March 2013 – Conference 2:
Reassessing EU/US Policy on Secession: The Lessons of Yugoslavia and Georgia Several EU states and EU candidates face secessionist movements, violent or otherwise. It is vital and timely, therefore, to assess the lessons learned from recent US and EU policy on unilateral secession in two countries: the former Yugoslavia and Georgia. In 2008, the US and a large majority of EU states recognized the independence of Kosovo from Serbia. Later that year, Russia and a small handful of allies, but not the US or any EU states, recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia from Georgia. In both cases, most of the international community did not recognize the unilateral secessions, resulting in ambiguous sovereignty that inhibits regional integration, economic growth, and stability. These events also raise dangerous precedents for ongoing secessionist conflicts in EU states, including Spain, and potential EU candidates, including Moldova.
CES proposes a conference of scholars and practitioners from the US and EU, comprising three panels: 1) Serbia/Kosovo; 2) Georgia; 3) US/EU policy lessons learned.
Proposed 14 participants UT faculty:
Alan J. Kuperman of the LBJ School of Public Affairs
Mary Neuburger of the Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies (CREEES)
Zoltan Barany of the Government Department
Zachary Elkins of the School of Law
US Participants:
Gerard Gallucci, retired US diplomat
Gordon N. Bardos, Columbia University
Nicholas Burns, Harvard University
Prof. Julie George, Queens College
Matthew J. Bryza, US State Department
Prof. Cory Welt, Georgetown University
Jason Sorens, University at Buffalo
EU Participants:
Rafael Garranzo, Foreign Ministry of Spain
Neophytos G. Loizides, Queens’s University Belfast