Nina Caspersen
Biographic Data
| ID | 358402 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Nina Caspersen |
| GIVEN NAMES | Nina |
| FAMILY NAME | Caspersen |
| SIGNATURE | CASPERSEN N |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of York |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-4765-287X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 160 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 20 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2004 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 7 |
No longer what you used to be
The dependence of de facto states/breakaway-territories on external patrons is well-established, but we lack detailed knowledge of the dynamics of these hierarchical relationships, including opportunities for client agency. Through a comparative study of two patron–client relationships that had reached a crisis point, this article examines how the weaker client responds when at odds with its patron. Drawing on original data, including archival so…
Ripe for better post-war governance? The impact of the 2016 peace agreement on the reestablishment of health services in Colombia
A peace agreement represents a chance for the state to renew its social contract with the conflict-affected population. Conflict may reoccur if their expectations of a peace dividend are disappointed. However, in the existing literature there is a lack of focus on post-war public services and the challenges to re-establishing effective state governance, especially in areas with significant rebel presence. Much of the literature still assumes that…
Contested Nationalism
"Only unity saves the Serbs" is the famous call for unity in the Serb nationalist doctrine. But even though this doctrine was ideologically adhered to by most of the Serb leaders in Croatia and Bosnia, disunity characterized Serb politics during the Yugoslav disintegration and war. Nationalism was contested and nationalist claims to homogeneity did not reflect the reality of Serb politics. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of Serb polit…
Anastasia Shesterinina’s Mobilizing in Uncertainty
The creation of new states through interim agreements
For some separatist movements, interim agreements offer a possible route to recognized statehood. However, such agreements require these movements to compromise on their demand for immediate independence and risk the preservation of the joint state. How is this reconciled with their claim to self-determination and how is it received by the community they claim to represent? This article examines four post-Cold War cases where an interim agreement…
Human rights in territorial peace agreements
Justice and peace are commonly seen as mutually reinforcing, and key international peacebuilding documents stress the importance of human rights. Is this apparent normative shift reflected in post-Cold War peace agreements? The existing literature is divided on this issue but has crucially treated both conflicts and peace agreements as aggregate categories. This article argues that the conflict type and the agreement's ‘core deal’ impact on the i…
Recognition, Status Quo or Reintegration
De facto states and their parent states usually have very different reasons for backing engagement policies, based on their respective claims to self-determination and territorial integrity. Drawing on four case studies—Abkhazia, Transnistria, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Northern Cyprus—this article examines how this underlying tension is negotiated. It demonstrates the need to distinguish between different forms of engagement and finds that engagement…
The Pursuit of International Recognition After Kosovo
The international recognition of Kosovo exacerbated existing uncertainties over state recognition. By its supporters it was billed as a “unique case,” but others saw it as extending the right to self-determination. Unlike most literature on state recognition, this article adopts a bottom-up approach and analyzes how other aspiring states have reacted to the new politics of recognition. Drawing on the legitimation strategies observed in five de fa…
Degrees of legitimacy
The South Caucasus after Kosovo
The recognition of Kosovo did not go unnoticed in other aspiring states, but did it necessarily lead to renewed hopes for independence? Drawing on interviews with key actors, this essay analyses its effect in Nagorno-Karabakh. It finds that separatist demands are shaped by a complex interplay of external and internal forces, including international norms and practices. This explains the rather surprising finding that the Karabakh leaders in respo…
Unrecognized States in the International System
TEST 02 - Elsevier's Scopus, the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature. Search and access research from the science, technology, medicine, social sciences and arts and humanities fields.
Regimes and peace processes
The lack of democratisation in Armenia and Azerbaijan is by many observers argued to constitute a key obstacle to the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, but other observers contend that the problem is that the respective leaderships are not sufficiently secure to agree to a difficult compromise. This article, however, finds that the relationship between regime types and conflicts is a lot more complex than is often argued in the literature, and that…
Democracy, nationalism and (lack of) sovereignty
Unrecognised states are among the least likely candidates for democratisation: they tend to be driven by ethno‐nationalism, many are marked by the legacy of war and most are facing international isolation. Nevertheless, the claim to democracy has become a central part of their legitimising narrative. This article examines this apparent paradox and finds that neither ethno‐nationalism nor non‐recognition represents insurmountable barriers to democ…
Nagorno Karabakh
Nagorno Karabakh: War, Peace, or Status Quo? 2008 seemed to mark a new dawn of self-determination movements: Kosovo declared independence, and was recognised by a majority of Western powers, while Russia announced its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The article discusses the extent to which there has been a change in the international norms and practice of state recognition and analyses the effect this had on the confl ict in Nagorno K…
Between Puppets and Independent Actors
The conflicts and wars in Bosnia, Croatia and Nagorno Karabakh are commonly viewed as little more than the expression of kin-state involvement. The Serbian regime is usually assigned overwhelming influence over the local Serb leaders, and the formal division between Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh is frequently argued to be a smokescreen. However, this article argues that the leaders in Belgrade and Yerevan were not always able to control the local …
Intragroup Divisions in Ethnic Conflicts
Divisions within ethnic groups are, contrary to nationalist claims to homogeneity, found in almost every ethnic conflict. Is such intraethnic rivalry based on differing views of how best to protect collective interests or is it largely over power and spoils? The answer to this question has important implications for our understanding of ethnic conflicts and for their potential resolution. This article analyzes intraethnic rivalry in three cases: …
Separatism and Democracy in the Caucasus
The ‘standards before status’ policy for Kosovo has reignited hopes for independence in other de facto states and has led the authorities to emphasise their ability to create effective, democratic institutions. Analysis of the accompanying processes of state-building and democratisation in Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh suggests that these entities should not be regarded merely as criminalised badlands. Significant changes in their internal politi…
From Kosovo to Karabakh
Both in the Balkans and in the Caucasus, the dominant international response to de facto states, or quasi-states, has been one of isolation; they violate the principle of territorial integrity, they are often based on warfare, and the legitimacy of their frequently ethnically-based claims to independence is rejected. This article finds that pragmatism has occasionally led to some form of reluctant engagement, but this has been ad hoc and its depo…
Belgrade, Pale, Knin
The importance of kin-state involvement in ethnic conflicts and wars is often recognised in the literature, yet little theorising exists. This article analyses the links between the Serbian regime and the Serb leaders in Croatia and Bosnia during the Yugoslav war. Contrary to widespread assumptions, it finds that Slobodan Milošević was not always able to control local developments; the local Serb leaders became increasingly rebellious and possess…
Contingent Nationalist Dominance
‘Only unity saves the Serbs’ is the famous call for unity in the Serb nationalist doctrine, but even though this doctrine enjoyed widespread ideological adherence, disunity has been a dominant characteristic of Bosnian Serb politics since the first multiparty elections in 1990. In this context of intra-Serb rivalry, the dominance of the Serb Democratic Party (Sprska demokratska stranka, SDS) has nevertheless been an almost constant feature. The S…
Good Fences Make Good Neighbours? A Comparison of Conflict-Regulation Strategies in Postwar Bosnia
This article compares the effectiveness of the consociational and the integrative approach in fostering stability in postwar Bosnia. Whereas the ethnic groups in Lijphart's consociational model constitute the basic units on which the political structure is built, the political structure in Horowitz's integrative model transcends ethnic divisions. The Dayton Agreement that ended the war in Bosnia contains elements of both approaches, and the balan…
Degrees of legitimacy
Democracy, nationalism and (lack of) sovereignty
Unrecognised states are among the least likely candidates for democratisation: they tend to be driven by ethno‐nationalism, many are marked by the legacy of war and most are facing international isolation. Nevertheless, the claim to democracy has become a central part of their legitimising narrative. This article examines this apparent paradox and finds that neither ethno‐nationalism nor non‐recognition represents insurmountable barriers to democ…
Recognition, Status Quo or Reintegration
De facto states and their parent states usually have very different reasons for backing engagement policies, based on their respective claims to self-determination and territorial integrity. Drawing on four case studies—Abkhazia, Transnistria, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Northern Cyprus—this article examines how this underlying tension is negotiated. It demonstrates the need to distinguish between different forms of engagement and finds that engagement…
Belgrade, Pale, Knin
The importance of kin-state involvement in ethnic conflicts and wars is often recognised in the literature, yet little theorising exists. This article analyses the links between the Serbian regime and the Serb leaders in Croatia and Bosnia during the Yugoslav war. Contrary to widespread assumptions, it finds that Slobodan Milošević was not always able to control local developments; the local Serb leaders became increasingly rebellious and possess…
Good Fences Make Good Neighbours? A Comparison of Conflict-Regulation Strategies in Postwar Bosnia
This article compares the effectiveness of the consociational and the integrative approach in fostering stability in postwar Bosnia. Whereas the ethnic groups in Lijphart's consociational model constitute the basic units on which the political structure is built, the political structure in Horowitz's integrative model transcends ethnic divisions. The Dayton Agreement that ended the war in Bosnia contains elements of both approaches, and the balan…
Separatism and Democracy in the Caucasus
The ‘standards before status’ policy for Kosovo has reignited hopes for independence in other de facto states and has led the authorities to emphasise their ability to create effective, democratic institutions. Analysis of the accompanying processes of state-building and democratisation in Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh suggests that these entities should not be regarded merely as criminalised badlands. Significant changes in their internal politi…
Intragroup Divisions in Ethnic Conflicts
Divisions within ethnic groups are, contrary to nationalist claims to homogeneity, found in almost every ethnic conflict. Is such intraethnic rivalry based on differing views of how best to protect collective interests or is it largely over power and spoils? The answer to this question has important implications for our understanding of ethnic conflicts and for their potential resolution. This article analyzes intraethnic rivalry in three cases: …
Between Puppets and Independent Actors
The conflicts and wars in Bosnia, Croatia and Nagorno Karabakh are commonly viewed as little more than the expression of kin-state involvement. The Serbian regime is usually assigned overwhelming influence over the local Serb leaders, and the formal division between Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh is frequently argued to be a smokescreen. However, this article argues that the leaders in Belgrade and Yerevan were not always able to control the local …
The South Caucasus after Kosovo
The recognition of Kosovo did not go unnoticed in other aspiring states, but did it necessarily lead to renewed hopes for independence? Drawing on interviews with key actors, this essay analyses its effect in Nagorno-Karabakh. It finds that separatist demands are shaped by a complex interplay of external and internal forces, including international norms and practices. This explains the rather surprising finding that the Karabakh leaders in respo…
The Pursuit of International Recognition After Kosovo
The international recognition of Kosovo exacerbated existing uncertainties over state recognition. By its supporters it was billed as a “unique case,” but others saw it as extending the right to self-determination. Unlike most literature on state recognition, this article adopts a bottom-up approach and analyzes how other aspiring states have reacted to the new politics of recognition. Drawing on the legitimation strategies observed in five de fa…
Human rights in territorial peace agreements
Justice and peace are commonly seen as mutually reinforcing, and key international peacebuilding documents stress the importance of human rights. Is this apparent normative shift reflected in post-Cold War peace agreements? The existing literature is divided on this issue but has crucially treated both conflicts and peace agreements as aggregate categories. This article argues that the conflict type and the agreement's ‘core deal’ impact on the i…
Regimes and peace processes
The lack of democratisation in Armenia and Azerbaijan is by many observers argued to constitute a key obstacle to the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, but other observers contend that the problem is that the respective leaderships are not sufficiently secure to agree to a difficult compromise. This article, however, finds that the relationship between regime types and conflicts is a lot more complex than is often argued in the literature, and that…
Ripe for better post-war governance? The impact of the 2016 peace agreement on the reestablishment of health services in Colombia
A peace agreement represents a chance for the state to renew its social contract with the conflict-affected population. Conflict may reoccur if their expectations of a peace dividend are disappointed. However, in the existing literature there is a lack of focus on post-war public services and the challenges to re-establishing effective state governance, especially in areas with significant rebel presence. Much of the literature still assumes that…
The creation of new states through interim agreements
For some separatist movements, interim agreements offer a possible route to recognized statehood. However, such agreements require these movements to compromise on their demand for immediate independence and risk the preservation of the joint state. How is this reconciled with their claim to self-determination and how is it received by the community they claim to represent? This article examines four post-Cold War cases where an interim agreement…
Contingent Nationalist Dominance
‘Only unity saves the Serbs’ is the famous call for unity in the Serb nationalist doctrine, but even though this doctrine enjoyed widespread ideological adherence, disunity has been a dominant characteristic of Bosnian Serb politics since the first multiparty elections in 1990. In this context of intra-Serb rivalry, the dominance of the Serb Democratic Party (Sprska demokratska stranka, SDS) has nevertheless been an almost constant feature. The S…
Good Fences Make Good Neighbours? A Comparison of Conflict-Regulation Strategies in Postwar Bosnia
This article compares the effectiveness of the consociational and the integrative approach in fostering stability in postwar Bosnia. Whereas the ethnic groups in Lijphart's consociational model constitute the basic units on which the political structure is built, the political structure in Horowitz's integrative model transcends ethnic divisions. The Dayton Agreement that ended the war in Bosnia contains elements of both approaches, and the balan…
Contingent Nationalist Dominance
‘Only unity saves the Serbs’ is the famous call for unity in the Serb nationalist doctrine, but even though this doctrine enjoyed widespread ideological adherence, disunity has been a dominant characteristic of Bosnian Serb politics since the first multiparty elections in 1990. In this context of intra-Serb rivalry, the dominance of the Serb Democratic Party (Sprska demokratska stranka, SDS) has nevertheless been an almost constant feature. The S…
Belgrade, Pale, Knin
The importance of kin-state involvement in ethnic conflicts and wars is often recognised in the literature, yet little theorising exists. This article analyses the links between the Serbian regime and the Serb leaders in Croatia and Bosnia during the Yugoslav war. Contrary to widespread assumptions, it finds that Slobodan Milošević was not always able to control local developments; the local Serb leaders became increasingly rebellious and possess…
Between Puppets and Independent Actors
The conflicts and wars in Bosnia, Croatia and Nagorno Karabakh are commonly viewed as little more than the expression of kin-state involvement. The Serbian regime is usually assigned overwhelming influence over the local Serb leaders, and the formal division between Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh is frequently argued to be a smokescreen. However, this article argues that the leaders in Belgrade and Yerevan were not always able to control the local …
Intragroup Divisions in Ethnic Conflicts
Divisions within ethnic groups are, contrary to nationalist claims to homogeneity, found in almost every ethnic conflict. Is such intraethnic rivalry based on differing views of how best to protect collective interests or is it largely over power and spoils? The answer to this question has important implications for our understanding of ethnic conflicts and for their potential resolution. This article analyzes intraethnic rivalry in three cases: …
Separatism and Democracy in the Caucasus
The ‘standards before status’ policy for Kosovo has reignited hopes for independence in other de facto states and has led the authorities to emphasise their ability to create effective, democratic institutions. Analysis of the accompanying processes of state-building and democratisation in Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh suggests that these entities should not be regarded merely as criminalised badlands. Significant changes in their internal politi…
From Kosovo to Karabakh
Both in the Balkans and in the Caucasus, the dominant international response to de facto states, or quasi-states, has been one of isolation; they violate the principle of territorial integrity, they are often based on warfare, and the legitimacy of their frequently ethnically-based claims to independence is rejected. This article finds that pragmatism has occasionally led to some form of reluctant engagement, but this has been ad hoc and its depo…
Nagorno Karabakh
Nagorno Karabakh: War, Peace, or Status Quo? 2008 seemed to mark a new dawn of self-determination movements: Kosovo declared independence, and was recognised by a majority of Western powers, while Russia announced its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The article discusses the extent to which there has been a change in the international norms and practice of state recognition and analyses the effect this had on the confl ict in Nagorno K…
Democracy, nationalism and (lack of) sovereignty
Unrecognised states are among the least likely candidates for democratisation: they tend to be driven by ethno‐nationalism, many are marked by the legacy of war and most are facing international isolation. Nevertheless, the claim to democracy has become a central part of their legitimising narrative. This article examines this apparent paradox and finds that neither ethno‐nationalism nor non‐recognition represents insurmountable barriers to democ…
Unrecognized States in the International System
TEST 02 - Elsevier's Scopus, the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature. Search and access research from the science, technology, medicine, social sciences and arts and humanities fields.
Regimes and peace processes
The lack of democratisation in Armenia and Azerbaijan is by many observers argued to constitute a key obstacle to the Nagorno-Karabakh peace process, but other observers contend that the problem is that the respective leaderships are not sufficiently secure to agree to a difficult compromise. This article, however, finds that the relationship between regime types and conflicts is a lot more complex than is often argued in the literature, and that…
The South Caucasus after Kosovo
The recognition of Kosovo did not go unnoticed in other aspiring states, but did it necessarily lead to renewed hopes for independence? Drawing on interviews with key actors, this essay analyses its effect in Nagorno-Karabakh. It finds that separatist demands are shaped by a complex interplay of external and internal forces, including international norms and practices. This explains the rather surprising finding that the Karabakh leaders in respo…
Degrees of legitimacy
The Pursuit of International Recognition After Kosovo
The international recognition of Kosovo exacerbated existing uncertainties over state recognition. By its supporters it was billed as a “unique case,” but others saw it as extending the right to self-determination. Unlike most literature on state recognition, this article adopts a bottom-up approach and analyzes how other aspiring states have reacted to the new politics of recognition. Drawing on the legitimation strategies observed in five de fa…
Recognition, Status Quo or Reintegration
De facto states and their parent states usually have very different reasons for backing engagement policies, based on their respective claims to self-determination and territorial integrity. Drawing on four case studies—Abkhazia, Transnistria, Nagorno-Karabakh, and Northern Cyprus—this article examines how this underlying tension is negotiated. It demonstrates the need to distinguish between different forms of engagement and finds that engagement…
Human rights in territorial peace agreements
Justice and peace are commonly seen as mutually reinforcing, and key international peacebuilding documents stress the importance of human rights. Is this apparent normative shift reflected in post-Cold War peace agreements? The existing literature is divided on this issue but has crucially treated both conflicts and peace agreements as aggregate categories. This article argues that the conflict type and the agreement's ‘core deal’ impact on the i…
The creation of new states through interim agreements
For some separatist movements, interim agreements offer a possible route to recognized statehood. However, such agreements require these movements to compromise on their demand for immediate independence and risk the preservation of the joint state. How is this reconciled with their claim to self-determination and how is it received by the community they claim to represent? This article examines four post-Cold War cases where an interim agreement…
Contested Nationalism
"Only unity saves the Serbs" is the famous call for unity in the Serb nationalist doctrine. But even though this doctrine was ideologically adhered to by most of the Serb leaders in Croatia and Bosnia, disunity characterized Serb politics during the Yugoslav disintegration and war. Nationalism was contested and nationalist claims to homogeneity did not reflect the reality of Serb politics. This book provides a comprehensive analysis of Serb polit…
Anastasia Shesterinina’s Mobilizing in Uncertainty
Ripe for better post-war governance? The impact of the 2016 peace agreement on the reestablishment of health services in Colombia
A peace agreement represents a chance for the state to renew its social contract with the conflict-affected population. Conflict may reoccur if their expectations of a peace dividend are disappointed. However, in the existing literature there is a lack of focus on post-war public services and the challenges to re-establishing effective state governance, especially in areas with significant rebel presence. Much of the literature still assumes that…
No longer what you used to be
The dependence of de facto states/breakaway-territories on external patrons is well-established, but we lack detailed knowledge of the dynamics of these hierarchical relationships, including opportunities for client agency. Through a comparative study of two patron–client relationships that had reached a crisis point, this article examines how the weaker client responds when at odds with its patron. Drawing on original data, including archival so…
Political science (21 works) · Law (19 works) · Sociology (19 works) · Political economy (16 works) · Post-Soviet Geopolitical Dynamics (15 works) · Politics (14 works) · Law (12 works) · Cyprus History, Politics, Society (7 works) · European Politics and Security (6 works) · Peacebuilding and International Security (6 works)