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Why Secede?

What鈥檚 so important about having your own country?

What鈥檚 so important about having your own country? On Monday many Kurds in Northern Iraq voted for independence, and the Spanish government is seeking to stop a separatist referendum in Catalonia this Sunday. But why do many Iraqi Kurds and Catalans want an independent state given that both regions already have a large degree of autonomy?

Is it about national identity or economic independence? Are there common themes or is every case unique? And what are the legal precedents for secession? Owen Bennett Jones and his guests look at self-determination, secession, and what it means to be a nation.

(Photo: students in Barcelona demonstrating in favour of Catalan independence. Credit: Getty Images)

Available now

50 minutes

Last on

Sat 30 Sep 2017 11:06GMT

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Contributors

Margaret MacMillan - professor of international history at Oxford University聽

Elizabeth Ohene - Ghanaian politician and journalist

Neal Ascherson 聽- writer and historian of nationalism

James Irving - lecturer on self-determination at the London School of Economics


Also featuring:

Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman - US representative of the Kurdistan Regional Government of northern Iraq


Maysoon Al-Damluji - Iraqi MP for the liberal, secular Assembly of Independent Democrats


Jordi Sol茅 i Ferrando
- MEP with the Catalan Republican Left and Mayor of Caldes de Montbui

Santiago Fisas i Ayxela - 聽Catalan MEP with Spain's ruling People's Party (PP)

Broadcasts

  • Fri 29 Sep 2017 08:06GMT
  • Fri 29 Sep 2017 17:06GMT
  • Fri 29 Sep 2017 23:06GMT
  • Sat 30 Sep 2017 03:06GMT
  • Sat 30 Sep 2017 11:06GMT

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