The decision behind Diplomatic Recognition: A quantitative study of Taiwan and Kosovo

Sammanfattning: This study is about diplomatic recognition, and why some states have not received full diplomatic recognition from the international community. The central research-problem focuses on the factors that affect a state's foreign policy decision not to recognize other states. Taiwan and Kosovo are chosen as research-cases through a strategic case-selection. The theoretical framework used in this study is a traditional Liberalism theory on international relations. Hypotheses are based on the Liberalism theory and previous research done in this field. These hypotheses are then tested through a quantitatively analysis. Furthermore a logistic regression analysis is being conducted on the two cases, in order to find a general factor behind the decision of non-recognition. The result shows that states with low democracy status are less willing to recognize other states in general. It also shows that states without a colonial heritage have a lower tendency to recognize Kosovo. Therefore it shows support for the liberalism ideas about democratic values and how a state’s domestic interests and inner structure affects its foreign policy.