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Emerging Issues: To Be Or Not To Be, That Is The Statehood Question, Alexandra Rickart

University of Baltimore Journal of International Law

The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States lists the four necessary qualifications in order to become a recognized state: a) permanent population; b) defined territory; c) government; and d) capacity to enter into relations with other States.1 However, how does a territory become its own state or part of a new state if it is already a section of another state? There are two different ways this can happen: secession and annexation. While both of these processes are recognized as ways to attain statehood in international law, they are not generally accepted as viable options except in …