Book excerpt: At a time when nearly all armed conflicts are related to self-determination, and frequently to claims for secession, this meticulous study examines the legal issues at stake in the light of the existence of European micro-States: Liechtenstein, San Marino, Monaco, Andorra and the Vatican City. Jorri Duursma makes a thorough analysis of the true origins, meaning and faults of the modern right of self-determination, asking fundamental questions: What constitutes a people with a right to self-determination? How small a people has this right? Who are allowed to secede? What is a state according to international law? Jorri Duursma's book provides an up-to-date and informed account of these important issues which also draws on recent experiences in Eastern Europe and Yugoslavia. It is the first book to provide a thorough international legal account of the European micro-states, and develops a novel approach to the problems of fragmentation.