To have a State, four distinct conditions must be met. First, there must be a community of people, and it matters not whether they belong to the same color, faith, or ethnicity. Second, there must be a geographical space, a settlement that this community of people calls a home. Third, there must be governing authority. And finally, the government must be sovereign – sovereign in the sense that it is self-governing and independent of any domestic or international body. Palestine, Taiwan, and Western Sahara have met all the forestated conditions -- except for broad international support and recognition and membership of the United Nations. However, this has not been the case with Palestine, Taiwan, and Western Sahara. This edited volume examines some of the endogenous and exogenous factors that have contributed to the ambiguous and contested nature of these political entities and argued that the undermined nature of these entities contributes to regional instability and global insecurity. And finally, the continued denial of statehood is a violation of their collective human rights.

This book is a groundbreaking study of the emergence of a unique African Union legal system, with contributions from a diverse collection of scholars and practitioners. It highlights how law stands at the heart of the successful regional integration effort in Africa and explores, among either issues, the extent to which African Union law is having an impact on domestic laws. This trend has been particularly noticeable in the area of human rights, the rule of law, democratic principles, and aspects of constitutional law. Furthermore, the book examines how the African Union is engendering new norms from its legal order, such as the non-indifference norm, the norm on unconstitutional change of government, free trade, free movement of people, economic regulation, and democratic constitutionalism. The book also analyses how the African Union legal order has led to the emergence of a continental-level judicial system. The quasi-judicial system put in place under the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, and administered by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, is now complemented by the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights. This book contends that the continental-level judicial system is playing a crucial role in the moulding of emergent norms.