 1976 its rich petroleum resource was expropriated to develop the Malayan states leaving the territory impoverished and being the 2 poorest states with Sabah in the federation. One of many other reasons for the renewed movement for independence is that Malaysia agreed to be a "secular state" has been turned into an apartheid state since the 1970s in breach of the void Malaysia Agreement 1963, based on race religion supremacy.
We have the same situation here as your neighbor in Sabah too. To be honest the relationship between West and East Malaysia are more like imperialist and the exploited land.
Thank you for an excellent video! That was really informative and very interesting. You have the ability to articulate facts in such a fascinating manner, in a very concise, yet very engaging manner. I look forward to additional content in the years to come.
Hi! Great vid. Q: What's the utility of New Caledonia having three rounds of referendum voting? Is each round guaranteed regardless of the prior outcome? I favor the idea of making it a democratic decision on self-determination, but how can a "Yes" vote be validated, after 1 or 2 "No" votes? And is the decision final after 3 "No" votes, or can they wait a couple years and then call for a new series of referendums? If so, it seems like the Champion's League Knockout stages; the "No's" have to score a hattrick at home to secure the win, while the "Yes" only needs the 1 away goal...
Thanks. Great question. My sense was that this was just the price of peace. I think the pro-independence forces were probably worried that if there was just one permitted vote and it was lost it would be a long time before the next one. France also probably realised that if people want to leave then they can’t be forced to stay, especially in this day and age. It was probably a less costly concession from Paris than it might seem. It will be interesting to see happens in the third vote - and what happens next if people again vote against independence.
By the way, did you see my video on the unification of Yemen? I explain the very different histories of North and South Yemen. ruclips.net/video/cl6C0AzQB7o/видео.html
Excellent summary of the current independence movements - New Caledonia and Bougainville are interesting cases; what about Catalonia and Quebec? Will these two cases be on the second part? Take care during the current pandemic
Quebec has it too good with benefits from the federal government . Seperation is only a threat to get their cake and eat it too an they know politicians will fall all over them because of terrorist past
@@tubedude4859 you do realise that people like you make us Québecers feel unwelcome in our own country right? Francos are a minority and we canadians must respect the cultural and linguistic differences in Quebec. Est-ce-que tu réalise que c'est à cause des gens comme toi que les Québécois veulent l'indépendance? Les francophones sont une minorité et, en tant que Canadiens, nous devons respecter les différences culturelles et linguistiques du Québec.
@@guiguipop3658 I hope you don't feel too bad about what this guy has said. He is absolutely not representative of what most of us Anglo Canadians believe. There's few things I want more as a Canadian than for Quebecers to feel that they are just as Canadian as the rest of us. Relations between French and English Canada are stronger now than they have ever been, and I hope the trend continues that way.
Keep dreaming, you're literally the same tribe/ethnic group, same religion and same language...there's countries with far stronger case that doesn't even stand a chance.
If we go with that logic then that can apply to literally thousands of places in the world, Texas, Newfoundland and Labradour, Somaliland, Tibet, California, Alabama, Scotland. The list is endless
Regarding Kosovo: what exactly does "normalising relations", but even more importantly "mutual recognition", the term often passed around recently, actually mean?
Excellent question. Strictly speaking, it hasn't been defined. It is generally presented as a process of trying to encourage the two sides to build cooperation as much as they can across a range of areas, especially those affecting the day-to-day lives of people on the ground. In truth, it means creating a situation where Kosovo and Serbia interact as two independent countries, even if Serbia does not recognise Kosovo. In reality, many suspect that the process will inevitably lead to Serbia recognising Kosovo as a sovereign independent state and thus paving the way for Kosovo to join the United Nations - but just doing it in a slow, incremental manner.
@@JamesKerLindsay Thank you so much for the reply! It is a very interesting case, and quite confusing at times with a lot of seemingly strange events and decisions. I hope it gets resolved in a way acceptable to both sides with the goal of reconciliation and betterment of people's lives.
@@JamesKerLindsay This will be hard since Belgrade will most likely be destroyed by Protesters. Also Kosovos Serb majority areas (Zajednica) dont want anything to do with a independent Kosovo no matter what the government says. Even if some sort of autonomy is proposed. Kosovo elections are coming up right now, I am voting for the first time and getting my Kosovo passport since I have dual citizenship.
A quite "naive" question but : If a country keeps functionning as independant, what does it change if it is recognized or not by the UNO or the international community? Really interesting videos by the way, thanx a lot! D.
Thanks so much. I’m glad you liked it. There was obviously a bit of material summarised from previous videos, but a lot of entirely new cases that I will try to follow up in more detail in future videos. In the meantime, I hope you’re keeping well.
It almost impossible for the South to get independence since the hadhramout, Socotra, Al Mahra, Shabwa, all sides with the Houthis. Aden is the only one that wants independence even though Aden and Sanaa had the same history.
I hope that the part 2 of your video will include Biafra. The Igbo people of South East Nigeria are determined to have an independent Biafra Republic in a referendum.
I have a question, professor, if you don't mind. Is International Humanitarian Law applicable to occupied Western Sahara? Or is it International Human Right Law the one that should be applied to it? Many thanks in advance.
Thanks a lot. Good question. This is one of those cases where law means less that politics. It is clear that the international community does not regard Morocco's claim to Western Sahara as legitimate. And the ICJ has clearly said that it does not have a historical basis to that claim either. The problem is that no country feels that it is in its interest to take the steps needed to end Morocco's occupation. In many ways, there is a really interesting parallel with East Timor. That too was meant to become independent, but this was stopped by Indonesia which invaded and occupied it. It was only after two decades of conflict and a change of government in Indonesia, which was willing to accept it as an independent state if it voted for it in a referendum, that the situation changed. So, overall, the legal position is clear. Morocco does not have a legally recognised right to deny the people of Western Sahara a choice on their future - including independence. The key here is about applying political pressure to get Morocco to accept that. I hope this answers your question.
@@JamesKerLindsay Many thanks and I appreciate that you have provided your time to answer. Indeed, the core of the issue is that UNSC didn't and doesn't exercise the needed pressure on Morocco in order to fulfill with international legality. Impunity is the rule of law in this longstanding conflict.
Well said James 👏. Just wondering how South Yemen 🇾🇪 if they unilaterally declare independence, though backing up by the UAE, be accepted internationally despite the current crisis taking place in Yemen as whole.
Thanks, Mohamed. Very good question. I suspect that if it did declare independence now, it would not get international recognition. As Yemen is in the midst of a civil war, I think the international community would argue that this is not the time to recognise the South, and thus complicate the situation even further. The problem is that when the conflict ends, there may also be those who argue that recognising the South would then destabilise the new found peace. This is often a problem. In some cases, there is never a right moment to secede. My sense is that the South will need to be able to assert itself as a de facto state with control over its territory and then sit it out and wait. I suspect that the Somaliland option may be the best route at this stage. Of course, if Saudi Arabia were to be willing to recognise alongside the UAE, and they both put pressure on other Arab states, then things might change more widely. (I don't think UAE has enough diplomatic power to do it on its own.) Do you see this as a possibility?
@@JamesKerLindsay fully agree with you. Moreover, given the current sectarian conflicts may also change the political route taking by Yemen. For instance, rather than North vs South Yemen divisions, it could be turned into religious division, which could divide the country into Sunni and Shia territories supporting by Saudi-led and Iran, respectively.
James, why is Biafra not on this list. Biafra has better reason to be an independent country and better prospects than many of those you included. Please do a new video and include Biafra. The Igbo will be outstanding if they have their own nation.
Thanks a lot. It will be interesting to see whether it actually happens. I know that Papua New Guinea has agreed to it. But It has also been rather reluctant to actually let it go throughout the process.
My late father felt that whilst Queen Elizabeth II presided over the dismantling of the Outer British Empire. She would leave it to her son Charles III to preside over the dismantling of the Inner British Empire. A process that had actually commenced prior to the dismantling dismantling of the Outer Empire (At a time when the Outer Empire was reaching its Zenith as Great Britain along with other Allied countries absorbed various colonial territories of the defeated Central Powers) this of course was the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921 which recognised the Irish Free State. As was observed at the time "This has has pulled the linchpin out of the British Empire". Certainly it made people in the Outer Empire think that if an integral part of the United Kingdom can achieve independence. Then what are the British doing here! Irish unity will happen at some point in the next 25 years (if not sooner) . But if Scotland does achieve political independence from the UK where does that leave the residual components of the UK. Personally I suspect that it will accelerate the complete break up of the UK. As it is under the terms of The Orkney Act and the Zetland (Shetland).Act.The islands have three potential options if Scotland does become an independent state. 1) They can join the new Scotland. 2) They can remain with the residual UK. 3) They can become independent in their own right. Then you have the rest of of Celtic Britain in the form of Cornwall (which is larger than Luxembourg) and Wales. If Scotland make a good show of independence might they not be tempted? Also were would this leave the Crown Dependencies of the Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man. They might also request full independence. One thing that should be remembered is that the UK is the last truly multi national state in Europe. But I wonder for how much longer?
Yes, it was. I’m actually planning to take a look at the status of Nagorno-Karabakh after the war. There is a very interesting discussion on what exactly it is now.
The Igbo will make a great nation of Biafra. They are so gifted that an Igbo man is the father of African literature (Equaino), the mother of African literature (Nwapa); has sold more books THAN ANY OTHER AFRICAN OR BLACK PERSON SINCE THE WORLD WAS CREATED (Achebe); Africa's number one poet (Okigbo) and Africa's number one sculptor (Enwonwu). No young writer OF ANY NATION has matched Chimamanda's achievements. In the sciences, no African nation apart from the Igbo has ever produced a USA Inventor of the Year. You also have Emeagwali (Gordon Bell laureate for super-computing), Achilefu (inventor of Cancer Goggles), Omalu (whose discovery of CTE was led to the 2015 film Concussion starring Will Smith ), Sam Okoye (who discovered the radio source of the Crab Nebula neutron star), Chike Obi (who solved Fermat's 200-year old theorem) Alex Animalu (global pioneer of superconductivity in quantum physics; thrice-nominated for Nobel Prize), Cyprian Uzoh (holder of over 126 USA-issued patents and over 160 patents worldwide in semiconductor technology; 2006 USA Inventor of the Year), Ifeanyi Ume (global pioneer in mechatronics and holder of 5 USA patents), Aloysius Anaebonam (holder of 12 USA Patents in pharmaceutics), Nnaji (who innovated the E - Design Concept in robotics). The list is endless. The Igbo are being destroyed by Nigeria. Let Biafra emerge!
@@JamesKerLindsay Since you're going to be an objective third party observer in such a polarizing question, and since I've watched your video on the question whether the Kosovo declaration of independence violates International law and have actually learned a lot of facts regarding that particular case ( mind you I'm from Serbia, so it's hard to get a clear and objective opinion about that question because the current government says how it was a catastrophe of the previous ruling clique, and the opposition which ruled back then says it's no mistake at all ), I'd like you to look up the question of legality of an independence referendum of R. Srpska. The thing is - Bosnian Serb leadership claims that the Dayton peace agreement legislated that R. Srpska has a right to hold an independence referendum 3 years after the end of the war. R. Srpska hadn't held such a referendum, so Boshniak leadership today claims there is no legal basis for such a referendum because R. Srpska had just that one chance. On the other hand, the Serbs claim they have such a right according to the Dayton agreement. Since this is yet another loaded polarizing question where it's impossible to get an objective legal analysis on the matter ( not even from the ruling bodies in BiH and International organizations ) - I'd much appreciate it if you would elaborate on this question as you did on the Kosovo declaration of independence. Also... don't forget Herzeg-Bosnia, the wannabe Croatian entity :^)
@@whitestag5229 Thanks. This was a really intriguing comment. I had never heard of the referendum option for RS. I was pretty sure that had this been the case, I would have known about it. Also, it doesn't seem to be correct as it would have been widely covered in the literature on Bosnia, if so. On top of this, there have bene various UN resolution and even the ICJ says that RS can't secede. But, to be sure, I went and looked through the entire Dayton Agreement and couldn't find any mention of it. Do you have a reference for this (or a reference for the claims that this is what Dayton said)? To be honest, it sounds like one of those things that often happens in conflicts. A myth emerges that gets repeated so often that it just takes hold. But I am certainly happy to be corrected if it does exist - and will absolutely do a video on it!!! Ah ha, Herceg-Novi! :-)
@@JamesKerLindsay Apologies for dropping in, but since I was intrigued by this as well, I've managed to find an article in recent news; unfortunately, the article comes only in Serbian. On the website of Serbian daily Danas, as written by FoNet (the oldest independent private news agency in Serbia) on 27. July 2020. an article titled "Dodik: It is time for Serbs to have a referendum on secession from Bosnia and Herzegovina" www.danas.rs/svet/dodik-vreme-je-da-srbi-odrze-referendum-o-izdvajanju-iz-bih/ I'll attempt to crudely translate the first paragraph, please excuse my mistakes: "Commenting on the documents that were recently declassified, which state that Clinton in 1995, during the events in Srebrenica, had a plan for Muslim-Croatian Federation to get slightly less than half of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the Americans would pressure Muslim side to agree for the Serbs to *get a chance in two to three years from the end of the war for a referendum on secession* from B&H, Dodik assessed that it is time for that idea to be rehabilitated and for Serbs to finally gain right to self determination, like all other nations do." Final sentence of the article: "According to the documents that were declassified, former US president Bill Clinton was asking from the gov't in Sarajevo in 1995. to cede territory to the Serbs in order for the war to end in B&H, reports Srna" (Srna is a news agency of Republika Srpska) Apparently, there is also an article at the Brookings Institution website by Ivo H. Daalder, former U.S. permanent representative to NATO, titled "Decision to Intervene: How the War in Bosnia Ended ", dated December 1, 1998. www.brookings.edu/articles/decision-to-intervene-how-the-war-in-bosnia-ended/ To quote: "Vershbow’s paper set forth an “endgame strategy” for Bosnia-thus emphasizing both its comprehensive nature and its goal of ending the policy impasse in Washington. The strategy proposed a last-ditch effort to reach a political solution acceptable to the parties. The outlines of such a solution, which was based on the Contact Group plan of 1994, included: recognition of Bosnia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its existing borders; division of Bosnia into two entities-a Bosnian Serb entity and a Muslim-Croat federation; entity borders would be drawn in a compact and defensible manner, with the federation territory accounting for at least 51 percent of the total; and acceptance of special parallel relationships between the entities and neighboring states *including the possibility of conducting a future referendum on the possibility of secession.* " There might be more to this story, this was a rather shallow sweep.
Thank you so much! That is fascinating. I thought that it couldn’t have been in the Dayton Agreement. There’s no way that it could have passed unnoticed all this time. But it certainly isn’t beyond the realms of possibility that such an undertaking could have been made to encourage a deal. After all, it was used a few years later to get Montenegro to accept the State Union with Serbia. Also, it’s been used in other peace deals: South Sudan came about as a result of such a referendum tacked onto a peace deal. The recent vote on Bougainville was also based on a peace deal, as is the forthcoming vote in New Caledonia. The crucial thing, though, is that in the case of Bosnia it wasn’t set down in the final deal - for whatever reason. It would be fascinating to know if the RS leadership or the Serbian Government pressed for this in the negotiations. In any case, the fact that it wasn’t in the final agreement all but ensures that it won’t go anywhere now as an idea. It needed to be done at the time. In any case, thanks so much for a really helpful contribution. I really appreciate it. Hvala puno i pozdrav iz Londona!
It’s so weird being an American. My moms side is Scottish and they were sent here sometime in the 1600’s but I guess they weren’t allowed to have any kind of family history as servants. My dads side is Indian/black/French so my Indian ancestors were forced to assimilate at some point but we can’t get any history past the reservation. When I think about the refugees coming in through the border right now I remember that my moms side have been refugees here since the 1600’s and they’re still colonized by the English!! And I live amongst my colonizers + I have colonizer blood!! (French) 😅 it’s funny when a new immigrant complains about colonization lol. A lot of people see a white American and immediately think they’re English and slave owners. It’s just weird being over here and knowing I have a whole country and maybe even other ancestors over there. Honestly it feels like us Americans that have ancestors that came here a long time ago have no history beyond here, and like we are isolated from over there.
The more I study History (yes, I've matriculated as well), the more I'm convinced that "diplomacy" just adds more "fuel" to an unlit fire, for the most part. When war ultimately comes, it will be that much more intense and vicious. As awful as it sounds, perhaps some wars "have to be fought"--there and then--as a pressure valve to release the "existing steam" in order to "prevent" 'greater atrocities' and/or from the conflict spreading further afield. For example, the decision to no longer compromise and find a peaceful solution by both sides is what lead to the American Civil War (the bloodiest war in American history, more than all others combined) and "appears" to be heading in that same direction now. "Balkanization" is not a term of endearment.
I have not finished watching this video but I think Biafra is not here. But I want to ask is there any hope for Biafra, we really dying in Nigeria like flies. Bad government and many more
Wow. This video is only two years old, but so much of it is already out of date. I mean, you mention Nagorno-Karabakh here... Call JJ Abrams, because this video needs a reboot.
In fact, it’s almost three years old. But a lot has changed since then. In reality, none are any closer to independence. And several are considerably further away.
Biafra IPOB independent movement in Nigeria. We the IPOB has control over our people. We give orders in our territory. We are pushing for Biafra Referendum and dialogue. Our freedom has long overdue. We are not Nigerians. The world should be ready for another war in Africa if Referendum is not conducted to give us freedom
Hi James. Good content on the whole. Just, on the topic of Taiwan, I'd like to point out that its situation is legally, not just morally, more complex than "ROC vs PRC". The PRC's legal claim to Taiwan is based on the ROC's "previous" possession of Taiwan. Obviously, the ROC does, in fact, possess Taiwan now, and has since 1945. However, going back to 1945, the year that the ROC "acquired" Taiwan, it's not clear that this was actually done in a manner consistent with international law. In fact, much evidence suggests that the ROC never did actually annex Taiwan legally, or that the ROC's annexation of Taiwan has been legally incomplete (but partial). As of yet, no treaty has ever been officially signed to transfer sovereignty of Taiwan to the ROC from its immediately previous sovereign state, the Empire of Japan (or simply "Japan"). In the present day, the ROC (mainly the Chinese Nationalist faction, also known as "Pan-Blues") claims that it never needed to sign a treaty ceding Taiwan from Japan to China, since Japan never legally acquired Taiwan is the first place, according to their view (China was previously sovereign over Taiwan before Japan was, so the ROC views its annexation of Taiwan in 1945 as a "restoration" of sovereignty). In fact, Japan and China (under the preceding Qing dynasty) did sign a legal treaty to cede Taiwan from China to Japan back in 1895 (the Treaty of Shimonoseki). The ROC claims that this treaty was never valid in the first place, and towards the end of WWII, the Chinese Nationalists declared the treaty null and void. However, this act alone doesn't have the power to change the legal situation. Under international law, Taiwan was a fully sovereign possession of Japan from 1895 until 1945. From 1945 to 1952, Taiwan was in a state of occupation under the Allied forces (led by China and the United States) until Japan relinquished sovereignty over Taiwan in 1952 with the Treaty of San Francisco. However, within the treaty, Japan never explicitly transferred sovereignty over to China, but instead left the question of Taiwan's future sovereign status up for further arbitration. Notably, neither the PRC not the ROC was party to the Treaty of San Francisco, despite its historic significance in granting Japan independence from American occupation and granting Korea independence from Japan. As it stands today, Taiwan's legal status as a possession of the ROC, although this issue may seem relatively irrelevant, has never been properly resolved. The issue was largely swept under the rug when the Cold War broke out, with most Western and Chinese academics and politicians since then framing the situation as that of "PRC vs ROC". Whilst this PRC vs ROC frame is a major factor in the dispute, the fundamental question of "does Taiwan even belong to China in the first place, regardless of the regime?" has never been fully addressed even to this day, at least in the scope of international and even domestic (Taiwanese/Chinese) law.
For clarification, I'm not an expert on this manner. I've learnt much of this information from real academics, notably Michael Turton. twitter.com/michaelturton?s=09 I do not live in Taiwan. I'm an Australian with partial Taiwanese ancestry (in fact, I'm mostly ethnic-Chinese).
Thank you very much. This is a fascinating issue. I really appreciate that you raised it. Obviously, in any short video, there will be issues that I have to leave out. However, it would be fascinating to look into this in more detail. There is obviously a strong body of opinion that says that China’s claim to Taiwan is invalid. Thanks so much for pointing this out in so much detail.
@@JamesKerLindsay Yeah, if you look at my brief reply to my own comment, I'm not an expert on this issue, though Michael Turton certainly is. So, if you want to learn more about this from someone who actually knows what they're talking about, you should consult him. 👍
@@JamesKerLindsay On another note, the ROC does, in fact, possess some territory that wasn't ever an integral part of Japan prior to WWII. The territory in question consists of the small archipelagos of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and certain islands in the South China Sea. Of course, the South China Sea islands are a whole other legal mess, but in terms of Kinmen, Matsu and Wuqiu, these islands are almost indisputably viewed as integral Chinese territory. They are separate territories from Taiwan proper; technically, they did come under Japanese occupation during WWII (at least, I'm pretty sure Kinmen did), but they weren't part of the original territorial concession that China made to Japan back in 1895. Kinmen, especially, is often viewed by analysts as being potentially "the next Crimea". Being under the control of the ROC, Taiwan's government, but not having the same legal status as Taiwan (as a former Japanese possession) and being indisputably part of China, the PRC has a much stronger case to reclaim those islands than it has to "reclaim" Taiwan. The island are located very close to the coast of mainland China, with the nearby port city of Xiamen being visible from Kinmen with the naked eye. The potential for the PRC to seize those islands in the event of a new Taiwan Strait Crisis is rather high, and the ROC on Taiwan doesn't really have a strong case to defend its sovereignty over those particular islands. Importantly, the United States' defence treaty with Taiwan, the "Taiwan Relations Act", does not cover the islands of Kinmen, Matsu and Wuqiu, but only Taiwan proper. So, the United States will not necessarily be willing to assist the ROC with the defence of these islands.
Hello professor Lindsay, you ‘re talking about countries seeking for independence and self determination. You speak more about Europe and specific countries, but in Africa, you forget to mention Biafra in Nigeria West Africa which was once a country. Biafra and Nigeria had a brutal civil war from 1967 to 1970 in which Nigeria committed the worst genocide, ethnic cleaning of its kind. Nigeria government has been fighting and killing innocent civilians Igbo Biafra on a daily basis the world is not saying anything. The Biafra government in exile is currently conducting self referendum to exit Nigeria by December this year 2024. UN must and should grant independence for Biafra to save lives. God bless 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
In accordance to situation Kosovo and Serbia are meant to reach a final agreement within 2021. If this event goes as planned Kosovo might be the next UN member.
Thanks. I’m not aware that there’s any deadline for an agreement in 2021. In fact, it seems that the new government in Kosovo doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to enter talks with Belgrade. I suppose it could happen. It just doesn’t seem very likely just at the moment.
We should bear in mind that there are right now 197 officially independent countries, the 193 UNO members + 4 unrecognised or partially recognized states : Kosovo, Somaliland, ROC (Taiwan) and the State of Vatican. I don't count the Polisario- controlled part of Western Sahara, the Palestinian territories, the north Cyprus Turkish Republic, the Artsakh, S.Ossetia, Abkhazia, Transdnistria, and the Russian- controlled parts of Ukraine as independent.
Serbia's population might have concidered recognising Kosovo in exchange for EU membership. However, nowdays majority of Serbia's citisens do not want EU membership. Only way if this happening is if Republika Srpska is given to Serbia. Tho would, in turn, open another Pandora's box in Balkans. For now, it seems Status Quo is the best solution
The independence referendum in Bougainville that was held in 2019 was specifically a consultation and was not legally binding on the government of Papua New Guinea. So it is a bit unbalanced to state in your commentary that the PNG government has still not proceeded with actions to grant independence. The PNG government always suggested that its response to a positive vote would be to consider more financial control and wider grants of sovereignty. I'm not including the recent agreement in 2021.
Okay, four years on and some things have changed, some are the same. The big ones: For one, somaliland has basically been recognized by Ethiopia. So that’s a plus. Artsakh is no longer a thing, nagorno-karabağ is now fully Azerbaijani (with the help of some ethnic cleansing) Bougainville’s independence is still yet to be ratified by the Papuan parliament, which will pose problems if not done in the next two years. Transnistria (and I continue to use that name because the transnistrian authorities hate it) has gone from an outcast only accepted by Russia to an outcast seen as a threat to the EU and NATO and only accepted by Russia. Not a chance of ever being internationally recognized. Nada. Zero. Most importantly for me as a French citizen, New Caledonia. There is currently unrest on the island, and while I personally support their independence, there are currently crackdowns by the French government against pro-independence protestors.
I think characterising the Taiwan issue as being about sovereignty over the whole of China and Taiwan rather than being about Taiwan's independence is rather out of date. The days of Taiwanese governments talking about reconquering the mainland are long gone! The position of the current government of Taiwan is that Taiwan is already an independent country, and so has no need to declare independence. The territorial claims do still exist in the constitution, but only because removing them might result in a Chinese invasion!
You mentioned that the so called republic of northern Cyprus is de facto independence. Even that statement is not correct with forty thousand Turkish troops in northern Cyprus it is Turkey that fully controls the occupied territories and has drastically modified the demographic character with the movement of Turkish settlers.
Thanks Nick. The statement is perfectly correct. I know all about Cyprus. I have published many books on the issue and lived there for eight years. :-) www.amazon.co.uk/Cyprus-Problem-What-Everyone-Needs/dp/0199757151 It is widely regarded as a de facto state. But like almost all de facto states, it relies on what we call a patron state. In this case that patron is obviously Turkey. In fact one of the arguments against excessive isolation of de facto states is that it forces them to become more reliant on those patron states. Thus is a major issue in the case of Cyprus.
Despite all the insults and personal attacks u answered and with evidence almost all the questions with a simple English to make the points understandable.. the Moroccans may be more organized and supported to do this attacks on you but even tho we the sahrawis are small population, our voices can be heard because our cause is legitimate ❤
You should include Tamil Eelam as well...Tamil Eelam was Tamil speaking region in Sri Lanka were wrongly given to Majority Sinhalese people by British on Sri Lanka independent...its supposed to be Independent country because the people live was different race and has different religion and culture...but the British colonial master made the greaterst blunder unify Tamil speaking region into Sinhalese Sri Lanka...since then the minority Tamilian and Majority in the North East region are going thru enormous supression...talk about Tamil Eelam also..!!
This ‘dude’ happens to know rather more about Kosovo than you think. www.knjizara.com/Kosovo-put-ka-osporenoj-drzavnosti-na-Balkanu-Dzejms-Ker-Lindzi-133354 Have a read and get back to me. I’d be interested to hear what your realistic suggestions for bringing it under Serbian control. I’m asking a lot of people this question and don’t seem to be getting any answers.
Future countries in the world. But you forgot to mentioned Greater Balochistan which is occupied by Iran and Pakistan even it is exist as a country 500 years.
Hi Prof. I would like to bring to attention here that Punjab has been in a active struggle to gain independence from India. Punjab was it's own Empire prior to British occupation. Britain colonized much of the Subcontinent and Punjab was colonized 100 years after. After an Independence struggle (97% sacfrices by Punjabi freedom fighters) in 1947 Britain transfered the power to the Nehru family before living India. Punjab was divided into two regions at this time. One region was given to Pakiatan (A newly fromed Muslim country) and India kept the other part. The people of Punjab had no proper representation. They were mislead and tricked into accepting to stay with India by false promises of equality and full autonomy. After been treated like second class citizens and having gone through genocide of it's People, Punjab is fighting for it's Freedom from the Facist India state.
I thought it might be interesting to take a quick tour of some of the main independence movements around the world. Remember, this is just PART I. Stay tuned for PART II!
So, which cases do you think I should include in the next one?
roger darthwell Thanks a lot, Roger! That’s a great list. Unfortunately, I’ve only got room for 10 more and I’ve got to try to ensure I cover all regions. But you’ve given me a great idea of another one of these videos looking at various European independence movements! So many interesting ones out there. 🙏🏻👍 in the meantime, I hope you’re having a good weekend.
I think that the next 10 will be such: Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Republika Srpska, Catalonia, Flanders, Palestine, Somaliland, Kurdistan, Wa State and Azawad. I'm curious, how many from 10 I did name right? :-)
Great summary. Here's my 10 guesses: Catalonia, Abkhazia, Somaliland, South Ossetia, Kurdistan, Chuuk, Basque, Flanders, Wallonia and Venice.
Hong Kong? Pretty topical atm given the national security law has just outlawed ‘subversion’
James Ker-Lindsay West Papua would be a great addition for the next video!
Thank you for your English accent and perfect tone which is very understanble for non-native English speakers. You are treating your subjects with a lot of honesty, integrity and professionalism. That is rare on RUclips. I will keep on following your channel.
Thank you so very much for the extremely kind comment. I really appreciate it! I know how important it is to try to be clear. I also make sure that I add captions to all my videos as well as I know this can help people even more. But it is so nice of you to offer such positive feedback.
What bothered me the most was the rejection by the AU and the United Nations of the independence of Somaliland, the only part of Somalia with a working government and civil service for the past 30 years, but both supporting the secession of South Sudan, which quickly fell into a failed state shortly after independent.
Same they deserve independence in my opinion
Same they deserve independence in my opinion
It’s no longer stable two of the three clans who founded this no longer want a divided Somalia rather a united one one clan whoever is killing the two clans for simply wanting a united Somalia
Another thing is somalia is recovering slowly
@@visuali235keep telling yourself that Somali bot
AU and UN have lost my respect. They don't practice what they preach.
This video is just amazing!! Thanks for such hard work and this interesting content. I can't wait to see next week's episode!! (I am really excited to see what will happen with Scotland, Bougainville and New Caledonia)
Filippo Ardizzone Thank you so much, Filippo. Yes, those three are indeed the most interesting to follow, aren’t they!? Those definitely fall into my group of very possible states. But none is straightforward. It’ll be interesting to see what happens with New Caledonia. Will it vote for independence this time? If so, will it overtake Bougainville to be the next UN member? And how will Scotland break or bypass London’s opposition to another referendum? Interesting times.
@@JamesKerLindsay Interesting times indeed! Greetings from Spain but from an Italo-brazilian, keep doing as well as now, you have my full support!
Thanks so much! It is really nice to have such great support. I hope you are doing well over there.
Great summary of the movements. Looking forward to see what places will be included in part 2.
Although the 2016 Brexit referendum undeniably lent urgency to the movement for Scottish independence, the Yes side already had a slender majority in 2014 among Scots-born residents of Scotland, with progressively higher majorities in younger age groups, and the SNP won a landslide victory in the 2015 general election (albeit under FPTP). Those who claim that the 2014 referendum settled the issue for a generation may well therefore be guilty of a degree of wishful thinking.
The problem with the independence of Scotland is it will be hard to reform (even if London's propaganda saying Scotland can not survive on its own) Myself as a scot i do want independence but right now with various external and international factors such as a looming affect from Covid-19 crisis remains and will not go away soon there is also the factor an economic reaction will indeed happen again but how severe remains the question. We barely have any full on industry our main exports are not exactly profitable to an extent to keep the entire nation afloat. The Snp are also very blunt and no not show physical progress on how Scotland will survive on its own how will we achieve the criteria to meet EU standards how will we rebuild our industry especially in a world where green everything is on the rise. Not to mention already existing infustrcuture in Scotland is poor or is state of needing repairs. These are just few of the issues Scotland will face they are never talked about and what if Scotland somehow does win its freedom? I do not want to have a bad lighted perdition of my nation, but the current state of Scotland free will most likely go through polictal collapse or into division's (some extremist) even if this does not happen, Scotland will most likely face poverty i also fear younger citizen's especially in my age range (15 - 21) of the nation may turn to various form's of crime, drug abuse etc.
*Of course this comment was made before recent event's but i do want to highlight my issues with our Independence*
Why can't Scottish born Scot who live in their country vote? Scots living in other parts of they UK, which is legally their country, were banned from voting. Why were children allowed to vote? If you're a kiddywinckle of 16, why let them vote? Include both of these factors, and there is no. chance of independence. Wales voted out too.
Hi, I used to live in Ghana and there was a movement for a certain region which used to called Volta region but now has been divided Into two regions called Oti and Volta to be independent state because they used to be part of Togo which is the neighboring country of Ghana but was added into the regions of Ghana through referendum. But now it has been somehow neglected so there have been movement of independence from the rest of Ghana but the government is fighting against the movement. I just wanted to know if you know about this? And thank you for this video.🙂
Hi there. You are in luck! I actually made a video about Western Togoland. (It is actually probably my favourite video; not in terms of production, but in terms of topic. Hardly any work had been done on the issue and I had to do a lot of detective work.) In any case, here is the video if you are interested: ruclips.net/video/HGrHFjN2y1M/видео.html
And thanks so much for the kind words about this video!
Hi FYI
There is a vibrant independence movement in the former British colony of Sarawak once an independent state from 1841 to 1941. It was occupied by Japan from 1941 to 1945.
In 1946 the UK annexed Sarawak as a crown colony in the face of major popular opposition.
In 1963 the UK reneged on its promise to restore Sarawak independence and transferred it to the Malayan Federation renamed "Malaysia".
The people rose to resist this annexation leading to the Brunei Uprising 1962 against the "neo-colonial plan" and a guerilla war that lasted till 1990.
From 2010, the nationalist movement reactivated following 50 years of a failed federation which saw Sarawak being treated a no more than a vassal state. Since 1976 its rich petroleum resource was expropriated to develop the Malayan states leaving the territory impoverished and being the 2 poorest states with Sabah in the federation.
One of many other reasons for the renewed movement for independence is that Malaysia agreed to be a "secular state" has been turned into an apartheid state since the 1970s in breach of the void Malaysia Agreement 1963, based on race religion supremacy.
We have the same situation here as your neighbor in Sabah too. To be honest the relationship between West and East Malaysia are more like imperialist and the exploited land.
Thank you for an excellent video! That was really informative and very interesting. You have the ability to articulate facts in such a fascinating manner, in a very concise, yet very engaging manner. I look forward to additional content in the years to come.
Hi! Great vid. Q: What's the utility of New Caledonia having three rounds of referendum voting? Is each round guaranteed regardless of the prior outcome? I favor the idea of making it a democratic decision on self-determination, but how can a "Yes" vote be validated, after 1 or 2 "No" votes? And is the decision final after 3 "No" votes, or can they wait a couple years and then call for a new series of referendums? If so, it seems like the Champion's League Knockout stages; the "No's" have to score a hattrick at home to secure the win, while the "Yes" only needs the 1 away goal...
Thanks. Great question. My sense was that this was just the price of peace. I think the pro-independence forces were probably worried that if there was just one permitted vote and it was lost it would be a long time before the next one. France also probably realised that if people want to leave then they can’t be forced to stay, especially in this day and age. It was probably a less costly concession from Paris than it might seem. It will be interesting to see happens in the third vote - and what happens next if people again vote against independence.
From south yemen 13:00
Thank you James
And good luck for all the country's that seeking independent 👍
Thank you for the comment! Good luck indeed.
By the way, did you see my video on the unification of Yemen? I explain the very different histories of North and South Yemen. ruclips.net/video/cl6C0AzQB7o/видео.html
Hadhramout will be independent soon.
Very educative, and interesting. Thank you, sir. God's blessings!
Balochistan. It is larger in area than the island of Great Britain. The population is low though at around 10 million.
A great and congested video full of interesting and fascinating facts , a great video like always
Thanks so much, Omar. I always value your opinion.
Excellent summary of the current independence movements - New Caledonia and Bougainville are interesting cases; what about Catalonia and Quebec? Will these two cases be on the second part? Take care during the current pandemic
Thanks. Two excellent - and important - cases. All good here. I hope you are keeping well.
Quebec has it too good with benefits from the federal government . Seperation is only a threat to get their cake and eat it too an they know politicians will fall all over them because of terrorist past
@@tubedude4859 you do realise that people like you make us Québecers feel unwelcome in our own country right? Francos are a minority and we canadians must respect the cultural and linguistic differences in Quebec.
Est-ce-que tu réalise que c'est à cause des gens comme toi que les Québécois veulent l'indépendance? Les francophones sont une minorité et, en tant que Canadiens, nous devons respecter les différences culturelles et linguistiques du Québec.
@@guiguipop3658 From Catalunya, all my support for a free Québec! Vive le Québec libre!
@@guiguipop3658 I hope you don't feel too bad about what this guy has said. He is absolutely not representative of what most of us Anglo Canadians believe. There's few things I want more as a Canadian than for Quebecers to feel that they are just as Canadian as the rest of us. Relations between French and English Canada are stronger now than they have ever been, and I hope the trend continues that way.
i would like to see a video about the faroe islands independence movements, love the videos man keep it up!
Thanks so much! Really appreciated. Great suggestion. I certainly plan to look at the Faroes (and also Greenland) at some point soon.
There are few independence movement,I doubt it would be great idea, because Faroe Islands are heavily dependent on Denmark's subsidiarity
Most enlightening - I thought I was fairly aware of global independence issues but clearly I'm not
Thank you; Mr' James I understand you Now and I really Support you' So; you have to Continue your Explanation that yuo given us
Somaliland get independent from UK 26 Jun 1960.somalilad has a strong legal case.
Keep dreaming, you're literally the same tribe/ethnic group, same religion and same language...there's countries with far stronger case that doesn't even stand a chance.
@@jemal99 who is dreaming? ,I think you are , somaliand already controlling there territory lol.
If we go with that logic then that can apply to literally thousands of places in the world, Texas, Newfoundland and Labradour, Somaliland, Tibet, California, Alabama, Scotland. The list is endless
@@RUclips-handles-are-stupid Except those aren't independent. What is the difference between Canada and the US?
@@jemal99 lol buddy is not a Dream. Is already a Country. Is just no one recognized it that is all.
Regarding Kosovo: what exactly does "normalising relations", but even more importantly "mutual recognition", the term often passed around recently, actually mean?
Excellent question. Strictly speaking, it hasn't been defined. It is generally presented as a process of trying to encourage the two sides to build cooperation as much as they can across a range of areas, especially those affecting the day-to-day lives of people on the ground. In truth, it means creating a situation where Kosovo and Serbia interact as two independent countries, even if Serbia does not recognise Kosovo. In reality, many suspect that the process will inevitably lead to Serbia recognising Kosovo as a sovereign independent state and thus paving the way for Kosovo to join the United Nations - but just doing it in a slow, incremental manner.
@@JamesKerLindsay Thank you so much for the reply! It is a very interesting case, and quite confusing at times with a lot of seemingly strange events and decisions. I hope it gets resolved in a way acceptable to both sides with the goal of reconciliation and betterment of people's lives.
@@JamesKerLindsay This will be hard since Belgrade will most likely be destroyed by Protesters. Also Kosovos Serb majority areas (Zajednica) dont want anything to do with a independent Kosovo no matter what the government says. Even if some sort of autonomy is proposed. Kosovo elections are coming up right now, I am voting for the first time and getting my Kosovo passport since I have dual citizenship.
Wales, Cornwall, Isle of Man, Faroe Islands, Brittany, Liverpool, Basque, Catalan, Hawaii, Isle of Wight, Asturias, Orkney, Jersey, Guernsey are others.
Crazy how much of the calculus has changed in a single year.
What can you tell as about Ethiopia Conflict and do you think Tigray will be a New Country in the Future ?
Could you please do an update video? include the defacto nations of the Cook Islands, Niue and a growing call for independence in Greenland.
A quite "naive" question but : If a country keeps functionning as independant, what does it change if it is recognized or not by the UNO or the international community?
Really interesting videos by the way, thanx a lot! D.
Diplomacy & international help
Thank you so much for making these videos. Super interesting.
Thank you so much!
very interesting video! so well explained. thank you for it
Thanks so much. I’m glad you liked it. There was obviously a bit of material summarised from previous videos, but a lot of entirely new cases that I will try to follow up in more detail in future videos. In the meantime, I hope you’re keeping well.
Beautiful. Please the part2 should feature Western Togoland. Thank you.
thanks from south Yemen
It almost impossible for the South to get independence since the hadhramout, Socotra, Al Mahra, Shabwa, all sides with the Houthis. Aden is the only one that wants independence even though Aden and Sanaa had the same history.
I hope that the part 2 of your video will include Biafra. The Igbo people of South East Nigeria are determined to have an independent Biafra Republic in a referendum.
Brother you are forgetting Balochistan?
AM2:33 in Taiwan now
加油
I suscribe you
I’m so tired
James go go go
Good information thanks!
Thanks a lot. It is not a definitive list, and there are a few more that I would like to cover. A Part III might be on the cards.
I can’t imagine it happening
I have a question, professor, if you don't mind. Is International Humanitarian Law applicable to occupied Western Sahara? Or is it International Human Right Law the one that should be applied to it?
Many thanks in advance.
Thanks a lot. Good question. This is one of those cases where law means less that politics.
It is clear that the international community does not regard Morocco's claim to Western Sahara as legitimate. And the ICJ has clearly said that it does not have a historical basis to that claim either. The problem is that no country feels that it is in its interest to take the steps needed to end Morocco's occupation. In many ways, there is a really interesting parallel with East Timor. That too was meant to become independent, but this was stopped by Indonesia which invaded and occupied it. It was only after two decades of conflict and a change of government in Indonesia, which was willing to accept it as an independent state if it voted for it in a referendum, that the situation changed. So, overall, the legal position is clear. Morocco does not have a legally recognised right to deny the people of Western Sahara a choice on their future - including independence. The key here is about applying political pressure to get Morocco to accept that. I hope this answers your question.
@@JamesKerLindsay Many thanks and I appreciate that you have provided your time to answer. Indeed, the core of the issue is that UNSC didn't and doesn't exercise the needed pressure on Morocco in order to fulfill with international legality. Impunity is the rule of law in this longstanding conflict.
Well said James 👏. Just wondering how South Yemen 🇾🇪 if they unilaterally declare independence, though backing up by the UAE, be accepted internationally despite the current crisis taking place in Yemen as whole.
Thanks, Mohamed. Very good question. I suspect that if it did declare independence now, it would not get international recognition. As Yemen is in the midst of a civil war, I think the international community would argue that this is not the time to recognise the South, and thus complicate the situation even further. The problem is that when the conflict ends, there may also be those who argue that recognising the South would then destabilise the new found peace. This is often a problem. In some cases, there is never a right moment to secede. My sense is that the South will need to be able to assert itself as a de facto state with control over its territory and then sit it out and wait. I suspect that the Somaliland option may be the best route at this stage. Of course, if Saudi Arabia were to be willing to recognise alongside the UAE, and they both put pressure on other Arab states, then things might change more widely. (I don't think UAE has enough diplomatic power to do it on its own.) Do you see this as a possibility?
@@JamesKerLindsay fully agree with you. Moreover, given the current sectarian conflicts may also change the political route taking by Yemen. For instance, rather than North vs South Yemen divisions, it could be turned into religious division, which could divide the country into Sunni and Shia territories supporting by Saudi-led and Iran, respectively.
Mohamed Hussein Hassan Thanks. Very good point!
It'll be impossible due to the Houthi war Machine.
bougainville? wow you dont hear of that one much. The Coconut Revolution is one of my favorite docs lol
Thanks pro from soomaliland
Puerto RIco?
hey JAmes. how come palestine was not included?
Cascadia is starting to become a real movement.
Alaska through to California.
Nice video, very informative and you have a nice voice 👍🏻
Thank you very much! 😀
James, why is Biafra not on this list. Biafra has better reason to be an independent country and better prospects than many of those you included. Please do a new video and include Biafra. The Igbo will be outstanding if they have their own nation.
Thank you Mr ,James, what about Tamil Ealam county, from the brutal Sri Lanka, Tamil Ealam is going to emerge one day.
Bougainville has been set for independence in 2027
Thanks a lot. It will be interesting to see whether it actually happens. I know that Papua New Guinea has agreed to it. But It has also been rather reluctant to actually let it go throughout the process.
Excellent
My late father felt that whilst Queen Elizabeth II presided over the dismantling of the Outer British Empire.
She would leave it to her son Charles III to preside over the dismantling of the Inner British Empire.
A process that had actually commenced prior to the dismantling dismantling of the Outer Empire (At a time when the Outer Empire was reaching its Zenith as Great Britain along with other Allied countries absorbed various colonial territories of the defeated Central Powers) this of course was the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921 which recognised the Irish Free State.
As was observed at the time "This has has pulled the linchpin out of the British Empire".
Certainly it made people in the Outer Empire think that if an integral part of the United Kingdom can achieve independence. Then what are the British doing here!
Irish unity will happen at some point in the next 25 years (if not sooner) .
But if Scotland does achieve political independence from the UK where does that leave the residual components of the UK.
Personally I suspect that it will accelerate the complete break up of the UK.
As it is under the terms of The Orkney Act and the Zetland (Shetland).Act.The islands have three potential options if Scotland does become an independent state.
1) They can join the new Scotland.
2) They can remain with the residual UK.
3) They can become independent in their own right.
Then you have the rest of of Celtic Britain in the form of Cornwall (which is larger than Luxembourg) and Wales. If Scotland make a good show of independence might they not be tempted?
Also were would this leave the Crown Dependencies of the Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man.
They might also request full independence.
One thing that should be remembered is that the UK is the last truly multi national state in Europe. But I wonder for how much longer?
SADR is part of Morocco. The courts got that one wrong.
Hmmm why oh wise internet person?
@@mag0s_b1010gis historically, its been part of the same nation state as Morocco for a long time
@@slibertas1996 Since when? Borders keep changing all the time and Modern form of Morocco got independence only in the 20th century
"Scotland argues"?. NO. The SNP argues...
The World with peace, unity and love, watching from berbera somaliland rep,,,
What about greater Baluchistan , sindhu desh,and pakhtunistan movements in Pakistani
What of Biafra
was this video before war between armenia and azerbajan? i mean last war
Yes, it was. I’m actually planning to take a look at the status of Nagorno-Karabakh after the war. There is a very interesting discussion on what exactly it is now.
The Igbo will make a great nation of Biafra. They are so gifted that an Igbo man is the father of African literature (Equaino), the mother of African literature (Nwapa); has sold more books THAN ANY OTHER AFRICAN OR BLACK PERSON SINCE THE WORLD WAS CREATED (Achebe); Africa's number one poet (Okigbo) and Africa's number one sculptor (Enwonwu). No young writer OF ANY NATION has matched Chimamanda's achievements.
In the sciences, no African nation apart from the Igbo has ever produced a USA Inventor of the Year. You also have Emeagwali (Gordon Bell laureate for super-computing), Achilefu (inventor of Cancer Goggles), Omalu (whose discovery of CTE was led to the 2015 film Concussion starring Will Smith ), Sam Okoye (who discovered the radio source of the Crab Nebula neutron star), Chike Obi (who solved Fermat's 200-year old theorem) Alex Animalu (global pioneer of superconductivity in quantum physics; thrice-nominated for Nobel Prize), Cyprian Uzoh (holder of over 126 USA-issued patents and over 160 patents worldwide in semiconductor technology; 2006 USA Inventor of the Year), Ifeanyi Ume (global pioneer in mechatronics and holder of 5 USA patents), Aloysius Anaebonam (holder of 12 USA Patents in pharmaceutics), Nnaji (who innovated the E - Design Concept in robotics). The list is endless.
The Igbo are being destroyed by Nigeria. Let Biafra emerge!
Thank you Brother
Sorry, thank you sister
I don't why he failed to include Biafra.
A video about independence movements and you don't mention Republika Srpska ( have fun pronouncing that )?
Blasphemy!
Ah ha, who said I haven’t!? This is just my first 10. Part II next week. 😉🤫
@@JamesKerLindsay Since you're going to be an objective third party observer in such a polarizing question, and since I've watched your video on the question whether the Kosovo declaration of independence violates International law and have actually learned a lot of facts regarding that particular case ( mind you I'm from Serbia, so it's hard to get a clear and objective opinion about that question because the current government says how it was a catastrophe of the previous ruling clique, and the opposition which ruled back then says it's no mistake at all ), I'd like you to look up the question of legality of an independence referendum of R. Srpska.
The thing is - Bosnian Serb leadership claims that the Dayton peace agreement legislated that R. Srpska has a right to hold an independence referendum 3 years after the end of the war. R. Srpska hadn't held such a referendum, so Boshniak leadership today claims there is no legal basis for such a referendum because R. Srpska had just that one chance. On the other hand, the Serbs claim they have such a right according to the Dayton agreement.
Since this is yet another loaded polarizing question where it's impossible to get an objective legal analysis on the matter ( not even from the ruling bodies in BiH and International organizations ) - I'd much appreciate it if you would elaborate on this question as you did on the Kosovo declaration of independence.
Also... don't forget Herzeg-Bosnia, the wannabe Croatian entity :^)
@@whitestag5229 Thanks. This was a really intriguing comment. I had never heard of the referendum option for RS. I was pretty sure that had this been the case, I would have known about it. Also, it doesn't seem to be correct as it would have been widely covered in the literature on Bosnia, if so. On top of this, there have bene various UN resolution and even the ICJ says that RS can't secede. But, to be sure, I went and looked through the entire Dayton Agreement and couldn't find any mention of it. Do you have a reference for this (or a reference for the claims that this is what Dayton said)? To be honest, it sounds like one of those things that often happens in conflicts. A myth emerges that gets repeated so often that it just takes hold. But I am certainly happy to be corrected if it does exist - and will absolutely do a video on it!!!
Ah ha, Herceg-Novi! :-)
@@JamesKerLindsay Apologies for dropping in, but since I was intrigued by this as well, I've managed to find an article in recent news; unfortunately, the article comes only in Serbian.
On the website of Serbian daily Danas, as written by FoNet (the oldest independent private news agency in Serbia) on 27. July 2020. an article titled "Dodik: It is time for Serbs to have a referendum on secession from Bosnia and Herzegovina"
www.danas.rs/svet/dodik-vreme-je-da-srbi-odrze-referendum-o-izdvajanju-iz-bih/
I'll attempt to crudely translate the first paragraph, please excuse my mistakes: "Commenting on the documents that were recently declassified, which state that Clinton in 1995, during the events in Srebrenica, had a plan for Muslim-Croatian Federation to get slightly less than half of Bosnia and Herzegovina, while the Americans would pressure Muslim side to agree for the Serbs to *get a chance in two to three years from the end of the war for a referendum on secession* from B&H, Dodik assessed that it is time for that idea to be rehabilitated and for Serbs to finally gain right to self determination, like all other nations do."
Final sentence of the article: "According to the documents that were declassified, former US president Bill Clinton was asking from the gov't in Sarajevo in 1995. to cede territory to the Serbs in order for the war to end in B&H, reports Srna" (Srna is a news agency of Republika Srpska)
Apparently, there is also an article at the Brookings Institution website by Ivo H. Daalder, former U.S. permanent representative to NATO, titled "Decision to Intervene: How the War in Bosnia Ended
", dated December 1, 1998.
www.brookings.edu/articles/decision-to-intervene-how-the-war-in-bosnia-ended/
To quote:
"Vershbow’s paper set forth an “endgame strategy” for Bosnia-thus emphasizing both its comprehensive nature and its goal of ending the policy impasse in Washington. The strategy proposed a last-ditch effort to reach a political solution acceptable to the parties. The outlines of such a solution, which was based on the Contact Group plan of 1994, included: recognition of Bosnia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its existing borders; division of Bosnia into two entities-a Bosnian Serb entity and a Muslim-Croat federation; entity borders would be drawn in a compact and defensible manner, with the federation territory accounting for at least 51 percent of the total; and acceptance of special parallel relationships between the entities and neighboring states *including the possibility of conducting a future referendum on the possibility of secession.* "
There might be more to this story, this was a rather shallow sweep.
Thank you so much! That is fascinating. I thought that it couldn’t have been in the Dayton Agreement. There’s no way that it could have passed unnoticed all this time. But it certainly isn’t beyond the realms of possibility that such an undertaking could have been made to encourage a deal. After all, it was used a few years later to get Montenegro to accept the State Union with Serbia. Also, it’s been used in other peace deals: South Sudan came about as a result of such a referendum tacked onto a peace deal. The recent vote on Bougainville was also based on a peace deal, as is the forthcoming vote in New Caledonia. The crucial thing, though, is that in the case of Bosnia it wasn’t set down in the final deal - for whatever reason. It would be fascinating to know if the RS leadership or the Serbian Government pressed for this in the negotiations. In any case, the fact that it wasn’t in the final agreement all but ensures that it won’t go anywhere now as an idea. It needed to be done at the time. In any case, thanks so much for a really helpful contribution. I really appreciate it. Hvala puno i pozdrav iz Londona!
It’s so weird being an American. My moms side is Scottish and they were sent here sometime in the 1600’s but I guess they weren’t allowed to have any kind of family history as servants. My dads side is Indian/black/French so my Indian ancestors were forced to assimilate at some point but we can’t get any history past the reservation. When I think about the refugees coming in through the border right now I remember that my moms side have been refugees here since the 1600’s and they’re still colonized by the English!! And I live amongst my colonizers + I have colonizer blood!! (French) 😅 it’s funny when a new immigrant complains about colonization lol. A lot of people see a white American and immediately think they’re English and slave owners. It’s just weird being over here and knowing I have a whole country and maybe even other ancestors over there. Honestly it feels like us Americans that have ancestors that came here a long time ago have no history beyond here, and like we are isolated from over there.
What about Azerbaijan unification
Taiwan is not an independence movement. If anything China was an independence movement from Taiwan
What about Kurdistan and West Papua Indonesia? Would you like to do a video for that ?
Thanks. I have already done a video on Kurdistan. (One of my earliest ones.) I also plan to do one on West Papua.
@@JamesKerLindsay okay thank you so much.
The more I study History (yes, I've matriculated as well), the more I'm convinced that "diplomacy" just adds more "fuel" to an unlit fire, for the most part. When war ultimately comes, it will be that much more intense and vicious. As awful as it sounds, perhaps some wars "have to be fought"--there and then--as a pressure valve to release the "existing steam" in order to "prevent" 'greater atrocities' and/or from the conflict spreading further afield. For example, the decision to no longer compromise and find a peaceful solution by both sides is what lead to the American Civil War (the bloodiest war in American history, more than all others combined) and "appears" to be heading in that same direction now. "Balkanization" is not a term of endearment.
It’s gonna be the north and south again 😅
11:09
Nagorokarabakh is not the historical name of the region, it's Ârtsâkh
This is a short summary. Perhaps watch my videos on Nagorno-Karabakh. I’ve done three of them.
@@JamesKerLindsay I will(I'm actually watching another video made by you right now), thanks for your recommendation, nice channel.
@@monarchistheadcrab8819 Thanks so much. I do try to present an informed view on things, but in a way that isn’t completely without opinion!
Breton. Basque, Saxon lander.
I have not finished watching this video but I think Biafra is not here. But I want to ask is there any hope for Biafra, we really dying in Nigeria like flies. Bad government and many more
Wow. This video is only two years old, but so much of it is already out of date. I mean, you mention Nagorno-Karabakh here... Call JJ Abrams, because this video needs a reboot.
In fact, it’s almost three years old. But a lot has changed since then. In reality, none are any closer to independence. And several are considerably further away.
Texas after making a independence referendum: *interesting*
Texas is such an interesting case. I hope to cover it soon.
Would not rUK be a new country? It was GB before it became the UK of GB and Ireland, then GB NI?
Biafra IPOB independent movement in Nigeria. We the IPOB has control over our people. We give orders in our territory. We are pushing for Biafra Referendum and dialogue. Our freedom has long overdue. We are not Nigerians. The world should be ready for another war in Africa if Referendum is not conducted to give us freedom
Ambazonia.
Biafra.
I wonder if you heart every comment
No.
Seriously, I like to show that I have acknowledged people. A like doesn’t show it is from me.
Nice
@@Rad509 🙂
Trust in the United Kingdom, please don't shoot yourselves in the foot.
James Ker-Lindsay: _[mentions Taiwan's independence movement]_
CCP: *would like to know your location*
I AM 🇰🇷 I ALSO LIKE THIS VERY MUCH 😍😍😍 Sikkim independent
I AM 🇰🇷 I ALSO LIKE THIS VERY MUCH 😍😍😍 SIKKIM FREE FROM INDIA
Hi James. Good content on the whole. Just, on the topic of Taiwan, I'd like to point out that its situation is legally, not just morally, more complex than "ROC vs PRC". The PRC's legal claim to Taiwan is based on the ROC's "previous" possession of Taiwan. Obviously, the ROC does, in fact, possess Taiwan now, and has since 1945. However, going back to 1945, the year that the ROC "acquired" Taiwan, it's not clear that this was actually done in a manner consistent with international law. In fact, much evidence suggests that the ROC never did actually annex Taiwan legally, or that the ROC's annexation of Taiwan has been legally incomplete (but partial). As of yet, no treaty has ever been officially signed to transfer sovereignty of Taiwan to the ROC from its immediately previous sovereign state, the Empire of Japan (or simply "Japan"). In the present day, the ROC (mainly the Chinese Nationalist faction, also known as "Pan-Blues") claims that it never needed to sign a treaty ceding Taiwan from Japan to China, since Japan never legally acquired Taiwan is the first place, according to their view (China was previously sovereign over Taiwan before Japan was, so the ROC views its annexation of Taiwan in 1945 as a "restoration" of sovereignty). In fact, Japan and China (under the preceding Qing dynasty) did sign a legal treaty to cede Taiwan from China to Japan back in 1895 (the Treaty of Shimonoseki). The ROC claims that this treaty was never valid in the first place, and towards the end of WWII, the Chinese Nationalists declared the treaty null and void. However, this act alone doesn't have the power to change the legal situation. Under international law, Taiwan was a fully sovereign possession of Japan from 1895 until 1945. From 1945 to 1952, Taiwan was in a state of occupation under the Allied forces (led by China and the United States) until Japan relinquished sovereignty over Taiwan in 1952 with the Treaty of San Francisco. However, within the treaty, Japan never explicitly transferred sovereignty over to China, but instead left the question of Taiwan's future sovereign status up for further arbitration. Notably, neither the PRC not the ROC was party to the Treaty of San Francisco, despite its historic significance in granting Japan independence from American occupation and granting Korea independence from Japan. As it stands today, Taiwan's legal status as a possession of the ROC, although this issue may seem relatively irrelevant, has never been properly resolved. The issue was largely swept under the rug when the Cold War broke out, with most Western and Chinese academics and politicians since then framing the situation as that of "PRC vs ROC". Whilst this PRC vs ROC frame is a major factor in the dispute, the fundamental question of "does Taiwan even belong to China in the first place, regardless of the regime?" has never been fully addressed even to this day, at least in the scope of international and even domestic (Taiwanese/Chinese) law.
For clarification, I'm not an expert on this manner. I've learnt much of this information from real academics, notably Michael Turton. twitter.com/michaelturton?s=09
I do not live in Taiwan. I'm an Australian with partial Taiwanese ancestry (in fact, I'm mostly ethnic-Chinese).
Thank you very much. This is a fascinating issue. I really appreciate that you raised it. Obviously, in any short video, there will be issues that I have to leave out. However, it would be fascinating to look into this in more detail. There is obviously a strong body of opinion that says that China’s claim to Taiwan is invalid. Thanks so much for pointing this out in so much detail.
@@JamesKerLindsay Yeah, if you look at my brief reply to my own comment, I'm not an expert on this issue, though Michael Turton certainly is. So, if you want to learn more about this from someone who actually knows what they're talking about, you should consult him. 👍
Thanks again. That’s really helpful. I will certainly look into it.
@@JamesKerLindsay On another note, the ROC does, in fact, possess some territory that wasn't ever an integral part of Japan prior to WWII. The territory in question consists of the small archipelagos of Kinmen, Matsu, Wuqiu and certain islands in the South China Sea. Of course, the South China Sea islands are a whole other legal mess, but in terms of Kinmen, Matsu and Wuqiu, these islands are almost indisputably viewed as integral Chinese territory. They are separate territories from Taiwan proper; technically, they did come under Japanese occupation during WWII (at least, I'm pretty sure Kinmen did), but they weren't part of the original territorial concession that China made to Japan back in 1895. Kinmen, especially, is often viewed by analysts as being potentially "the next Crimea". Being under the control of the ROC, Taiwan's government, but not having the same legal status as Taiwan (as a former Japanese possession) and being indisputably part of China, the PRC has a much stronger case to reclaim those islands than it has to "reclaim" Taiwan. The island are located very close to the coast of mainland China, with the nearby port city of Xiamen being visible from Kinmen with the naked eye. The potential for the PRC to seize those islands in the event of a new Taiwan Strait Crisis is rather high, and the ROC on Taiwan doesn't really have a strong case to defend its sovereignty over those particular islands. Importantly, the United States' defence treaty with Taiwan, the "Taiwan Relations Act", does not cover the islands of Kinmen, Matsu and Wuqiu, but only Taiwan proper. So, the United States will not necessarily be willing to assist the ROC with the defence of these islands.
Hello professor Lindsay, you ‘re talking about countries seeking for independence and self determination. You speak more about Europe and specific countries, but in Africa, you forget to mention Biafra in Nigeria West Africa which was once a country. Biafra and Nigeria had a brutal civil war from 1967 to 1970 in which Nigeria committed the worst genocide, ethnic cleaning of its kind. Nigeria government has been fighting and killing innocent civilians Igbo Biafra on a daily basis the world is not saying anything. The Biafra government in exile is currently conducting self referendum to exit Nigeria by December this year 2024. UN must and should grant independence for Biafra to save lives. God bless 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏
Thanks. I have made several videos about Biafra.
Another snub for Wales!
Not realistic as it is almost as poor as NI which is the absolute rock bottom in western Europe.
In accordance to situation Kosovo and Serbia are meant to reach a final agreement within 2021. If this event goes as planned Kosovo might be the next UN member.
Thanks. I’m not aware that there’s any deadline for an agreement in 2021. In fact, it seems that the new government in Kosovo doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to enter talks with Belgrade. I suppose it could happen. It just doesn’t seem very likely just at the moment.
As planned? What is planned? For Albanians to cry "independence" until people get sick of it and recognise it?
We should bear in mind that there are right now 197 officially independent countries, the 193 UNO members + 4 unrecognised or partially recognized states : Kosovo, Somaliland, ROC (Taiwan) and the State of Vatican.
I don't count the Polisario- controlled part of Western Sahara, the Palestinian territories, the north Cyprus Turkish Republic, the Artsakh, S.Ossetia, Abkhazia, Transdnistria, and the Russian- controlled parts of Ukraine as independent.
Quebec is ours!
What about Albania and Kosovo? Both are muslim countries too
Serbia's population might have concidered recognising Kosovo in exchange for EU membership. However, nowdays majority of Serbia's citisens do not want EU membership.
Only way if this happening is if Republika Srpska is given to Serbia. Tho would, in turn, open another Pandora's box in Balkans. For now, it seems Status Quo is the best solution
Okinawa and Ainu independence over Hokkaido.
I want to meet with you sometime? How can I do?
The independence referendum in Bougainville that was held in 2019 was specifically a consultation and was not legally binding on the government of Papua New Guinea. So it is a bit unbalanced to state in your commentary that the PNG government has still not proceeded with actions to grant independence. The PNG government always suggested that its response to a positive vote would be to consider more financial control and wider grants of sovereignty. I'm not including the recent agreement in 2021.
10 nước trong video sẽ độc lập
Okay, four years on and some things have changed, some are the same. The big ones:
For one, somaliland has basically been recognized by Ethiopia. So that’s a plus.
Artsakh is no longer a thing, nagorno-karabağ is now fully Azerbaijani (with the help of some ethnic cleansing)
Bougainville’s independence is still yet to be ratified by the Papuan parliament, which will pose problems if not done in the next two years.
Transnistria (and I continue to use that name because the transnistrian authorities hate it) has gone from an outcast only accepted by Russia to an outcast seen as a threat to the EU and NATO and only accepted by Russia. Not a chance of ever being internationally recognized. Nada. Zero.
Most importantly for me as a French citizen, New Caledonia. There is currently unrest on the island, and while I personally support their independence, there are currently crackdowns by the French government against pro-independence protestors.
Thanks so much! A brilliant summary. Maybe I should revisit this. A lot has happened.
Is there any resources out there explaining exactly why Morocco is so interested in Western Sahara? Did someone find oil there or something?
Plenty of phosphate reserves there which are used to make fertilizer, I think.
Western Togoland part 2
I think characterising the Taiwan issue as being about sovereignty over the whole of China and Taiwan rather than being about Taiwan's independence is rather out of date. The days of Taiwanese governments talking about reconquering the mainland are long gone! The position of the current government of Taiwan is that Taiwan is already an independent country, and so has no need to declare independence. The territorial claims do still exist in the constitution, but only because removing them might result in a Chinese invasion!
You mentioned that the so called republic of northern Cyprus is de facto independence. Even that statement is not correct with forty thousand Turkish troops in northern Cyprus it is Turkey that fully controls the occupied territories and has drastically modified the demographic character with the movement of Turkish settlers.
Thanks Nick. The statement is perfectly correct. I know all about Cyprus. I have published many books on the issue and lived there for eight years. :-) www.amazon.co.uk/Cyprus-Problem-What-Everyone-Needs/dp/0199757151
It is widely regarded as a de facto state. But like almost all de facto states, it relies on what we call a patron state. In this case that patron is obviously Turkey. In fact one of the arguments against excessive isolation of de facto states is that it forces them to become more reliant on those patron states. Thus is a major issue in the case of Cyprus.
Despite all the insults and personal attacks u answered and with evidence almost all the questions with a simple English to make the points understandable.. the Moroccans may be more organized and supported to do this attacks on you but even tho we the sahrawis are small population, our voices can be heard because our cause is legitimate ❤
You should include Tamil Eelam as well...Tamil Eelam was Tamil speaking region in Sri Lanka were wrongly given to Majority Sinhalese people by British on Sri Lanka independent...its supposed to be Independent country because the people live was different race and has different religion and culture...but the British colonial master made the greaterst blunder unify Tamil speaking region into Sinhalese Sri Lanka...since then the minority Tamilian and Majority in the North East region are going thru enormous supression...talk about Tamil Eelam also..!!
Biafra Republic from Nigeria
Did you forget Biafra?
I have made two videos on Biafra. But when I made this video it wasn't really on the radar.
@@JamesKerLindsay Alright thank you for your good works on the people of Biafra and God bless you Sir
1:27
0:02 Not even 2 seconds into the video this dude called Kosovo a country.
*Get prepared for us, buddy*
This ‘dude’ happens to know rather more about Kosovo than you think. www.knjizara.com/Kosovo-put-ka-osporenoj-drzavnosti-na-Balkanu-Dzejms-Ker-Lindzi-133354 Have a read and get back to me. I’d be interested to hear what your realistic suggestions for bringing it under Serbian control. I’m asking a lot of people this question and don’t seem to be getting any answers.
Prepared for your lack of education? xD
Hello how are you I’m under the watwe
Herceg-Bosna!🇭🇷🇭🇷🇭🇷
Tamil eelam???
Future countries in the world. But you forgot to mentioned Greater Balochistan which is occupied by Iran and Pakistan even it is exist as a country 500 years.
Ogadenia
Quite possibly. But before or after Tigray and Oromia?
@@JamesKerLindsay I hope you cover this region, fought so long and has Colonial roots.
Hi Prof.
I would like to bring to attention here that Punjab has been in a active struggle to gain independence from India. Punjab was it's own Empire prior to British occupation. Britain colonized much of the Subcontinent and Punjab was colonized 100 years after. After an Independence struggle (97% sacfrices by Punjabi freedom fighters) in 1947 Britain transfered the power to the Nehru family before living India. Punjab was divided into two regions at this time. One region was given to Pakiatan (A newly fromed Muslim country) and India kept the other part. The people of Punjab had no proper representation. They were mislead and tricked into accepting to stay with India by false promises of equality and full autonomy. After been treated like second class citizens and having gone through genocide of it's People, Punjab is fighting for it's Freedom from the Facist India state.