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Insurgent

Insurgent

An insurgency is an organized rebellion that engages in deliberate actions to cause the downfall of a governmental authority, through destruction and armed actions. This can include a range of behavior, but primarily focuses on armed activities of irregular forces that rise up against an established authority, a government, an administration, or a belligerent military occupation. Those carrying out an insurgency are "insurgents". Insurgents engage in regular or guerrilla combat against the armed forces of the established regime, such as conducting sabotage and harassment. Insurgents are in opposition to a civil authority or government primarily in order to overthrow or obtain a share in government, to further a separatist or revolutionary agenda, or improve their condition. Insurgents are a major though not all-encompasing cause of death in the war in Iraq.

Tactics and strategies

Insurgent tactics and strategies vary widely, as well as the type of targets insurgents attack. Raids are amongst most common actions taken by insurgent in a dominated state of province. In addition, insurgents establish ties with other outlaws and double agents to further their goals. Some militants can also be sponsored by competing or enemy state governments. Some elements of an insurgency may use bombs, kidnappings, hostage-taking, hijackings, shootings and other types of violence to target the establishment's power structure and other facilities with little regard for civilian casualties. Other elements may only target their attacks on military objectives and avoid the targeting of civilians. Many times, insurgent groups conduct violent attacks but do not reveal the groups's identity or leader. Usually, an individual with iconic and symbolic status throughout the movement becomes it's principal leader against the governmental authority. Leaders of differing background from the insurgency movement itself may, at times, take over an insurgency. Insurgents use a variety of asymmetrical warfare tactics, usually because of the insurgents force's capabilities are unequal to the authority's capabilities. Insurgents attacks against the authority may take the form of attacks on supply trains and security forces using hidden explosives. These explosive devices, at times made from military-grade materials, are concealed or camouflaged along transport routes and detonated when a supply transports and security forces come within distance. Insurgents frequently launch ambushes on military targets, with automatic and antitank weapons. Unarmored targets are commonly targeted. The congested and constricted terrain of the urban areas, and in the rural areas, offer cover and concealment for insurgents launching ambushes for a force multiplier by the insurgent force and as a force inhibitor against the targeted force. Such attacks are usually broken off before support or reinforcements can be called in.

Political discourse and the mass media

The term has built-in political connotations and requires much effort to use without taking a political position. It is most commonly used to describe a movement's unlawfulness by virtue of not being authorized by or in accordance with the law. When used by a state or an authority under threat, "insurgency" implies an illegitimacy of cause upon those rising up. Whereas those rising up will see the authority itself as being illegitimate. In cases of rebellions, the term insurgents refers to those who are not part of the decision-making entity that has the ability to make laws. For example, "the congress has the authority to pass laws to stop the insurgency" vs "the police have the power to arrest insurgents". The term “insurgency”, beginning in 2003, has been used by various politicians (at times, in the western world) and mainstream media (at times, english speaking outlets) to describe the tactics favored by forces in opposition to the invasion of and occupation of Iraq, as well as the new Iraqi government. The Iraqi insurgency has been an armed campaign waged by various irregular forces, both Iraqi and external in origin, against the U.S. led multinational force and the new Iraqi government. If the current government is legitimate and established, then the term can considered valid in this context; as the "Iraqi resistance" to the new government is being perpetrated by militants against an authorized political structure that is sanctioned by and in accordance with international law. The term is concurrently used to signify the conflict against the multinational force's invasion and occupation of Iraq (ed. see 2005 in Iraq) In some other venues, this force is sometimes described as a legitimate "Iraqi resistance" which is fighting against the occupation forces and the interim government. Whether the Iraqi participants in this conflict can be accurately labelled insurgents is a matter of debate due in no small part to the political implications of how the groups are discussed. Not all those opposed to the new Iraqi government, multinational forces and/or the reconstruction are militant groups. Various Iraqi groups and political parties advocating non-violent resistance also exist.

References

- "[http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=insurgency insurgency]", WordNet Search - 2.1; Cognitive Science Laboratory, Princeton University (Princeton, NJ), 2005.

Rebellion

A rebellion is, in the most general sense, a refusal to accept authority. It may therefore be seen as encompassing a range of behaviors from civil disobedience to a violent organized attempt to destroy established authority. It is often used in reference to armed resistance against an established government, but can also refer to mass nonviolent resistance movements. Those who participate in rebellions are known as "rebels".

Overview

Throughout history many different groups that used violent methods were called rebels. In the U.S, the term was used for the Continentals by the British in the Revolutionary War and the Confederacy by the Union in the American Civil War. It also includes members of paramilitary forces who take up arms against an established government. For example, the Boxer rebellion was an uprising against Western commercial and political influence in China during the final years of the 19th century, and the Jacobite Risings which attempted to restore the deposed Stuart kings to the thrones of England and Scotland were called the Jacobite Rebellions by the government.
Types of rebellion
A violent rebellion is sometimes referred to as an insurgency while a larger one may escalate into a civil war. There are a number of terms that fall under the umbrella of "rebel", though they range from those with positive connotations to those that are considered pejorative. Examples, in rough order from complimentary to pejorative, are:
- "Nonviolent resistance" or "civil disobedience"
- "Resistance" carried out by freedom fighters, often to an occupying invader
- "Revolution" by revolutionaries, often meant to indicate a desired change in the form of government and/or economic system
- "Uprising"
- "Insurrection" by insurrectionists
- "Insurgency" by insurgents
- "Revolt" by militants
- "Mutiny" by mutineers, normally of military or security forces to commanders
- "Subversion" by subversives
- "Terrorism" by terrorists, refers specifically to the method of avoiding pitched battle The difference between a "rebel" and a "terrorist" is often subjective. While the term rebel can sometimes have positive connotations as an agent of change, terrorist implies destructive action and is always used pejoratively, often by an establishment opposed to rebellious activities.
Famous rebellions / uprisings in history

Famous rebels

- Jesus of Nazareth
- Francis of Assisi
- Martin Luther
- Martin Luther King
- Maccabees
- Bhagat Singh
- Bohdan Chmielnicki
- James Connolly
- Michael Davitt
- Mahatma Gandhi
- Che Guevara
- Ammon Hennacy
- Helgi Hóseasson
- John O'Mahoney
- Rani Lakshmi Bai
- Subcomandante Marcos
- Francis Meagher
- Tipu Sultan
- John Mitchel
- Emelyan Pugachov
- Stenka Razin
- William Smith O'Brien
- Subash Chandra Bose
- Spartacus
- Leo Tolstoy
- Leon Trotsky
- Jack Cade
- Owen Glendower
- Emiliano Zapata
- Robert E Lee
- Stonewall Jackson
- George Washington
- Pancho Villa
- Zapata
See also

- Christian anarchism
- Civil disobedience
- Nonviolent resistance
- Revolution
- American Slave rebellions (Nat Turner's rebellion, Stono Rebellion, et cetera)
- Polish uprisings
- Rokosz, a legal rebellion in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
- The Open Source Movement has been called a "rebellion" against closed source software and intellectual capitalism.
- Intifada
Fictional rebellions

- Maquis (Star Trek)
- Rebel Alliance (Star Wars)
- Returners (Final Fantasy VI)
External links

- [http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/collections/theme/2 The 1837-1838 Rebellion in Lower Canada], Images from the McCord Museum's collections Category:War
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Form of government

A form of government (also referred to as a system of government) is a social institution composed of various people, institutions and their relations in regard to the governance (or government) of a state. Different forms of government have different political systems—a term which is generally considered to be a separate but related concept. A wide range of different forms of government has been proposed or used in practice. The study of such forms is called civics or comparative government.

Types of government

:See also List of forms of government Categorizing forms of government gives a general idea of the power structure of the governance of a country. However, the picture is more complicated than this, as every country’s system is unique, and in practice many represent a hybrid of different forms of government. For example, a system generally seen as a representative democracy (for instance Canada and the United States) may in fact also include measures providing for a degree of direct democracy in the form of referenda, for deliberative democracy in the form of the extensive processes required for constitutional change, and investigating committees and commissions (which may not be led by representatives). A further complication is that a number of political systems originate as socio-economic movements and are then carried into governments by specific parties naming themselves after those movements. Experience with those movements in power, and the strong ties they may have to particular forms of governmental control, can cause them to be considered as forms of government in themselves. Some examples are as follows:
- Perhaps the most widely cited example of such a phenomenon is the communist movement. This is an example of where the resulting political systems may diverge from the original socio-economic ideologies from which they developed. This may mean that adherents of the ideologies are actually opposed to the political systems commonly associated with them. For example, activists describing themselves as Trotskyists or communists are often opposed to the communist states of the 20th century.
- Islamism is also often included on a list of movements that have deep implications for the form of government. Indeed, many nations in the Islamic World use the term Islamic in the name of the state. However, these governments in practice exploit a range of different mechanisms of power (for example debt and appeals to nationalism). This means that there is no single form of government that could be described as “Islamic” government. Islam as a political movement is therefore better seen as a loose grouping of related political practices rather than a single, coherent political movement.
- The basic principles of many other popular movements have deep implications for the form of government those movements support and would introduce if they came to power. For example, bioregional democracy is a pillar of green politics.

References

External links

- [http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/20c-govt.htm Types of Governments from Historical Atlas of the 20th Century]
- [http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/othergov.htm Other classifications examples from Historical Atlas of the 20th Century]

Weapon

:The following article refers to the instrument of fighting or hunting. For other uses, see Weapon (disambiguation). See military technology and equipment for a comprehensive list of weapons and doctrines. military technology and equipment and spearpoint.]] A weapon is a tool which can be used during combat to kill or incapacitate, to destroy property, or to otherwise render resources non-functional or unavailable. It may be used to attack and defend, and consequently also to threaten. The use of weapons has been recorded since the advent of cave painting, and the process has been formulated resulting in both martial arts and strategic doctrines. Metaphorically, anything used to damage (even psychologically) can be referred to as a weapon. A weapon can be as simple as a club or as complex as an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).

History

The weapon is any tool or object that is used to increase the range and power of a human hand. From the earliest traces of mankind up to our modern civilization, weapons have been a facet of human development. Weapons development has accelerated along with other areas of technology in more modern times. In ancient times, from the dawn of humanity through the Classical civilizations of Greece and Rome, weapons were primarily extensions of an individual's strength, essentially making up for the human body's lack of natural weapons such as claws. These weapons allowed the bearer to be substantially more lethal than a similar human without such a weapon. The Medieval period, including the Middle Ages, marked a period of distinct advancement in weaponry. Due to some of the unique influences of the period, weapons revolved around two major areas. First was that of knights. These horsemen required new weapons, as well as promoting development of weapons to defeat them. Second was that of castles. The building of castles on a large scale necessitated new weapons to help defend and attack them. The Renaissance marked the beginning of the implementation of combustion based devices in warfare. The most long-lasting effect of this was the introduction of cannon and firearms to the battlefield, where they are still at the core of modern weaponry. However, many other machines of war were experimented with. From the American Revolution through the beginning of the 20th Century, human-powered weapons were finally excluded from the battlefield for the most part. Sometimes referred to as the Age of Rifles, this period was characterized by the development of firearms for infantry and cannons for support, as well as the beginnings of mechanized weapons such as the machine gun. World War I marked the entry of fully industrialized warfare, and weapons as well were developed quickly to meet wartime needs. Many new technologies were developed, particularly in the development of military aircraft and vehicles. World War II however, perhaps marked the most frantic period of weapons development in the history of humanity. Massive numbers of new designs and concepts were fielded, and all existing technologies were improved between 1939 and 1945. Ultimately, the most powerful of all invented weapons was the nuclear bomb. After World War II, with the onset of the Cold War, the constant technological development of new weapons was institutionalized, as participants engaged in a constant race to develop weapons and counter-weapons. This constant state of weapons development continues into the modern era, and remains a constant draw on the resources of most nations.

Ancient Weapons

The basic tasks a weapon must perform have not changed since ancient times. All weapons do one or more of the following: #Concentrate pressure: the sharp end of a broken stone or pointed stick will apply more pressure, and do more harm, than the blunt end. A material's hardness determines its ability to apply or resist pressure. #Store energy: an object accumulates kinetic energy as a person accelerates it, and releases this energy in a much shorter time frame upon impact, thus magnifying a person's power. #Project force: a thrown rock or long stick allow a person to affect an adversary from a distance. As shown by the preceding examples, even simple items such as rocks and sticks can often serve these functions better than the human body. The usefulness of such tools made their development of paramount importance for a humanity consisting of small, thinly spread, hunter-gatherer communities. The first known traces of weapons are from the stone age with flint knives, handaxes and heads for large darts. There is no evidence for handaxes being thrown, but very good evidence for them having been used to butcher animals. Instead, darts seem to have been a powerful projectile weapon: anthropologists have thrown reconstructed darts through several inches of oak using atlatls. The broad, leaf-shaped heads penetrate deeply, and easily cut arteries. arteries Some weapons are probably much older than the dart, although little early evidence for them exists. These include the sling and the spear. Even though these weapons are quite simple, they were a major military weapon at least until Roman times; a unit of fast-moving skirmishers could be equipped with them at very little cost. Lack of early evidence is understandable, as slings are prone to decay, and it would be difficult to prove that a particular stone has been used as ammunition. Similarly, there is less incentive to put a stone point onto a spear than a dart. A weighted spear point is a liability rather than an asset, and the greater momentum imparted by stabbing makes sharpness less critical than toughness, so that points of bone, antler, or even fire-hardened wood can make more effective spear points. Once metal became available, its toughness made spears and pikes the core of most infantry forces. Some of the earliest evidence for arrows are from ca. 20,000 BC in the Levant (the so-called 'Geometric Kebaran' period), made with several very small sharp pieces of stone embedded in an arrowshaft. Here again, far earlier examples may have been subject to decay: for instance, some cultures make weighted arrow points by cutting a hollow reed diagonally and filling the end segment with clay. Archery and swords have been crucial for warfare. Archery, because of the large amount of energy that can be easily stored and released using a bow, and short swords because of their lethality in close combat. Far greater energy can be stored in a composite bow than a wooden bow of the same weight due to clever mechanical design and choice of materials, but militarily such weapons were mostly limited to use in dry climates. Traditional designs are held together by animal glue (chemically similar to gelatin); moisture would weaken the glue and damage bows of this design. The long bow makes up for less exotic materials with its larger size. In another tradeoff, short swords can be optimized for either stabbing or chopping; the former focuses on pressure, the latter on energy. The gladius hispaniensis could slip through openings in armor, and Roman doctrine held that a stab wound as shallow as one inch could be lethal. The hatchet-like Greek kopis, by contrast, seems built to dismember, but its point-heavy balance might make it clumsy against comprehensive armor. The most effective defense to traditional weapons was a fortress. The doctrines to support fortresses in the age of edged weapons may have greatly influenced medieval and noble history. Medieval siege weapons were used in countervailing doctrines, but the stave-sling and even the bow often had superior range, making them unsafe to use.

Combustion-powered weapons

Firearms are qualitatively different from earlier weapons because they store energy in a combustible propellant such as gunpowder, rather than in a weight or spring. This energy is released quite rapidly, and can be restored without much effort by the user, so that even early firearms were much more powerful than human-powered weapons. They became increasingly important and effective during the 16th century to 19th century, with progressive improvements in ignition mechanisms followed by revolutionary changes in ammunition handling and propellant. During the U.S. Civil War various technologies including the machine gun and ironclad warship emerged that would be recognizable and useful military weapons today, particularly in lower-technology conflicts. In the 19th century warship propulsion changed from sail power to fossil fuel-powered steam engines. steam engineThe age of edged weapons ended abruptly just before World War I with rifled artillery, such as howitzers which are able to destroy any masonry fortress. This single invention caused a revolution in military affairs and doctrines that continues to this day. See Technology during World War I for a detailed discussion. An important feature of industrial age warfare was technological escalation - an innovation could, and would, be rapidly matched by copying it, and often with yet another innovation to counter it. The technological escalation during World War I was profound, producing armed aircraft and tanks. This continued in the period between the end of that war and the next, with continuous improvements of all weapons by all major powers. Many modern military weapons, particularly ground-based ones, are relatively minor improvements on those of World War II. See military technology during World War II for a detailed discussion.

Nuclear Weapons

The most notable, development in weaponry since World War II has been the combination and further development of two weapons first used in it—nuclear weapons and the ballistic missile, leading to its ultimate configuration: the ICBM. The mutual possession of these by the United States and the Soviet Union ensured that either nation could inflict terrible damage on the other; so terrible, in fact, that neither nation was willing to instigate direct, all-out war with the other. The indiscriminate nature of the destruction has made nuclear-tipped missiles essentially useless for the smaller wars fought since. However computer-guided weaponry of all kinds, from smart bombs to computer-aimed tank rounds, has greatly increased weaponry's accuracy.

Information Warfare

In modern warfare, since all redoubts are traps, maneuver and coordination of forces is decisive, overshadowing particular weapons. The goal of every modern commander is therefore to "operate within the observation-decision-action cycle of the enemy." In this way, the modern commander can bring overwhelming force to bear on isolated groups of the enemy, and "tactically" overwhelm an enemy. Traditional military maneuvers tried to achieve this coordination with "fronts" made of lines of military assets. These were formerly the only way to prevent harm to friendly forces. Close-order marching and drill (a traditional military skill) was an early method to get relative superiority of coordination. Derivative methods (such as "leapfrogging units to advance a line") survived into combined arms warfare to coordinate aircraft, artillery, armor and infantry. Computers are changing this. The most extreme example so far (2003) is the use of "swarm" tactics by the U.S. military in Iraq. The U.S. had instantaneous, reliably encrypted communications, perfect navigation using GPS and computer-mediated communications to aim precision weapons. In swarm tactics, small units pass through possible enemy territory. When attacked they attempt to survive by calling down immediate overwhelming showers of precision-guided air-dropped munitions for armor, and cluster bombs for enemy troops. To consolidate such a region, nearby artillery begin bombardment, and ground units rush in on safe vectors through the bombardments, avoiding them by computer-mediated navigation aids. Thus in modern warfare, satellite navigation systems, digital radios and computers give decisive advantages to ordinary military personnel armed with weapons that are otherwise unremarkable.

Types of weapons

There are essentially three facets to classifying weapon types: who uses it, how it works, and what it targets. Who uses it essentially determines how it can be employed:
- Personal weapons are designed to be used by an individual person.
- Crew served weapons are larger than personal weapons, requiring more than one crew member to operate correctly.
- Fortification weapons are designed to be mounted in a permanent installation, or used primarily within a fortification.
- Mountain weapons are designed for use by mountain forces or those operating in difficult terrain and harsh climates.
- Vehicle weapons are designed to be mounted on any type of military vehicle.
- Railway weapons are designed to be mounted on railway cars, including armored trains.
- Aircraft weapons are designed to be carried on and used by some type of aircraft, helicopter, or other aerial vehicle.
- Naval weapons are designed to be mounted on ships and submarines.
- Space weapons are designed to be used in or launched from space. How it works refers to the construction of the weapon and how it operates:
- Archery related weapons operate by using a tensioned string to launch a projectile at some target.
- Artillery are large firearms capable of launching heavy projectiles (normally explosive) over long distances.
- Biological weapons spread biological agents, attacking humans (or livestock) by causing disease and infection.
- Chemical weapons spread chemical agents, attacking humans by poisoning and causing reactions.
- Energy weapons rely on concentrating forms of energy to attack, such as lasers, electrical shocks, and thermal or sonic attack.
- Explosive weapons use a physical explosion to create blast concussion or spread shrapnel.
- Firearms use a chemical charge to launch one or more projectiles down a rifled or smoothbore barrel.
- Incendiary weapons rely on combustible materials and an ignition mechanism to cause damage by fire.
- Non-lethal weapons are used to attack and subdue humans, but are designed to minimize the risk of killing the target.
- Magnetic weapon is one that uses magnetic fields to accelerate and propel projectiles, or to focus charged particle beams.
- Mêlée weapons operate as physical extensions of the user's body and directly impact their target.
- Missiles are rockets which are guided to their target after launch. This is also a general term for projectile weapons.
- Nuclear weapons use radioactive materials to create nuclear-fission explosions above a target ("air-burst") or at ground-level.
- Primitive weapons make no use of technological or industrial elements, instead being purely constructed of easily obtainable natural materials.
- Ranged weapons cause a projectile to leave the user and (ideally) strike a target afterwards.
- Rockets use chemical propellent to accelerate a projectile (usually with an explosive warhead) towards a target and are typically unguided once fired.
- Suicide weapons are typically explosive in nature and exploit the willingness of their operator to not survive the attack to reach their target. What it targets refers to what type of target the weapon is designed to attack:
- Anti-aircraft weapons target enemy aircraft, helicopters, missiles and any other aerial vehicles in flight.
- Anti-fortification weapons are designed to target enemy installations, including bunkers and fortifications.
- Anti-personnel weapons are designed to attack people, either individually or in numbers.
- Anti-radiation weapons target enemy sources of electronic radiation, particularly radar emitters.
- Anti-ship weapons target enemy ships and vessels on water.
- Anti-submarine weapons target enemy submarines and other underwater targets.
- Anti-tank weapons are primarily used to defeat armored targets, but may be targeted against other less well armored targets.
- Area denial weapons are designed to target territory, making it unsafe or unsuitable for enemy use or travel.
- Hunting weapons are designed particularly for use against animals for hunting purposes.
- Infantry support weapons are designed to attack various threats to infantry units, supporting the infantry's operations.

Weapons by era

- Ancient
- Medieval
- Military technology during the Napoleonic wars
- Technology during World War I
- Military technology during World War II
- Military technology of the late 20th century
- Modern weapons
- All eras

External links

- [http://www.higgins.org Higgins Armory Museum]
- [http://world.guns.ru Modern Firearms Encyclopedia] Category:Military equipment Category:Security
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Authority

In politics, authority generally refers to the ability to make laws, independent of the power to enforce them, or the ability to permit something. People obey authority out of respect, while they obey power out of fear. For example, "the congress has the authority to pass laws" vs "the police have the power to arrest law-breakers". Authority need not be consistent or rational, it only needs to be accepted as a source of permission or truth.

Authority topics

Debate and political theory

Questions as to who has what authority often lie at the heart of political debates, and answers to those questions normally stem from practical and moral considerations, from prior practices and from theories of criminal justice or of the just war.

Sociology

In sociology, authority comprises a particular type of power. The dominant usage comes from functionalism and follows Weber in defining authority as power which is recognised as legitimate and justified by both the powerful and the powerless. Weber further sub-divided authority into three types:
- Traditional authority which simply derives from long-established habits and social structures. The right of hereditary monarchs to rule furnishes an obvious example.
- Rational-legal authority depends for its legitimacy on formal rules, usually written down, and often very complex. Modern societies depend on legal-rational authority.
- Charismatic authority. Charismatic authority is authority derived from "the gift of grace," that is, when the leader claims that his authority derives from a "higher power" (e.g. God or natural law or rights) or "inspiration" that is superior to the validity of either traditional or rational-legal authority, and followers accept this and are willing to follow this higher or inspired authority in the place of the authority that they have hitherto been following. Charismatic authority sometimes becomes the inspiration of social movements or revolution against a system of traditional or legal-rational authority. The careers of Lenin, Martin Luther, Hitler, and Lech Wałęsa provide examples. Charismatic authority never lasts long (even when successful) and it inevitably gives way to either traditional or to legal-rational authority.

Conflict Theory

Within conflict theory, "authority" is used both in the same sense as Weber's functionalist definition above and in a rather different sense. The latter is based on the observation that power is almost never endorsed in a moral sense by those who do not have it, and therefore this school of thought defines "authority" as power which is so institutionalised that it is largely unquestioned. Obedience to authority seems thoroughly ingrained in most of the population: the Milgram experiment showed that over 60% of a sample of Americans demonstrated willingness to torture another person to death when given orders from an appropriate authority figure. This experiment produced similar results when replicated in several other cultures. A similar effect was found in the Stanford prison experiment.

Example of evolving authority: France

As an example of the development of legal-rational authority, consider the history of France. In medieval times a king ruled simply because he was the king (i.e., he held traditional inherited authority), but by the 17th century it became necessary to invent a doctrine claiming that Louis XIV ruled by "divine right"; in other words, to justify Louis' authority by a rational claim to his appointment by a legitimate superior (God). This served for another century but was threatened by the rival claim made to legal-rational authority by the various legislative bodies of the early years of the French Revolution. This legal-rational authority was eclipsed by the charismatic authority held by Robespierre and his cohort during the Reign of Terror. Next, Robespierre's authority was replaced by the legal-rational authority of the Directory. Finally, authority in revolutionary France was a mix of the legal-rational and charismatic types during the Consulate and First Republic (the charisma in this last case being that of Napoleon Bonaparte). The Restoration (1814) marked a return to traditional authority but now with elements of the legal-rational as well, at least until the ascent of Charles X. His attempt to restore a more absolute monarchy brought on the July Revolution, which formally restored this balance of legal-rational and traditional in the form of a constitutional monarchy. The Revolution of 1848 passed rapidly into a legal-rational mode, falling ultimately to the Second Empire, which saw a blend of all three modes: the government Napoleon III retained a constitution of sorts and, in his person, he combined the Napoleonic charismatic claims with what was now a certain element of tradition, a Bonapartist dynasty to rival the Bourbons. The complex pattern can be continued practically down to the present day, with a steadily diminishing role for traditional authority, except insofar as republicanism itself has become a tradition. In the 20th century, France had at least two charismatic leaders, Philippe Pétain and Charles de Gaulle. The constitution of the Fifth Republic, overtly a legal-rational system, was tailored specifically for the purpose of creating a presidency powerful enough that the charismatic leader de Gaulle would consent to accept it.

Government agency

An authority can also be a government agency set up with a particular competence and is able to deal with all matters within its charter, such as the Tennessee Valley Authority and a Port Authority. They are usually created by special legislation and are run by a board of directors. They are also usually required to be self-supporting through property taxes or fees for services. See Special-purpose district.

Institutional authority

The United States Supreme Court is an example of an institution that exercises its power largely through the broad and longstanding acceptance of its institutional authority. The Supreme Court's power rests almost entirely on its moral and institutional authority. In contrast to the Presidency or the Congress, it has neither the means of material force, the power of the purse, nor any special privileged access to information. The Supreme Court has the smallest budget of any branch of government; only since the September 11, 2001 attacks have they had a security force of their own even capable of defending them from a single armed attacker; and the only information they hold that is not generally available is about their own current deliberations. In any given case, their information comes from records of lower court trials, plaintiffs' and defendants' arguments, and amicus curiae briefs. The Supreme Court relies on the executive branch of the government to implement and abide by its decisions; historically, the executive branch has not always done so. For example, in Worcester vs. Georgia, the Supreme Court said the Georgians should respect the autonomy of the Cherokee nation and release the wrongly imprisoned Worcester. Also, it deemed that the laws of Georgia had no jurisdiction in dealing with the Cherokee (at the time a dependent domestic nation) as the latter had a treaty with the federal goverment, not with Georgia. At the time, many Georgians were burning Cherokee homes and attacking Cherokee citizens. President Andrew Jackson, who opposed the decision, refused to be the Court's "sword bearer" and told the Court to "enforce the decision yourselves". Not only did he fail to enforce the Court's decision: he sent the Army to Georgia where they imposed the forced removal of the Cherokee Nation to Oklahoma, which came to be known as the "Trail of Tears"; about one third of the Cherokee died on the grueling journey.

External links

- [http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/authority/ Stanford Encyclopedia entry] Category:Social ethics Category:Social psychology ja:権威 th:อำนาจหน้าที่

Administration

The word administration is from the Old English administracioun, deriving from the French administration, which is itself derived from the Latin administratio: a compounding of ad ("to") and ministratio ("to give service"). In modern usage, the word has particular meanings in particular contexts, but all retain this sense of service provision.

Business

In business, administration consists of the performance or management of transactions and other matters, and the making and implementing of major decisions. Administrator can serve as the title of the General Manager or Company Secretary who reports to a corporate board of directors. This use is archaic. Administration can be defined as the universal process of efficiently organizing people and resources so to direct activities toward common goals and objectives. Administration is both an art and a science (if an inexact one), and arguably a craft, as administrators are judged ultimately by their performance. Administration must incorporate both leadership and vision. Management is viewed as a subset of administration, specifically associated with the technical and mundane elements within an organization's operation. It stands distinct from executive or stragegic work. Administration reflects management models. Such models become popular, peak in influence, and are then superseded by other emerging models. Recently influential management models have included Management by objectives (MBO) and Total Quality Management (TQM). Each model continues to have have its proponents. In some organizational analyses, administration can refer to the bureaucratic or operational performance of mundane office tasks, usually internally oriented.

Administrative functions

Administrators, broadly speaking, engage in a common set of functions to meet the organization's goals. The idea of a set of standard administrative functions carries back to Luther H. Gulick, who in 1937 established the acronym POSDCoRB (pronounced "poz dee korb") which stood for planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting, and budgeting. Gulick's set of functions has been refined and condensed several times, resulting in the currently utilized five-step model: 1) planning, 2) organizing, 3) staffing, 4) directing, and 5) controlling
- Planning is deciding in advance what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and who should do it. It bridges the gap from where the organization is to where it wants to be. The planning function involves establishing goals and arranging them in logical order. Administrators engage in both short-range and long-range planning. : Planning has both symbolic and functional value. The resulting plan provides standing information to members/employees of the organization, and it convinces stake holders to buy into the organization's goals.
- Organizing involves identifying responsibilities to be performed, grouping responsibilities into departments or divisions, and specifying organizational relationships. The purpose is to achieve coordinated effort among all the elements in the organization. Organizing must take into account delegation of authority and responsibility and span of control within supervisory units.
- Staffing means filling job positions with the right people at the right time. It involves determining staffing needs, writing job descriptions, recruiting and screening people to fill the positions.
- Directing is leading prople (see Leadership) in a manner that achieves the goals of the organization. This involves proper allocation of resources and providing an effective support system. Directing requires exceptional interpersonal skills and the ability to motivate people. One of the crucial issues in directing is to find the correct balance between emphasis on staff needs and emphasis on production.
- Controlling in the function that evaluates quality in all areas and detects potential or actual deviations from the organization's plan. This function's purpose is to ensure high-quality performance and satisfactory results while maintaining an orderly and problem-free environment. Controlling includes information management, measurment of performance, and institution of corrective actions. Budgeting - excepted from the above list - can be conceptualized as an administrative area that incorporates most of the administrative functions, begining with the implementation of a budget plan through the application of budget controls.

Government

In some contexts, including normal usage in the United States, the term administration also refers to the executive branch under a specific president (or sometimes governor, mayor, or other local executive), for example: the "Bush administration". (Most other English-speaking countries use the analogous term government, as in the "Blair government".) It can also mean an executive branch agency headed by an administrator: these agencies tend to have a regulatory function as well as an administrative function. On occasion, Americans will use the term to refer to the time a given person was president, e.g. "they've been married since the Carter administration."

Religious

Another sense involves the administration (giving or tendering) of the sacraments, justice, oaths, medicines (see route of administration), etc. See Wiktionary:Administration.

Computing

Legal use in the United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, administration can refer to the British laws for
- the division or disposal of the estate of a deceased person. See below
- a legally appointed interim Chief Executive (the "Administrator") to take compulsory control of the affairs of a company in difficulties. This is described below.

Administration of an estate (on death)

For an explanation of administration (as to both testate and intestate estates) in the United States, see probate. Where a person dies leaving a will appointing an executor, and that executor validly disposes of the property of the deceased within England and Wales, then the estate will go to probate. However, if no will is left, or the will is invalid or incomplete in some way, then administrators must be appointed. They perform a similar role to the executor of a will but, where there are no instructions in a will, the administrators must distribute the estate of the deceased according to the rules laid down by statute and the common law. Certain property falls outside the estate for administration purposes, the most common example probably being houses jointly owned that pass by survivorship on the first death of a couple into the sole name of the survivor. Other examples include discretionary death benefits from pension funds, accounts with certain financial institutions subject to a nomination and the proceeds of life insurance policies which have been written into trust. Trust property will also frequently fall outside of the estate but this will depend on the terms of the trust. Since the Land Transfer Act of 1897, the administrator acts as the personal representative of the deceased in relation to land and other property. Consequently, when the estate under administration consists wholly or mainly of land, the court will grant administration to the heir to the exclusion of the next of kin. In the absence of any heir or next of kin, the Crown has the right to property (other than land) as bona vacantia, and to the land by virtue of the historic land rights of the Crown (and the Duchy of Cornwall and Duchy of Lancashire in their respective areas). If a creditor claims and obtains a Grant of Administration, the court compels him or her to enter into a bond with two sureties that he or she will not prefer his or her own debt to those of other creditors. Letter of administration: Upon the death of a person intestate, or leaving a will without appointing executors, or when the executors appointed by the will cannot or will not act, the Probate Division of the High Court or the local District Probate Registry will appoint an administrator who performs similar duties to an executor. The court does this by granting letters of administration to the person so entitled. Grants of administration may be either general or limited. A general grant occurs where the deceased has died intestate. The order in which the court will make general grants of letters follows the sequence: #The husband, or widow, as the case may be; #the next of kin; #the crown; #a creditor; #a stranger. Where, under the rules for distribution of estates without a will (the Intestacy Rules), a child under 18 would inherit or a life interest would arise, then the Court or District Probate Registry would normally appoint a minimum of two administrators. The more important cases of grants of special letters of administration include the following: Administration cum testamento annexo, where the deceased has left a will but has appointed no executor to it, or the executor appointed has died or refuses to act. In this case the court will make the grant to the person, usually the residuary legatee, with the largest beneficial interest in the estate. Administration de bonis non administratis occurs in two cases: #Where the executor dies intestate after probate without having completely administered the estate #Where an administrator dies. In the first case the principle of administration cum testamento is followed, in the second that of general grants in the selection of the person to whom letters are granted.
- Administration durante minore aetate, when the executor or the person entitled to the general grant is under age.
- Administration durante absentia, when the executor or administrator is out of the jurisdiction for more than a year.
- Administration pendente lite, where there is a dispute as to the person entitled to probate or a general grant of letters the court appoints an administrator till the question has been decided.

Administration of a business

There is provision in United Kingdom law for an insolvent company to be placed into administration. Various authorities may appoint an administrator, principally including:
- the courts (on application from a creditor, directors or partners)
- the holder of a qualifying floating charge over the assets of the business
- the company itself
- the directors of the company concerned
- a creditor The task of the administrator is to manage the business so that the creditors can minimise the scale of their losses. The company is described as being in Administration. Ideally, the Administrator will sell the business as a going concern, securing the best price. It is quite probable that he or she will sell any realisable assets separately: the whole may be worth less than the sum of the parts (see Asset stripping).

Belligerent military occupation

Belligerent military occupation occurs when one nation's military garrisons occupy all or part of the territory of another nation or recognized belligerent during an invasion (during or after a war).

Military occupation and the laws of war

There have long been customary laws of belligerent occupation as part of the laws of war which gave some protection to the population under the military occupation of a belligerent power. These were clarified and supplemented by the Hague Conventions of 1907. Specifically "Laws and Customs of War on Land" (Hague IV); October 18, 1907: "Section III Military Authority over the territory of the hostile State". The first two articles of that section state: :Art. 42. :Territory is considered occupied when it is actually placed under the authority of the hostile army. :The occupation extends only to the territory where such authority has been established and can be exercised. :Art. 43. :The authority of the legitimate power having in fact passed into the hands of the occupant, the latter shall take all the measures in his power to restore, and ensure, as far as possible, public order and safety, while respecting, unless absolutely prevented, the laws in force in the country. In 1949 these laws governing belligerent occupation of enemy territory were further extended by the adoption of the Fourth Geneva Convention (GCIV). Much of GCIV is relevant to protected persons in occupied territories and Section III: Occupied territories is a specific section covering the issue. Article 6 restricts the length of time that most of GCIV applies: :The present Convention shall apply from the outset of any conflict or occupation mentioned in Article 2. :In the territory of Parties to the conflict, the application of the present Convention shall cease on the general close of military operations. :In the case of occupied territory, the application of the present Convention shall cease one year after the general close of military operations; however, the Occupying Power shall be bound, for the duration of the occupation, to the extent that such Power exercises the functions of government in such territory, by the provisions of the following Articles of the present Convention: 1 to 12, 27, 29 to 34, 47, 49, 51, 52, 53, 59, 61 to 77, 143. GCIV emphasised an important change in international law. The United Nations Charter (June 26, 1945) had prohibited war of aggression (See articles 1.1, 2.3, 2.4) and GCIV Article 47, the first paragraph in Section III: Occupied territories, restricted the territorial gains which could be made through war by stating: :Protected persons who are in occupied territory shall not be deprived, in any case or in any manner whatsoever, of the benefits of the present Convention by any change introduced, as the result of the occupation of a territory, into the institutions or government of the said territory, nor by any agreement concluded between the authorities of the occupied territories and the Occupying Power, nor by any annexation by the latter of the whole or part of the occupied territory. Article 48 prohibits mass movement of people out of or into occupied territory: :Individual or mass forcible transfers, as well as deportations of protected persons from occupied territory to the territory of the Occupying Power or to that of any other country, occupied or not, are prohibited, regardless of their motive. ... The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies. Protocol I (1977): "Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts" has additional articles which cover military occupation but it should be noted that many countries including the U.S. are not signatory to this additional protocol. In the situation of a territorial cession as the result of war, the specification of a "receiving country" in the peace treaty merely means that the country in question is authorized by the international community to establish civil government in the territory. The military government of the principal occupying power will continue past the point in time when the peace treaty comes into force, until it is legally supplanted. "Military government continues until legally supplanted" is the rule, as stated in Military Government and Martial Law, by William E. Birkhimer, 3rd edition 1914.
Examples of military occupations
: see also List of military occupations. In most wars some territory is placed under the authority of the hostile army. Most military occupations end with the cessation of hostilities. In some cases the occupied territory is returned and in others the land remains under the control of the occupying power but usually not as militarily occupied territory.
Significant contemporary belligerent military occupations

- Western Sahara — by Morocco
- Papua — annexed by Indonesia since 1961
Disputed occupations
Some presences are often referred to as military occupations, but their status as an military occupation are often disputed when not every party in the situation agrees that it is even a military occupation at all.
Disputed to be a military occupation by local population

- Israel (1949 Armistice lines) — not recognized by most of the Arab world, though recognized by Egypt, Jordan, Mauritania and the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
- Northern Cyprus — occupied by Turkey, claimed by Greek Cyprus
Disputed to be a military occupation by nation of dominant military forces in area

- The West Bank and Gaza Strip — by Israel since 1967 (see Israeli-Palestinian conflict)
- Golan Heights and East Jerusalem — annexed by Israel
- Lower Kuril Islands: Kunashir/Kunashiri, Iturup/Etorofu, Shikotan, Habomai — annexed by Russia (which considers the matter non-negotiable)
Other

- North Korea and South Korea — see Korean Conflict
- Kashmir — held in part by Pakistan, People's Republic of China and India, parts or all claimed by all three.
Reference
Adapted from the Wikinfo article, "wikinfo:Belligerent occupation"
Notes
:See Wikipedia:Footnote3 # [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/lawofwar/hague04.htm#art41 Laws and Customs of War on Land" (Hague IV); October 18, 1907: "Section III Military Authority over the territory of the hostile State] source The Avalon Project at the Yale Law School # The Golan Heights and East Jerusalem were annexed by Israel. However, these annexations have not been recognized by any other nation who consider them to be in violation of International Law (Fourth Geneva Convention: Article 6 =>Article 47 ) and therefore still regard them as being Israeli occupied.
Further reading

- David Kretzmer, Occupation of Justice: The Supreme Court of Israel and the Occupied Territories, State University of New York Press, April, 2002, trade paperback, 262 pages, ISBN 0791453383; hardcover, July, 2002, ISBN 0791453375
External links

- [http://lawofwar.org/Occupation.htm Belligerent Occupation]
- [http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article5936.htm The International Laws of Belligerent Occupation by Professor Francis Boyle (Point of view hostile to Israel)]
- [http://www.crimesofwar.org/print/onnews/iraq5-print.html The Law of Belligerent Occupation Michal N. Schmitt (regarding occupation of Iraq)]
- [http://www.taiwanadvice.com/conventions/montconv.htm Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States and Military Occupation under the Law of War by Richard W. Hartzell] Military occupation ja:占領

Sabotage

]] Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening an enemy through subversion, obstruction, disruption, and/or destruction.

Origin

The name derives from the early industrial age, when powered looms could be damaged by displaced weavers (proto-saboteurs) throwing their wooden shoes (known in French as sabots) into the machinery. Literally it means, "clattering in sabots". Radical trade unions, such as the IWW, have advocated sabotage as a means of self-defence and direct action against unfair working conditions. One of the tasks of security guards is therefore the prevention and detection of sabotage.

Sabotage in war

In war, the word is used to describe the activity of an individual or group not associated with the military of the parties at war (such as a foreign agent or an indigenous supporter), in particular when actions result in the destruction or damaging of a productive or vital facility, such as equipment, factories, dams, public services, storage plants or logistic routes. Unlike acts of terrorism, acts of sabotage do not always have a primary objective of inflicting casualties. Saboteurs are usually classified as unlawful enemy combatants, and like spies may be liable to prosecution and criminal penalties instead of detention as a prisoner of war.

Sabotage as part of a crime

prisoner of war]] Some criminals have engaged in acts of sabotage for reasons of extortion. For example, Klaus-Peter Sabotta sabotaged German railway lines in the late 1990s in an attempt to extort DM10 million from the German railway operator Deutsche Bahn. He is now serving a sentence of life imprisonment.

Sabotage online

"Sabotages" are practical joke websites, in which the user is subjected to a scene or series of scenes, to lull the viewer into a false sense of security, only to have a scary or disturbing picture and/or screaming sound effect pop up, thus "sabotaging" them. They may also come under the name of screamers.

References

- Emile Pouget, Le sabotage; notes et postface de Grégoire Chamayou et Mathieu Triclot, 1913; Mille et une nuit, 2004; English translation, Sabotage, paperback, 112 pp., University Press of the Pacific, 2001, ISBN 0898754593.

External links, Resources, and References

- [http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Opening/7482/ciaintro.html Central Intelligence Agency sabotage manual]
- [http://www.reachoutpub.com/osh/ Ozymandias Sabotage Handbook]
- [http://www.uncc.edu/ragiacal/sabframes.html Employee Sabotage]
- Brian Martin, [http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/pubs/01nvc/nvcp08.pdf Sabotage], Nonviolence versus Capitalism [PDF] Category:Activism Category:Crime Category:Military tactics Category:Warfare

Separatist

Separatism involves setting oneself or others apart.

Political/Administrative separatism

Political separatism may involve attempts to obtain sovereignty and to split a territory or a group of people (usually a people with a distinctive national consciousness) from one another, or one nation from another. One type of example involves colonies gaining independence from a metropolis). Separatist groups themselves often reject the term separatism: they may consider it pejorative, and prefer more neutral terms such as self-determination. Separatist movements often operate using strictly constitutional and peaceful methods. The province of Quebec in Canada has featured a generally peaceful separatist movement of varying intensity in since (say) 1960 (with a brief period of violence culminating in the October Crisis of 1970). Broadly peaceful movements ended in the break-up of Czechoslovakia and of the Soviet Union. Singapore also peacefully seceded from the Malaysian Federation. The formation of the Confederate States of America in 1861 occasioned major warfare only after a series of arguably constitutional and orderly seccessions. Separatism can also often take the form of a violent response to a past military takeover. Around the world many groups espouse separatism as the "only" way to achieve their goal of national liberation. These include the Basque ETA in France and Spain, Sikh separatists in India during the 1980s, the IRA in Ireland since the 1910s, and the Front de Libération du Québec in the 1960s, culminating in the October Crisis in 1970. These guerrilla campaigns can also lead to full-blown civil wars, as has happened in Chechnya. Violence usually diminishes when there exist political means that would-be separatists can use to gain more political and economic autonomy within the current constitutional order. Free elections and referenda sometimes help to reduce tensions. Very few countries acknowledge their potential divisibility, however. The wars erupting with the break-up of Yugoslavia for instance, despite constitutional provisions in the former Yugoslavia that theoretically allowed referenda and division if all member states agreed.

Motivations for separatism

Separatist movements often have a least a superficial basis in nationalism or in religious fervour. More often than not, however, feelings of inadequate political clout and perceived economic (dis)advantage play an important role. Economics proved a factor in the break-up of Czechoslovakia; a principal cause involved Slovakia's reluctance to abandon state-run industries, the core of its (regional) economy. Bohemia and Moravia -- the areas of the future Czech Republic -- had a greater willingness to experiment with the idea of a free market, and thus the countries parted. Quebec also provides an example of how political marginalisation can lead to separatist ambitions. Throughout the first century of Canadian Confederation from 1867, a small minority of Anglophone Montrealers dominated the province politically and economically. Rejection of this status quo led to the growth of Quebec-first separatist groups in the 1960s and 1970s. Spain's Basque areas, which have not had independence for centuries, developed violent separatist groups in reaction to the violent suppression of Francisco Franco's regime (furthermore, the Basque language, despite being minoritary, provides a basis for Basque nationalism, as in some other instances throughout the world). A similar pattern emerged in Ethiopia, where Eritrean rebels expressed far more anger at despotism and corruption than passion about the nation of Eritrea, which had not previously had a long or distinctive history. The nations of the northern Italian peninsula maintained political independence for centuries (for example Veneto had a separate identity from the 10th to 19th centuries as the Republic of Venice, Liguria acted independently for the best part of seven centuries -- see Republic of Genoa). The separatism of northern Italy has not only economic roots, but also linguistic (associated with the Gallo-romance language group) and cultural ones.

Degrees of separation

A wide spectrum of different intensities of separatist feeling and activity occurs in history:
- Some separatist movements engage in armed struggle using conventional military forces. Many countries in the Americas gained their independence in this manner between (say) 1780 and circa 1830.
- Many separatists, lacking pro tem the resources to fight openly, fall back on guerilla tactics (and thus run the risk of their opponents dismissing them as terrorists). Basque separatism falls into this category; Algeria built up its independence in this manner; Chechen separatism has moved in this direction since the diminishing of open warfare in the Caucasus.
- In cases where an occupying power has rigid control and overwhelming capabilities, separatist movements have little choice but to go "deep underground". Tsarist authorities in Poland in the 19th century, for example, generally gave little scope to Polish irredentists to bear arms and sometimes suppressed the use of their language and the practice of their cultural activities in public. But Polish separatism on "Russian" soil did not die, it merely waited for more favorable times.
- Where permitted, separatism can advance its aims through constitutional means, particularly via parliamentary representation. Irish separatism took this form for much of the 19th century.
- India provides the classic case of the use of passive resistance to advocate separatism and political independence. The methodology and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi proved important in this regard.
- Separatism through cultural distinction can gnaw away at a super-national hegemony. Separatism in Cornwall has often operated in this manner, and it proved effective in the Baltic region prior to World War I.
- Intellectually-based separatism has emerged in cases such as Cascadia. The idea of an independent Cascadia may or may not grow and take on some other intensity of separatist activity.
- Temporary or intermittent dissatisfaction with a national or regional situation can provoke flickering feelings of separatism that rise and fall in popularity. The New England region of New South Wales provides a case in point.
- The separatism of micronations can veer towards the non-serious. Areas such as the Hutt River Province or Sealand can declare independence and set up constitutions and institutions - issuing stamps, banknotes and passports - without necessarily greatly upsetting their metropolitan power or changing the balance in voting blocs at the United Nations. Such examples can serve as vehicles for political or economic protest without necessarily threatening existing nation-states. Jocular and short-lived entities such as the so-called [http://www.teara.govt.nz/1966/H/HaweraRepublicOf/HaweraRepublicOf/en Republic of Hawera] come and go. In some cases separatism can almost become a farce - a far cry from the bloodshed that full-blown nationalism can occasion.

Fickle separatisms

Separatism can change in form, intensity and direction over time. Belgium fought a bloody war for nationhood in 1830, but in the late twentieth century became one of the vanguard countries in forming the multi-national European Union. Texan separatism became very real in 1836 and faded with the area's annexation to the United States in 1845, but the Republic of Texas group(s) maintain the tradition of an independent Texas to this day. Indians before 1947 agitated for their own Raj, only to experience Islamic separatism in the formation of Pakistan, which in turn fell victim to Bengali separatism in the setting up of an independent Bangladesh. Romantic notions of the constant inherent burning desire for a single national homeland do not always reflect the course of events.

Countries dismembered by separatist movements c. 2001

- Czechoslovakia — split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia
- Ethiopia — separation of Eritrea
- Indonesia — separation of East Timor
- Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia — split into Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Slovenia, and Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (now Serbia and Montenegro)
- Soviet Union — split into Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Estonia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan
- Croatia — independence of the Republic of Serb Frontier in 1991 (united the Serbian Autonomous Region of the Frontier, Serbian Autonomous Region of Western Slavonia and Serbian Autonomous Region of Eastern Slavonia, Baranya and Western Srem, but was annihalated by the Croatian Army and its allies in 1995; Republic of Eastern Slavonia, Baranya and Western Srem — after the fall of Republic of Serb Frontier in 1995, it's most eastern provinces of Baranya, Eastern Slavonia and Western Srem created this UN-demilitarizing state which was in 1998 incorporated peacefully into Croatia; Republic of Dubrovnik — was an attempt by the Yugoslav government in 1991-1992 not to allow it to become a part of independant Croatia
- Republic of Serb Frontier — after its fall in 1995, it's most eastern provinces of Baranja, Eastern Slavonia and Western Srem created the Republic of Eastern Slavonia, Baranya and Western Srem, a UN-demilitarizing state which was in 1998 incorporated peacefully into Croatia
- Bosnia and Herzegovina — Republic of the Serb people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, later changed name to Republic Serb which still stands today; Republic of Western Bosnia which was created out of the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia in 1995 and later annihalated by Croat-Muslim armed forced and annexed by the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina; Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia from 1993 to 1994 when it became a part of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Republic Serb — the Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia, which existed from 1993, in 1995 it was transformed into the Republic of Western Bosnia, which was soonly annihalated by the Croatian-Muslim armed forces and annexed to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Other Historical separatist movements

- Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia — Macedonian NLA - National Liberation Army
- Malaysia — Singapore
- Russia — Poles and Finns

Entities which have proclaimed independence without gaining international recognition as independent countries

- Abkhazia
- Aceh
- Chechnya
- Nagorno-Karabakh
- Palestine
- Puntland
- Somaliland
- South Ossetia
- Transnistria
- Northern Cyprus
- Western Sahara
- Kosovo See also: List of unrecognized countries

Countries with separatist movements

- Algeria — Kabylia Berbers claim autonomy from the government of Algeria
- Angola — Cabinda
- Belgium — Both Flemish and Walloon separatists exist, but the Flemish have more prominence (See Flemish movement)
- Bosnia and Herzegovina — Bosnian Serbs of Republic Serb and Bosnian Croatian nationalists
- Brazil - Separatists want to separate the south from the rest of the country; Some sectors of northeastern intelligentsia supports separatism and established a scientific group to study the issue. See Grupo de Estudos sobre o Nordeste Independente (Independent Northeastern Region Study Group). These movements are actually more influenced by economic situations than ethnic differences.
- Burma — Karens (Karen National Union, east Burma) and Kachin.
- Canada — Province of Quebec (Parti Québécois, Bloc Québécois, Union des Forces Progressistes), Western Canada (Separation Party of Alberta, Western Independence Party, Alberta Separatism)
- China — Taiwan, Inner Mongolia, Tibet, Xinjiang (East Turkestan Islamic Movement),Hong Kong
- Croatia — Croatian Serbs
- Democratic Republic of the Congo - Katanga area
- France — Corsica, Brittany, and Savoy
- Germany — Bavaria, Alemannic Separatism
- India — Kashmir, Sikhs,Sikkim, Bodoland, Assam (or "Asom") and Nagaland
- Indonesia — Aceh, Riau, West Papua, Moluccas
- Iraq — Kurds and Shiites
- Israel — Palestinians
- Italy — Padania (Lega Nord), South Tyrol
- Mexico — States of Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas, the (three border states with Texas)
- Morocco — Polisario funded and hosted by neighbouring Algeria challenges the sovereignty of Morocco over Western Sahara
- Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia — Albanian separatists in the west of country, preferrably from Tetovo and Gostivar and some from Shkup and Monastir
- Nigeria— Biafra
- Pakistan — Kashmir
- Philippines — Muslim separatists in the south, (Moro),Mindanao
- Poland — Upper Silesia
- Russia — Chechnya
- Serbia and Montenegro —
- in Serbia — Kosovo (KLA - Kosovar Liberation Army guerrila organisation, also referred to as the Kosovo Protection Corps); UCPMB - Liberation Army of Preševo, Medveđa and Bujanovac terrorist organization in the south
- Montenegro
- Senegal — Casamance
- Somalia — Somaliland
- South Africa — Zulu areas
- Spain — Basque region, Catalonia, and Galicia
- Sri Lanka — Tamils (Tamil Tigers)
- Sudan — Tribal animist and Christian south
- St. Kitts and Nevis — Nevis
- Sweden — Skåneland
- Switzerland — Jura
- Syria — Kurds
- Thailand — Malay separatists in southern provinces
- Turkey — Kurds
- United Kingdom — Northern Ireland (IRA, Sinn Féin, Social Democratic and Labour Party), Scotland (Scottish National Party, Scottish Socialist Party), Wales (Plaid Cymru), and Cornwall
- United States — Alaska, Cascadia, California, Hawaii , Texas and Puerto Rico See also: List of active autonomist and secessionist movements

Ethnic/racial separatism

Ethnic separatism can refer to groups that attempt to separate themselves culturally and economically or racially, though not always seeking political autonomy. Note the history of apartheid. Racially-based groups may seek to isolate themselves from other groups, for example groups supporting white separatism or