Quasi-state

Map of the British Empire under Queen Victoria at the end of the nineteenth century. "Dominions" refers to all territories belonging to the Crown.
A map of the Middle East showing areas controlled by ISIL as of May 2015: a number of major cities in northern Syria and Iraq, and corridors connecting them.
Maximum extent of the territory of the Islamic State (frequently described as a proto-state) in Iraq and Syria, on 21 May 2015[1]

A quasi-state (sometimes referred to as a state-like entity[2] or formatively a proto-state[3][2]) is a political entity that does not represent a fully autonomous sovereign state with its own institutions.[4]

The precise definition of quasi-state in political literature fluctuates depending on the context in which it is used. It has been used by some modern scholars to describe the self-governing British colonies and dependencies that exercised a form of home rule but remained crucial parts of the British Empire and subject firstly to the metropole's administration.[5][6] Similarly, the Republics of the Soviet Union, which represented administrative units with their own respective national distinctions, have also been described as quasi-states.[4]

In the 21st century usage, the term quasi-state has most often been evoked in reference to militant secessionist groups who claim, and exercise some form of territorial control over, a specific region, but which lack institutional cohesion.[5][failed verificationsee discussion] Such quasi-states include the Republika Srpska and Herzeg-Bosnia during the Bosnian War,[5] the Republic of Serbian Krajina during the Croatian War of Independence,[7] and Azawad during the 2012 Tuareg rebellion.[8] The Islamic State is also widely held to be an example of a modern quasi-state or proto-state.[9][2][10][11]

  1. ^ Fairfield, Hannah; Wallace, Tim; Watkins, Derek (21 May 2015). "How ISIS Expands". The New York Times. New York. Archived from the original on 23 May 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b c John P. Grant; J. Craig Barker (2009). "Quasi-State". Parry and Grant Encyclopaedic Dictionary of International Law (3rd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 493, 580. ISBN 978-0-19-538977-7. OL 23213349M. Wikidata Q105755921. A term sometimes used to describe entities with many, but not all, the criteria of statehood . . . which are nonetheless possessed of a measure of international personality. . . . a term of international relations, and certainly not of international law, it connotes former colonies . . .
  3. ^ "How the Islamic State Declared War on the World". Foreign Policy. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
  4. ^ a b Hahn, Gordon (2002). Russia's Revolution from Above, 1985-2000: Reform, Transition, and Revolution in the Fall of the Soviet Communist Regime. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers. p. 527. ISBN 978-0765800497.
  5. ^ a b c Griffiths, Ryan (2016). Age of Secession: The International and Domestic Determinants of State Birth. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 85–102, 213–242. ISBN 978-1107161627.
  6. ^ Jackson, Robert H. (1991). Quasi-States: Sovereignty, International Relations and the Third World. Cambridge University Press. pp. 21–22. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511559020. ISBN 978-0-521-44783-6.
  7. ^ "HIC: VJESNIK, Podlistak, 16 i 17. travnja 2005., VELIKOSRPSKA TVOREVINA NA HRVATSKOM TLU: IZVORNI DOKUMENTI O DJELOVANJU 'REPUBLIKE SRPSKE KRAJINE' (XXIX.)". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  8. ^ Alvarado, David (May 2012). "Independent Azawad: Tuaregs, Jihadists, and an Uncertain Future for Mali" (PDF). Barcelona: Barcelona Center for International Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  9. ^ Lia (2015), pp. 31–32.
  10. ^ "The caliphate cracks". The Economist. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 2016-07-20.
  11. ^ "The Islamic State: More than a Terrorist Group?". E-International Relations. 3 April 2015. Retrieved 2016-07-20.