Special Note to My Readers

As we move into the holiday season, “Springtime of Nations” will be putting the “Week in Separatist News” articles on hold for the time being.  As the most time-consuming aspect of this blog, it is a drain on other things that need to be going on right now, such as enjoying the holiday season and working on the book that is bound up with this blog.  (For those of you who don’t know yet, that book is Let’s Split! A Complete Guide to Separatist Movements, Independence Struggles, Breakaway Republics, Rebel Provinces, Pseudostates, Puppet States, Tribal Fiefdoms, Micronations, and Do-It-Yourself Countries, from Chiapas to Chechnya and Tibet to Texas, to be published in 2013 by Auslander & Fox.) When the “Week in Separatist News” feature does reappear, probably in January, it may be in revised form.

Meanwhile, other articles will continue to appear, including, by the end of this month, a run-down of “Ten Separatist Movements to Watch in 2013” (a follow-up to last December’s “Ten Separatist Movements to Watch in 2012”).

For now, then, a merry Christmas to the Chaldeans and Assyrians of Syria, the Copts of Egypt, and the Christians in northern and central Nigeria terrorized by Boko Haram; happy Hannukah to all those working for peace in Israel and Palestine; happy Winter Solstice to the pagans of Abkhazia, Scandinavia, the British Isles, and the Baltic States; happy Hogmanay to the people of Alba (Scotland); happy Imbolc to the Celts of Galicia, Brittany, Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and the Isle of Man; happy Guru Gobind Singh Gurpurab to the Sikh people of Khalistan (and, of course, of Wisconsin); 新年快乐 to those working for democracy and freedom in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and everywhere else in China; happy Bodhi Day to those fighting for freedom in Tibet, Inner Mongolia, and Burma; happy Zamenhof Day to the people of Neutral Moresnet; happy Pancha Ganapati to the people of Assam and Telangana and to the Tamil people of both Tamil Nadu and Tamil Eelam; and happy Mawlid an-Nabī to those fighting and suffering for freedom and tolerance in East Turkestan, Egypt, Azawad, Kurdistan, Pattani, Rakhine (Arakan), Palestine, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Libya, Western Sahara, Somaliland, Puntland, Jubaland, Turkey, Iran, Balochistan, Circassia, Kosovo, Gagauzia, Dagestan, Tatarstan, Karakalpakstan, Kashmir, Gorno-Badakhshan, South Sudan, Darfur, Oromiya, Kabylia, Yemen, and many other places.

[Also, for those who are wondering, yes, this blog is tied in with a forthcoming book, a sort of encyclopedic atlas to be published by Auslander and Fox under the title Let’s Split! A Complete Guide to Separatist Movements, Independence Struggles, Breakaway Republics, Rebel Provinces, Pseudostates, Puppet States, Tribal Fiefdoms, Micronations, and Do-It-Yourself Countries, from Chiapas to Chechnya and Tibet to Texas.  Look for it some time in 2013.  I will be keeping readers posted of further publication news.  (Meanwhile, if you still have money burning a hole in your pocket, an excellent way to support the “Springtime for Nations” blog is by considering donating a volume to the “Springtime of Nations” Research Library via the “Springtime of Nations” Amazon wish list.)]