Around the world, numerous communities seek the protections of sovereignty--a "dream state" of their own--to preserve their traditional way of life. However, these secessionist movements create risk of prolonged conflict in countries of every size and location, from tiny statelets in the Caribbean or Pacific to large and fragile multiethnic federations like Russia, India, and even the United States. Dream States asks and answers two questions: How serious is the danger of separatist conflict? And what can be done about it? Using diverse examples from recent history, Benjamin J. Cohen guides readers through types of dream states, some harmless and others more threatening. Cohen argues that abandoning the traditional dichotomous conceptualization of statehood, which insists that communities are either fully sovereign or else completely subordinate, presents the best way to reduce the threat of violent conflict. Given the increasing emphasis on territorial and ethnic identity in political movements throughout the world, this book is essential reading for anyone interested in separatism and why it poses a threat to peace and international order.

Benjamin J. Cohen is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he was the Louis G. Lancaster Professor of International Political Economy until retirement in 2021. He was educated at Columbia University, receiving a PhD in Economics in 1963. He began his career as a research economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (1962-1964) and previously taught at Princeton University (1964-1971) and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University (1971-1991). He has also been a visiting professor at Harvard University, University College London, and the Institute of Political Study (Sciences-Po) in Paris. He is the author of nineteen previous books.