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On 17 March 2005, the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Jakob Kellenberger, presented a study (hereinafter “the Study”) of customary international humanitarian law (IHL). A decade earlier, the International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent had mandated the ICRC to “prepare […] a report on customary rules of IHL applicable in international [IAC] and non-international armed conflicts [NIAC], and to circulate the report to States and competent international bodies.” The Study's objective was to capture a “photograph” of the existing, hitherto unwritten rules that make up customary IHL. Comprehensive, high-level research into customary IHL followed; the end result of which is undeniably a remarkable feat and a significant contribution to scholarship and debate in this area of international law.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin was quoted in a newspaper article last year as claiming that “[b]y their mentality and culture, the people of Russia are Europeans”. The accuracy of this claim has been a topic of considerable debate in Russian literature and politics from the time of Czar Peter the Great at least. The pressing question is whether Russia wants to be part of today's Europe. Mounting evidence from the domestic and foreign policy of the Russian Federation suggests that the answer to this question is ‘nyet'.

Using the secession claims in Ukraine and elsewhere as points of reference, this article reflects on the meaning of popular sovereignty and consent of the governed in divided societies.The article begins by critiquing the approach to secession claims prevailing internationally. It finds that the imprecision of the applicable rules, the plethora of secession claims, and most importantly, the claims’ adverse effects on relations between and within states urge different treatment.The article then assesses an alternative approach, based on realizing the principles of self-determination and democracy through independence referendums. It finds that a doctrine of democratic secessionism, if conceived consistently and implemented consequently, shows considerable potential as a guide in treating secession claims. Moreover, this alternative proves preferable to the prevailing approach, practically as well as conceptually.According the principles of self-determination and democracy higher legitimacy than and precedence to other considerations would in some conflict cases lead to striking outcomes. Nonetheless, such an alternative approach could prove not only intrinsically but also instrumentally valuable, contributing,ceteris paribus, to conflict resolution.