Lessons Learned from the Dissolution of and Secession from Political Unions

The news is filled with public debate about international organizations, national alliances and nation states dissolving. Brexit is just one example of this phenomenon. This conference focuses on the lessons to be learned from experiences of past dissolutions and secessions applicable today. Specific modern examples of where these lessons may be applied include (but are not limited to) Brexit, Catalonian independence, the Scottish referendum, Kurdish independence, South Sudan, the US’s withdrawal from the Transpacific Partnership, the denunciation of ICSID Convention by some South American states, and the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Participants are invited to reflect on any moral, political, social, legal, or economic aspect of the dissolution of and secession from political unions, and to draw conclusions relevant to some contentious modern day events.