Moscow: Novy khronograf Publ., 2012, 672 p. (Series: "Social Space")

Separatism and secessionism are very widespread in the modern world. Only in Europe, and only in 2014, there were several manifestations of secessionism: in the Crimea (voting for joining Russia), in the Donbass (striving for secession from Ukraine, which led to the most severe armed conflict), in the United Kingdom (the Scottish referendum on secession from this state), in Catalonia (a survey on secession from Ukraine). secession from Spain). Of course, the processes of the emergence and disintegration of States go through the entire human history, despite the accompanying victims and destructions1. In the modern era, secessionist movements coexist with pronounced tendencies to create regional integration systems and globalization processes. The author's view on the geography of secessionism becomes very relevant, as it provides reliable grounds for studying the phenomenon.

It should be immediately noted that the book is unique, at least in Russian-language science. As of the year of publication, it covers all known secessionist movements. Some of them have already shown their full potential. The high quality and professionalism of the work is fully reflected in its structure.

The work consists of a number of related, but at the same time completely independent and complementary blocks. The first," textual " part deals with the conceptual issues of the study. In particular, it analyzes the terminological apparatus, for example, the difference between secessionism and separatism, and examines the typology of movements that are partially or completely connected with the isolation of certain groups of the country's population. F. A. Popov examines the zones of secessionism; the main political science concepts of this phenomenon; factors that contribute to the emergence of secessionist movements; forms of their activity; main geographical types secessionism (there are 12 of them). I will return to the content of this section later. It also includes a glossary of basic concepts and their definitions.

The book is accompanied by tables, appendices, and maps that make up most of the work. This material is well classified by the author according to a number of parameters and, in fact, is a kind of source on this issue. Thus, Table 1 provides a classification of the distribution zones of all secessionist movements according to two criteria: the degree of actual control over the territory (minimal, medium, high) and the level of public support for secessionist goals (lack of support, weak, medium, and strong support). Table 2 shows the names and territory of 96 (!) secessionist and irredentist groups of a political and public-propaganda nature in the United States. Table 3 provides similar information on 12 tribal autonomist movements in Eastern India.

The database of data related to the zones of secessionism spread in the modern world given in the appendices is very informative, and the author counted 199 such movements. This data, which takes up half of the book, describes secessionist movements by the following parameters: name of the zone; state; territory; characteristics of the territory; area of the territory; type of borders (for example, administrative ones); capital of the zone; the group that secessionists act on behalf of; the potential size of this group; factors influencing the development of secessionist identity; economic factors. factors influencing the development of secessionist identity; the degree of public support for secessionist goals; the degree of actual illegitimate control over territory; the complex type of external form (for example, a partisan movement); the geographical type of secessionism; actions (for example, terrorist actions); the size of the armed forces; the proclamation of non-secessionism.-

1 Thus, in the 1920s, the League of Nations consisted of 42 States. At the time of the creation of the UN, in 1945, this organization included 51 States. In the early 1990s, the UN had 159 members, 191 in 2008, and 193 in 2015 [http://www.un.org/ru/mеmbеrs/; Tomsinov, 2015, p. 185; website: http://otvеt.mail.ru/].

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political actors; external support; brief description (history) of the movement; specifics of mechanisms for forming a secessionist identity; economic characteristics; availability of official status. As the contents of the table and familiarity with some secessionist movements show, these parameters are sufficient or almost sufficient to fully describe them.

Such an array of data is based on a huge number of sources, both printed and electronic, and their list has a completely independent meaning. It includes: online encyclopedias, information portals and sites of non-secessionist organizations; sites of secessionist organizations; monographs; electronic and printed articles; results of population censuses, elections, sociological surveys and referendums; legal documents (a total of 1,143 titles). Appendices include an index and a list of secessionist zones. The book is accompanied by maps of the territories where secessionist movements are widespread.

It is important that F. L. Popov thoroughly understands the terms that are used to study this problem block: after all, not only ordinary people, but also decision-making politicians often confuse important concepts and therefore make the wrong decisions. So, the current authorities in Ukraine, in line with the political situation, call their actions in the Donbass an anti-terrorist operation, although in reality we are talking about a civil war and state terrorism. Here is a list of the main concepts and their definitions (of course, I will coarsen the author's logic if necessary):

Autonomism is the political self-determination of ethnic groups and territories based on the creation of autonomies. Close to this is the concept of regionalism, i.e. the cohesion of citizens along territorial lines in order to thrive in a given area and protect it from external encroachments (p. 23). Any desire to separate the territory, including raising its political status, can be considered separatist (p. 24). Under this definition, separatism does not pose a threat (or only a potential threat) to the country's territorial integrity. After all, all countries of the world have a different territorial and political structure and strive to optimize it, especially if the society is spatially heterogeneous according to ethno-cultural or religious criteria. Thus, most European countries are federal or include self-governing autonomies. The problem is that separatism can turn into secessionism (often as a result of inept state policies) and lead to severe social conflicts (the case of modern Ukraine, and before that the examples of Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Transdniestria, etc.).

The terms "secessionism" and "irredentism" indicate the most difficult situations in the sphere of the administrative-territorial structure of the country. By secessionism, the author understands a political movement whose goal is to withdraw a part of the territory of a state from its composition (secession) and then form a new independent state or join an existing state, or any other political movement whose activity leads to actual secession (p. 36). At the same time, F. A. Popov notes that if any small part of the separatists for some time (within the period under review) advocated complete secession, such a movement is considered secessionist (p. 31). Irredentism often accompanies secessionism and means (in the broadest sense) any movement aimed at secessionism. the right to unite territories/communities divided between several states under common authority (p. 25).

It was said above that the territorial structure of any country belongs more to the sphere of political art: after all, the existing variety of situations cannot be "laid down" in template political forms. But it should be added that the role of elites (and they are the main subjects of state policy) is to offer optimal forms already at the time of the establishment of the state. There are a number of cases when the elites acted" ahead of time", and therefore social conflicts in the form of developed secessionism or irredentism did not occur. A typical example is the Aland Islands in unitary Finland (pp. 309-310). They are inhabited by Swedes and have such a high autonomous status that they do not need to secede from this state.2 So here the possible secession is not Paul-

2 Of course, the resolution of the question of the Aland Islands as part of Finland was quite complex and required the intervention of the Council of the League of Nations in 1920. [Tomsinov, 2015, p. 70].

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It is supported by mass support of the population. But the situation in no country in the world can be permanent (there may be a weakening of the central government, a change in the ethno-demographic composition of the population of the country/region, etc.), and therefore only political art can preserve the integrity and stability of the country. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the author's ideas about the origin of secessionist movements.

F. A. Popov quite rightly asserts that there are three integral areas of research on secessionism: 1) works related to the theory of the "right to secession"("right to self-determination" 3), 2) works related to the study of nationalism in the context of secessionist claims, 3) studies of actual secession as a global process (p.50). The book discusses in detail the main provisions of these research areas (pp. 51-88). In my opinion, the most convincing concepts are those that link secessionism with nationalism.4 In this regard, the author rightly notes: if secessionism is one of the forms of expression of nationalism, then nationalism is an instrument of moral legitimization of secessionism (p. 65).

This problem is discussed in more detail in section 3.1 (p. 101-147) of Chapter 3, "Factors and patterns of secessionism spread in the modern world". F. A. Popov rightly points out that any society is heterogeneous by many criteria, and therefore different forms of group identity are formed, or, with reference to B. Anderson, "imaginary communities"5. And here the concepts of "nation" and "nationalism" come into force, which are involved in the formation of "secessionist self-consciousness", and this is "recognition of belonging to a certain group based on the feeling of having significant features for this group" (p.102). Similarly, the author considers not only ethnic (national), but also territorial identity.

According to Popov, the formation of secessionist identity and territorial identity is a key moment in the development of secessionist movements. By territorial identity, he means the recognition by individuals of their belonging to a group defined in a certain territory. The territory is seen as an attribute of the group (p. 103). The author adds that territorial identity co-exists or can co-exist with other ethnolinguistic, confessional, and political identities 6 (p. 104).

3 This trend goes back to the Bolshevik national policy projects (especially V. I. Lenin's), the so-called 14 points of the American President Woodrow Wilson (January 8, 1918), as well as some provisions of the fundamental UN documents: "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" (adopted on December 10, 1948), "International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights", "International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights", etc. The right to self-determination (secession) and State sovereignty, as set out in international law, are very contradictory. Perhaps, only the right to self-determination within a given state, i.e., in the author's terminology, the right to separatism, is not particularly doubtful (for more details, see [Tomsinov, 2015]).

4 The first official document to record this connection is the "Declaration of Independence of the United States" (1776), which begins with the following statement: "When the course of events leads to the fact that one of the peoples is forced to break the political ties that bind it to another people, and take an independent and equal place among the powers of the world, to which it has the right according to the laws of nature and the Creator, respect for the opinion of humanity requires it to explain the reasons department" [http://www.hist.msu.ru/ER/Etext/indpndnc.htm (accessed 07.04.2015)].

5 B. Anderson's book, beautifully translated into Russian by sociologist V. Nikolaev, has a different title in the context of its content: "Imaginary Communities". And this is a completely different concept, which assumes that communities are not" imagined", but for a number of reasons arise and exist in reality, although they have a certain symbolic" feeding " in the imagination of citizens. As far as I know, this substitution is not the fault of the translator, but of the Russian ethnological "constructivist" officialdom. In the context of the right to self-determination, the International Commission of Jurists decided in 1972 that the concept of "people" is poorly defined: "...A nation begins to exist only when it becomes aware of its own identity and confirms its will to exist" (cit. by: [Tomsinov, 2015, p. 139]).

6 However, with reference to V. A. Tishkov, F. A. Popov is inclined to speak not about ethnic groups, but about "pseudo-ethnic" groups and factors (pp. 108-113). But in the context of his arguments about the" blurring " of ethnic characteristics proper, this thesis does not seem logical. This, strictly speaking, is the flaw of all anthropological constructivism: if "pseudo-signs" are used to form "pseudo-groups", then how are they organized for real actions? And if their actions are real and coordinated, then they are no longer "pseudo-groups".

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The book provides examples of the impact of these factors on the emergence of secessionist movements.

In addition to these reasons that give rise to group and territorial identity, Popov identifies a number of factors that influence the emergence and spread of secessionism: the foreign policy factor, personal authority, the presence of administrative borders, territorial isolation, as well as historical and economic factors. It can be assumed, however, that the issue is not only one of identity formation, but also that the territory itself represents a certain resource that secessionist movements, once they have emerged, seek or can use.

It is necessary to point out an important possible reason for secession, which the author ignores-the state policy of the central government. After all, it can both hinder the development of secessionist sentiments (for example, the Aland Islands), and provoke their emergence and spread (for example, Ukraine). In addition, it should be taken into account that a person is not only a social being (he seeks to unite in a group, mentally draws boundaries between "his" group and "someone else's"), but also a territorial one (he considers the territory where the group lives to be "his"). And "your" territory should be protected if necessary. This means that if the state policy is inadequate, separatism and secession can escalate into a civil war.

F. A. Popov identified several regional types of secessionism based on both key features (the nature of basic identity, the external form of the movements forming them, the specifics of secessionist requirements) and other features (for example, the geographical proximity of the foci of secessionist movements). For the latter case, he introduced the concept of induction - the influence exerted by more or less random and temporary factors on the emergence and development of a particular form of secessionism, expressed through another movement (pp. 164-165). Let's take a look at these geographical types assigned to them.

The Western European type includes 37 secessionist distribution zones (ZRS), and this type is very monolithic in terms of secessionist movements. Its peculiarity is the predominance of political parties among actors (which gives movements a certain respectability) and a certain "standardization" of their activities. Terrorism, although common among some movements, is not typical, and the main emphasis is shifted towards public propaganda. The basic identity of Western European movements is the ethno-linguistic factor, with confessional, historical, and economic factors present in some cases. For the most part, these movements have a high level of legitimacy, but in the vast majority of cases, real secession is still far away (pp. 171-173). Paradoxically, secessionist movements are most common where the development of regional integration is deep. What is this manifestation of "glocalization"?

The post-socialist type covers 23 air defense systems within the borders of the former USSR and Yugoslavia (i.e., disbanded multi-ethnic federations). The characteristic features of this secessionism are extremely high rates of actual illegitimate control over the territory and public support for secessionist goals. In some cases, the development of secessionist movements led to civil war. Movements of this type are not characterized by "standardized" political activity, although the ZRS belt associated with the border between Christianity and Islam is quite prominent (pp. 173-175).

The North American-Australian type includes 13 SAMs in North America (including Greenland) and Australia. This type of air defense system is typical for only four, but very large states: the United States, Canada, Australia and Denmark (with Greenland). For this type, the level of induction (mutual influence) is high, especially if we talk about the USA and Canada. Its characteristic feature is minimal illegitimate control over the territory, which is also associated with a conscious rejection of the radical struggle for independence. This is probably determined by the opportunities for conducting a legal political struggle. Ethnic and confessional factors of secession are generally low here, and in general, a liberal domestic policy helps to" let off steam " for activists (pp. 175-177).

The Caribbean-Atlantic type includes 11 SAMs in the Atlantic island world (from the coast of America to the coast of Africa). The general characteristic of this type of ZRS is the factor of isolation (with rare exceptions), the formation of colonial identity, and sometimes ethno-racial, ethno-linguistic, or confessional identity. It mainly uses political methods of struggle, but the degree of radicalism is higher than that of the previous movement.

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like. According to F. A. Popov, a number of these movements have high chances of success in the framework of decolonization (pp. 178-179).

The Pacific type covers 15 island air defense systems. The peculiarity of this type is the high role of ethno-tribal and ethno-linguistic identity in the development of movements, along with factors of isolation and colonial identity. In some cases, the presence of scarce natural resources on the territory is a serious support for secessionist movements. These movements often have a moderate political character, but the author suggests that this picture reflects only a temporary state of affairs, and the militarization of movements (which is higher than that of the previous type of movement) may increase (pp. 179-181).

The Latin American type includes 5 ZRS, but most of them have an autonomist (separatist) character, although they are close to secessionism in terms of their level of development and are often headed by local authorities. F. A. Popov highlights some common features of secessionism/separatism in Latin America: the dominance of political orientation as a group-forming factor; the increased role of the personal hostility factor in the development of the movement; almost complete absence of typical targeted secessionism; anti-Americanism; some development of Native American separatist movements of an ethno-racial nature (pp. 181-183).

The Afro-Malay covers 11 SAMs in Africa and 12 in Southeast Asia (23 in total). A notable factor in this type of secessionism is the inter-confessional rift along the Islam/Christianity line. Ethno-tribal and ethno-linguistic components, and in some cases historical memory, play a role. For the Malay air defense system, a minimum or average degree of control over the territory is characteristic, while for the African zone this indicator is more important. At the same time, partisan methods of struggle are mainly used in the African area, while terrorism is more common in the Asian area (pp. 184-186).

The African tropical air defense system type includes 12 units (the author excluded Sudan and Nigeria from the list, which were included in the previous type). According to Popov, the leading characteristic of this type of secessionism is the prominent role of the "pseudo-ethnic", i.e. tribal, factor. The main form of secessionism is the demand of a more or less large tribe for independence on its" own", not quite defined territory. Moreover, some tribal warlords create armies that control territories that are often rich in resources. The threat of secession of "one's own" territory often plays an important role in internal political struggles (pp. 186-188). This type of air defense system covers territories where states were not" naturally " created, that is, the traditions of statehood in these territories are not rooted, and tribal or quasi-tribal relations still dominate here. Therefore, the struggle, or rather the massacre, here has a very bloody character and can take on exotic forms, up to the creation of children's armies.

The North African type includes only 9 ZRS, according to the author, it is very homogeneous as a result of the high confessional homogeneity of the population. Here, the leading factor of secessionism is the "pseudo-ethnic" identity of the population. Other factors of secession include historical (the presence of statehood in the past) and resource-economic factors. However, in most cases, secessionist ideas do not enjoy significant public support. A special feature of this type of secessionism is its increased militarization. At the same time, in most cases, the rebels manage to achieve full or partial control over the territory (pp. 188-190).

The West Asian type covers 19 air defense systems. This type has a high degree of internal heterogeneity. As the reason for separatism, there is also a religious factor in a peculiar form, most often within the framework of Islam (the confrontation between Shiism and Sunnism, between Hanifism and Shafiism within Sunnism). However, the "pseudo-ethnic" self-consciousness dominates. This type of secessionism is characterized by a wide variation in the methods of achieving the goal: from peaceful political dialogue to a high degree of armed activity with the possible achievement of actual secession (pp. 190-192).

The South Asian type unites 15 air defense systems located in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. "When studying the conflict-related structure of a region, one gets the impression that almost every tribe within its borders has its own 'unique' (in the relation we are interested in) self-consciousness and, on this basis, is extremely aggressive towards other tribes " (p.192). It should be noted that in India, tribes and groups of tribes have their own "titular" political-territorial entity (state). As the main factors of unification in the secessionist movement here

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usually, language and religion are used. Under these conditions, according to Popov, any movement, even the most marginal, is characterized by an increased degree of militarization and control over the territory. Specifically addressed to India, the author notes that the state power here is strong enough and reasonable enough to prevent the formation of" stateless regions " (pp. 192-194).

The Indochina type includes 12 air defense systems, and currently 11 zones are located on the territory of Myanmar (the"failed state"), and one on the territory of Cambodia. Since these countries are Buddhist, the share of religious factors in the emergence of secessionism is negligible. F. A. Popov believes that the function of the main factor in the development of secessionism is played by the alleged blood relationship, since the population is extremely fragmented along tribal lines, and the territory has a mountainous landscape. As a result, many rebel armies were formed, seeking to control resources (including drug trafficking). Emigrant associations and "governments in exile" play a certain role in the movement. The policy of the central government of Myanmar is interesting: not being able to defeat one or another rebel army on its own, it simply pits them against each other. In addition, the central government may pursue a policy of creating special regions, i.e., providing land to the rebels in exchange for the cessation of armed struggle. A similar situation occurs in Cambodia (pp. 194-196). In other words, the weakness of the central government provokes secession and armed struggle.

It can be assumed that a new type of secessionism is now "maturing" within the framework of the fundamentalist trend of Islam. It is associated with the desire to create (recreate) the caliphate as a form of Sharia state. One of the first examples of this kind 7 was the establishment of the North Caucasus Emirate (Emirate of the Caucasus) in 2007. [Caucasian Emirate]. This first experience was actually a separatist-terrorist radical Islamist underground and emerged as a result of the war in Chechnya. It should be added that at the first stage, the secessionist movement in Chechnya had a purely ethnic character, and it acquired a radical Islamist character in the final stages of the war: the secessionist movement's religious motivation was stronger.

The most striking and so far the only example of secessionism of this kind is the creation of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL)8. Although ISIL is commonly referred to as an Islamist terrorist organization, it has gone beyond this, i.e., it has existed as an Islamist, unrecognized quasi-State since 2013. This organization was formed in 2006 by the merger of 11 radical Islamist organizations. On June 29, 2014, ISIS declared the creation of a worldwide caliphate. ISIL has all the attributes of an unrecognized state: territory (part of the lands of Iraq and Syria), government; population (with at least 10,000 Mujahideen foreigners resettling here every month); economy (energy trade); armed forces, etc. [Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant; Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]. If the Gaza Strip exists as a quasi-state territory (and Afghanistan under the rule of the Taliban was quite a state), then such an existence is possible for ISIS and for other territories of the Greater Middle East. It is possible that examples of this kind of secession will multiply.

This type of secessionist movement (conventionally Islamic integrism) has a number of characteristic features. Religion plays a very high role in it. Secessionism here is accompanied by the ideas of irredentism - the creation of a worldwide caliphate. The role of violence against all those who do not adhere to the relevant views is extremely important, including on the role of violence in the form of terrorism. And since the political component of this movement is small (violence is preferred), it can only be overcome in practice by force. Islamic integrism attracts many supporters in various countries (i.e., it has an international character), as well as economic support from a number of states.

Let's see which type of secessionism generates the greatest number of SDSS: 1) West European 37; 2) post-Soviet-23; 2) African-Malay-23; 3) West Asian-19; 4) Pacific - 15; 4) South Asian - 15; 5) North American-Australian - 13;

7 Perhaps the first example is the part of the Palestinian Authority (Gaza Strip) that is run by Hamas.

8 Some researchers claim that the ISIS project, also known as the Caliphate project, is of American origin Knyazev, 2015, p. 11].

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6) Tropical African-12; 6) Indochina-12; 7) Caribbean-Atlantic-11; 8) North African - 9; 9) Latin American-5. At the same time, a high level of militarization of the conflict is typical for the following types of secessionism: post-socialist, African secessionist movements, as well as for West Asian, South Asian and Indochina 9.

It can be assumed that the wide scope of secessionist movements in Europe is associated with both the ethnic diversity of the population and the historical "saturation" of the territory. At the same time, there are only three armed conflicts here - in Northern Ireland, in the Basque Country and in Corsica. The low level of militarization is probably related to the democratic/anti-militarist nature of local societies, the optimal or similar nature of State national policies, and generally the strength of State institutions. This applies to both the Americas and Australia. In my opinion, the post-Soviet conflict is connected not so much with the federal nature of the USSR and the SFRY, but with the fact that in the course of their collapse, statehood was weakened and state institutions were destroyed. The foreign policy factor (the"cold war") should not be discounted. The exclusively or predominantly violent nature of other secessionist movements is due to a number of reasons. The main ones are: the tribal nature of local societies (incomplete formation of nations, tribalism); foreign policy influence (especially characteristic of the Middle East); weakness of state institutions (the case of Indochina secessionism).

In this context, it is very important to monitor secessionist movements in order to develop an adequate foreign policy and political course in our own country. For monitoring of this kind, the book by F. A. Popov provides good grounds (although some additions can be made to the structure of the analysis of air defense systems proposed by him).

The book under review is so useful and interesting that I preferred to put my disagreements with the author in the footer. At the same time, the reader is looking at a developing practical project, and not a frozen form. Constant monitoring of secessionist and separatist movements is necessary, which will provide good grounds for conducting Russian foreign and domestic policy.

list of literature

Zipf's Law // http://kontenta.ru/blog/zakon-tsipfa/ (12.02.2015).

Zipf's Law // https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/ (12.02.2015).

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant // http://www.dk.ru/wiki/islamskoe-gosudarstvo-iraka-i-levanta (12.02.2015).

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant // http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/ (12.02.2015).

Caucasus Emirate // http://caralho-voador.appspot.com/ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/ (12.02.2015).

Knyazev A. A. Proekty "Talibanii" i "Ismicheskoe gosudarstvo" nedolzhechny [The Talibanand Islamic State projects are short-lived]. NG-dipkuryer, 2015, 2 Mar.

Mechanic A. Language, autonomy, independence // Expert. 2015. N 11. 9-March 15.

Normal distribution // https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/ (12.02.2015).

Tomsinov V. A. The Ukrainian crisis and the secrets of modern geopolitics. Moscow: Veche Publ., 2015.

Haitun S. How to recognize objects of extraterrestrial civilization / / NG-nauka. 2015. 28 Jan.

http://www.un.org/ru/members/.

9 I tried to find out if the numbers were random or regular. Randomness is "managed" by the normal Gaussian distribution, and conscious regularities are governed by Zipf's law. As a result of calculations and plotting the curve, it turned out that all types of secessionist movements obey Zipf's law, i.e. they have a natural nature associated with human consciousness. Strictly speaking, there is no revelation in this: only politicians should guess about the consequences of their policies [Zipf's Law; Zipf's Law; Normal Distribution; Haitong, 2015, p. 15].

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