The renewed interest in matters of state succession which accompanied the dissolution of three multinational, socialist states in post-communist Europe inspired the preparation of this book. The book aims to provide both practical lessons of individual countries being directly involved in matters of state succession, and more theoretical contributions to expand the body of conceptual literature in this area. Its contributions address a wide variety of matters, ranging from problems associated with the recognition of states, issues of state succession with respect to international treaties and membership in international organizations, through specific issues such as citizenship, external debts and archives. The diversity of contributions therefore provides a relatively complete survey of matters pertaining to succession of states, especially those relating to the legal, economic and financial aspects. While some authors address universal questions of state succession or the issue of membership in international organizations, most contributions focus on issue-specific problems involving state succession to three Central and Eastern European states and, in particular, the break-up of the SFRY. The contributors are policy-makers, academic lawyers and economists actively involved in succession of states issues, either in their respective countries or in various international fora. The majority of contributions collected in this book are updated and revised versions of articles published in the December 1996 issue of Development and International Cooperation.

This study discusses the succession of states to treaties and other obligations or rights, seeking answers to the question Does a new state succeed to its predecessor's international rights and duties, and if so, to what extent?