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Recognition Of Rhodesia And Traditional International Law: Some Conceptual Problems, Isaak L. Dore

Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law

The traditional theories of recognition do not properly maintain the essential distinction between state and government. The only proper way to maintain this distinction is by laying down verifiable criteria for statehood, and treating the recognition of governments as purely discretionary. A state must have come into existence before the question of recognition of a particular government can arise. International personality is a consequence of statehood, not of recognition; if a state can objectively come into existence, so can international personality, and the grant or withdrawal of recognition cannot affect that personality.

The degree of recognition conferred by the United …