Abstract: This edited volume investigates the causes and consequences of the politics of moving borders. The theoretical concept of right-sizing the state is developed from Ian Lustick's theory of state expansion and contraction as a process of institutionalization of territory and borders. Brendan O’Leary contributes a taxonomy of modes of regulating ethnic conflict. The volume's reaming authors apply Lustick's theory and O’Leary's taxonomy to historical cases, in large part aiming to explain the changing territoriality of states as a result of elite politics. By asking about how and under what circumstances central states might change their shape in response to ethnic upheavals and regionalists demands, the authors seek to expand options for aligning identities and states while preventing state collapse or violent conflict. The cases examined include Congo/Zaïre, India, Pakistan, Russia and the rest of the former Soviet Union, Turkey, Iraq, Morocco, Indonesia, Jordan, Cyprus, Belgium, and Lebanon.

Keywords: borders, elite politics, ethnic conflict, identities, India, Jordan, right-sizing, Soviet Union, state, territory