Conference Paper

Newstate or neostate is proposed as the designation of a class of new political-geographic entities which, while having some of the attributes of states, have not yet (and may never) solidified into fully functioning states. This class is distinct from ‘failed states’, which had been fully functioning. All neostates, whether built up from an amalgamation of existing states, like the European Union, or as successors to a vanished old state, like the Republic of Macedonia, face similar issues which must be resolved if the neostate is to survive. This paper will examine three primary issues, all of which are identity issues - Consolidating Stable Borders, Crafting a National Economy, and Creating a National Identity – which are both critical and difficult. The paper will define these issues; examine how and why they arise; argue why it is critical for the neostate to resolve them; and then examine these issues in the specific cases of the European Union and the Republic of Macedonia, with examples from other neostates for contrast. The paper will argue that neither the EU nor Macedonia has, as yet, satisfactorily resolved any of those issues, and that this failure threatens their futures as states.