Abstract
Abstract Issuing a unilateral declaration of independence (UDI) is one of the strategies secessionists use to attract attention and further their goal for statehood. This article sheds light on how secessionists instrumentalize universal norms in their UDIs to legitimize their independence and increase their chances of attracting international support. It examines UDIs issued from 1970 to 2022, investigating whether secessionists invoked universal norms and, if so, which ones. By mapping UDIs over time, the analysis shows that there are changes in which legitimizing norms are invoked in UDIs proclaimed during the Cold War, during the prevalence of the liberal international order, and during its following purported decline. The article argues that secessionists strategically manipulate the use of norms and formulate their UDIs accordingly to appeal to the endorsed legitimizing norms of the international order at the time of their secession. UDIs therefore reflect the normative trends of any given international order signaling also transitions from one order to another.
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