The publication includes articles representing the positions of the Republic of Abkhazia, the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, the Transnistrian Moldavian Republic, the Republic of South Ossetia on the problems of political and legal justification of statehood, the role of Russia in resolving conflicts in the post-Soviet space, the significance of the Kosovo precedent for the political fate of self-determined states. This collection continues the series of editions of the TsSPI "Perspective" devoted to the problems of modern international law. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that the published materials were prepared by experts, politicians and scientists from the states of the "parallel CIS" - Abkhazia, Nagorno-Karabakh, Transnistria, South Ossetia. It is designed for political scientists, lawyers, historians, sociologists, as well as diplomats, experts dealing with debatable problems of modern international relations.