'This is an ambitious and yet elegantly composed study of a complex notion. Dr Jörg Fisch combines a conceptual analysis of the notion of 'self-determination' and cognate expressions with a dense chronology of illustrations of their uses in international practice. Highlighting the contrast between the irreducible idealism and the political instrumentality of self-determination, Fisch produces a powerful explanation for the surprising persistence of a notion that is full of paradoxes and yet indispensable in modern political life.' Martti Koskenniemi, University of Helsinki
Prologue: national unity and secession in the symbolism of power; Introduction: a concept and ideal; Part I. Theory of Self-Determination: 1. Individual self-determination; 2. Collective self-determination; 3. The people; 4. Self-determination and the right of self-determination; Part II. Self-Determination in Practice: 5. The early modern period in Europe: precursors of a right of self-determination?; 6. The first decolonization and the right to independence: the Americas, 1776–1826; 7. The French Revolution and the invention of the plebiscite; 8. From the European Restoration to the First World War, 1815–1914; 9. The First World War and the peace treaties, 1918–23; 10. The interwar period, 1923–39; 11. The Second World War: the perversion of a great promise; 12. The Cold War and the second decolonization, 1945–89; 13. After 1989: the quest for a new equilibrium; Epilogue: the right of the weak.