are undoubtedly significant and should inform further investigations. External
intervention can take the form of moral support, such as publicizing human
rights grievances, or material support such as economic and military aid. Such
assistance will be dependent on the supporting state’s strategic and other for-
eign policy objectives, its previous relationships with the ‘parent’ state, and
the presence of ethnic kinsmen within the supporting state’s own territory,
affecting, for example, India’s attitudes towards Tamil separatists in Sri Lanka
(Phadnis and Ganguly, 2001, pp. 312–47). The attitudes of world powers and
neighbouring states to Bangladesh and Biafra were important factors in the
contrasting outcomes of these two instances of secession (Wood, J. R., 1981,
pp. 130–1). External influences are usually critical to the outcome of inde-
pendence struggles (Wright, 1976, pp. 8–9; Tinker, 1981, p. 115). They were
conclusive in the history of the short-lived Kurdish Republic of 1946
(Ghassemlou, 1980; Roosevelt, 1980). While Eritrea’s secession depended
much more on the internal political situation than external support, its long-
term viability is dependent on international co-operation (Adam, 1994,
pp. 37–8). Concerned about oil supplies from Sudan, the government of the
United States is currently (2002) attempting to broker an agreement between
the Islamic Sudanese government and the southern secessionists which could
lead to power sharing, the separation of state and religion in the south, a fairer
allocation of oil revenues, an end to discrimination against non-Moslems, and
consequently an end to one of Africa’s longest civil wars.
But support from outside is a difficult commodity to acquire, even when
ethnic groups straddle national frontiers. In South East Asia, for instance,
there has been surprisingly little support for ethnic separatism from neigh-
bouring states when ethnic minorities are located in frontier regions.
Existing boundaries have been regarded as sacrosanct (McVey, 1984, p. 18).
Neighbouring states may be impressed by claims, such as Indonesia’s with
regard to the province of Aceh, that secession will cause regional instability
and insecurity. Securing external support for nationalist movements is
dependent on their ability to obtain foreign financial, diplomatic and politi-
cal backing, as well as their skill at publicizing their demands among the
international community, both governmental and non-governmental
(Phadnis and Ganguly, 2001, pp. 55–9).
Élites and class
It is a mistake to expect all sections of an ethnic minority to arrive at the
same conclusion after calculating the costs and benefits of integration.
214 Understanding Third World Politics