Introduction: The Influence of Sub-state Actors on National Security

This part owes a lot to the paper Takahashi 2016: 25–43.

“Autonomy” here refers to the intent to regulate own actions (self-control), as well as to the concrete expression of it (self-rule).

“Periphery” here denotes what has been variously understood as “the invisible” world within the system of the territorial sovereign state. The field of the study of international relations has made extensive attempts to capture the dynamics of the periphery from the following viewpoints. One strain of thought is the criticism of imperialism, i.e., the critique of the dual structure consisting of Western powers (=empires) and non-Western areas (=colonies and subordinated areas). Another is theory of nationalism, which, while taking into account regional differences, criticizes movements for autonomy and independence, which rely on regionalist solidarity, and the postcolonial situation that developed after such movements took place. Third, the Marxist strain, which influenced both the critique of imperialism and the theory of nationalism, and which, based on socialist thought, openly advocates the possibility of socialist revolution coming from the social periphery. Furthermore, today, attempts to understand the periphery from the viewpoint of gender studies, aboriginal studies, or by turning attention to environmental issues are also visible, and this is where the departure point of this book is.

Central governments have tended to award a certain amount of autonomy to sub-state actors to answer or alleviate their protests. The transfers of powers, while similar in structure in the sense that they are conducted between the power center and the periphery, differ in form, as powers can be transmitted within the same organization or from one organization to another, etc.

It is worth noting that, as can be seen in the case of Catalonia in Spain, there is a number of instances where the so called “political center” and “the economic center” do not overlap, which is why the movement for autonomy of a political periphery does not necessarily lead to a fall in living standards.

Here “minority” is used as a term that denotes those who are in a weak political or social position and does not necessarily connote literal minority in numbers.

Villaume (1995) points out that the “Greenland card” is a term that enables a realistic and pragmatic understanding of the difficult situation the mainland Denmark is in as a country caught between Eastern and Western powers.