Abstract: Separatist movements nowadays are gaining power all over the world. Today they are becoming the global ethno-political problem. The main landmarks of separatism development fell on the late 20th century – the period of the rise of anticolonial and national liberation movements. Separatist views were wide spread not only in the third world countries, where the borders between states and tribes were disputable, but also in the developed countries: Britain, France, and the USA. Separatism aims at the separation of a particular territory from a multinational state and the creation of an independent national state. The methodology of the research includes the system and comparative political approaches, the methods of analysis, synthesis, modeling, analogy, expert evaluation. In the modern science there is no universally recognized definition of term “separatism”. But in general separatism can be defined as a political movement, which appears in the states with inhomogeneous territory, ethnicity, confession and economy. It is aimed per se at the separation of the particular territory from the state and the formation of a new state entity. In some cases separatists consider the possibility of joining some other state. These phenomena are called correspondingly secession and irredentism.

Keywords: international relations, policy, separatism, comparative separatism, conflicts, diplomacy, state, interests, values, security.