Although recognition of States retains a fundamental importance in international law and is a common occurrence in international relations, its legal meaning remains unclear well into the twenty-first century. It is therefore necessary to adopt an analytical approach and analyse this act in relation to its object and effects, chiefly the matter of opposability of legal statehood. As a legal act, recognition can and does make the recipient’s statehood opposable to the granting State. However, in some situations, statehood may be opposable even in the absence of recognition by virtue of other norms of international law applicable to the situation. This means that recognition will at times have a constitutive effect, and a declaratory effect at others. The present thesis seeks to identify and distinguish between these situations and to develop a truly comprehensive approach to recognition and statehood.