'This is much more than yet another account of controversy about Tibet's status. By looking in from the 'margins' of the state system Rehearsing the State offers a brilliant illumination of sovereignty everywhere.' James D Sidaway, Professor of Political Geography, National University of Singapore 'This fascinating book provides both an in-depth account of the workings of the Tibetan government in exile and a new way of thinking about the state and stateness. Drawing on dramaturgical ideas of performance, rehearsal and play, Fiona McConnell unsettles established understandings of the relationships between state, sovereignty and territory. In the process she not only reveals much about the political geographies of the Tibetan diaspora, but also shows how an apparently marginal geopolitical phenomenon can shed new light on questions of government, citizenship and political authority.' Joe Painter, Professor of Geography, University of Durham, U