2018] NATIONALITY AND DEFINING “THE RIGHT TO HAVE RIGHTS” S885 to define nationality as anything more specific than the Vattelian “legal bond between a person and a State.” 198 To preempt future nationality crises of the kind suffered after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the States of the Council of Europe then adopted the 2006 Convention on the Avoidance of Statelessness in Relation to State Succession. 199 This later convention defined stateless persons as those “not considered as a national by any State,” 200 but it, too, did not identify any baseline rights associated with the possession of nationality. 201 B. The Stance of “Subsidiary Means” of Interpretation 1. UNHCR In a 1972 speech, UNHCR’s High Commissioner articulated that global statelessness was a matter of “great concern.” 202 He expanded on the issue, echoing post-World War II sentiments that the distinction between refugees and stateless persons was one of de facto versus de jure lack of protection. Statelessness was then considered tantamount to a lack of protection—or the refusal of any national authorities to provide a person with “assistance” while at home or to “look after him” while abroad. 203 In contrast, UNHCR in 1997 provided a definition of statelessness “in its broader sense” as the inability to enjoy the rights “associated with citizenship.” 204 Citing Arendt’s propositions regarding belonging and community membership, UNHCR suggested that the rights associated with citizenship include the right to participate in the political process. 205 In subsequent publications, UNHCR— sometimes citing Arendt, other times citing Benhabib—more boldly insinuated and asserted that the right to a nationality encompasses the right to political participation. In its 2005 handbook on nationality and statelessness, UNHCR equated nationality with citizenship and 198. Id. art. 2(a). 199. Council of Europe Convention on the Avoidance of Statelessness in Relation to State Succession, C.E.T.S. No. 200, Mar. 15, 2006. 200. Id. art. 1(c). 201. See generally id. 202. High Commn’r to the Twenty-Third Session of the Executive Comm. of the High Commn’r Programme, Opening Statement, U.N. Doc A/8712/Add.1, (Oct. 17, 1972). 203. U.N. Ad-Hoc Comm. on Refugees and Stateless Persons, A Study of Statelessness, U.N. Doc. E/1112/Add.1 (Aug. 1, 1949). 204. U.N. HIGH COMMN’R FOR REFUGEES, supra note 169. 205. Id. Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2954729