Independence, Intervention and Great Power Patronage: Kosovo, Georgia and the Contemporary Self-Determination Penumbra

This article contends that despite the increased currency of self-determination in contemporary international political debate the issue remains highly ambiguous and problematic. Two situation in 2008 - Kosovo’s declaration of independence and Russia’s recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia – brought this issue to the top of the international agenda and yet neither case has clarified the self-determination penumbra. The issue remains the preserve of political expediency rather than objective legal doctrine. This article assesses the evolution of independence Kosovo highlighting the highly contingent nature of this case and the conditional nature of Kosovo’s “independence”