Divided Nations and European Integration ed. by Tristan James Mabry, John McGarry, Margaret Moore, & Brendan O’Leary (review)

A number of important books have examined the various consequences of European integration. Similarly there are many studies that focus on minority rights in Europe. Divided Nations and European Integration, however, stands out with its principal topic—the influence of European regional integration on divided nations—and its main approach—considering the possibility that divided nations are not “necessarily negative phenomena that threaten domestic or international stability.”¹ The book’s contributors suggest that we turn our attention to divided nations with a different viewpoint from the mainstream literature by leaving “open the possibility that divided nations have claims of justice that should be addressed” and by considering “it plausible that the denial of these claims promotes injustice and instability.”² The common thread that runs through the book’s chapters is this fresh take on divided nations, defined early on in the book as “nations separated by states.”³ They have “leaders and organizations that minimally aspire to establish or reestablish closer linkages between the segments of their nation partitioned among states.”⁴ The strength of the book becomes apparent in the conclusion where overall findings are examined in two categories: “evaluations of the effects of European integration on state borders” and “the impact of European integration on minority rights and minority self-government.”⁵ Findings suggest that the effects of European integration on divided nations vary. The study suggests that multiple factors such as duration of membership in European institutions or factors related to past nation building experiences need to be considered.

Both introduction and conclusion sections successfully locate this study in the larger literature. The book’s ten chapters carefully document a historical overview of various divided nations. They also provide extensive information on the cases presented. With the exception of the common thread mentioned above, each chapter differs from others in terms of methodology, narrative, and theoretical framework utilized. Margaret Moore’s chapter examines limitations of two dominant theoretical approaches: state-centric justice theory and global justice theory. Tristan Mabry focuses on minority language communities. Zsuzsa Csergő and James Goldgeier unveil kin-state activism in Hungary, Romania, and Russia. Zoe Bray and Michael Keating’s informative chapter provides excellent historical and institutional context on Basque identity, state-building, and nationalism in Spain and France. The objective of Alexandra Channer, on the other hand, is to identify the impact of border changes as well as EU integration on Pan-Albanianism’s historical development. Her empirically grounded analysis draws on twenty-six interviews and a random survey of 994 people. David Romano argues that although it may not be sustainable in the long term, the EU entry requirements on human rights have benefitted Kurds in Turkey. Marsaili Fraser warns us on uneven European integration and suggests that the promise of a reasonable prospect of EU membership “has promoted better regional relations, discouraged Croatia and Serbia from interfering in Bosnia’s affairs, and promoted a minimal sense of common direction among Bosnia’s fractious political elites.”⁶ Etain Tannam’s chapter examines conflict resolution with a focus on the partition of Ireland. Stefan Wolff’s convincing chapter on German minorities in Europe “considers the various causes, consequences, and responses to the ‘German question.’”⁷ Finally, Tozun Bahcheli and Sid Noel successfully examine “the role of ethnic kinship in Greek-Turkish relations” and “identify the changes that have taken place or are taking place in the nature of ethnic kinship and the sources of those changes.”⁸

Although the book effectively outlines narratives of the included cases, it lacks a clearly identified common theoretical framework. The divided nations included in the analysis have very different political, economic, and cultural contexts. While this is methodologically acceptable and desirable, without a clearly defined theoretical framework, the conversation across the chapters is limited. However, the conclusion partially makes up for this by mapping out findings of contributors and by...