Even unrecognized states have rich foreign policies: But why?

What is it about?

Analyzing the "foreign ministries" of unrecognized states from the post-Soviet region (e.g. Abkhazia, Transnistria, Donetsk, South Ossetia), this paper finds that they are more active with diplomacy than one may expect. They interact with many countries beyond their patron Russia, especially with islands like Nauru and Vanuatu or with Latin American states like Venezuela and Nicaragua, and even with many other countries beyond that. This paper argues that regular diplomatic interaction with many states induce a sense of belonging to the international society, a feeling of membership, an illusion of professional statehood (minus recognition). It thus confirms their self-identity (adding what is called "ontological security") by rejecting the stigma imposed upon them. In addition, this leads to network effects: By enacting ties with "insiders" from the international society, the de facto states may slowly draw themselves closer to the core of the international society, thus rendering the insider-outsider-boundary blurry.

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Why is it important?

It is one of the few works to underline and theorize the rich diplomatic activities of those marginal actors. Previously, the de facto states' foreign policies were either not noticed at all, or dismissed as "irrelevant".