Learning Western Techniques of Empire: Republican China and the New Legal Framework for Managing Tibet

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 801-824
Author(s):  
MARIA ADELE CARRAI
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Republican China ◽  
The West ◽  
Sovereign State ◽  
Republican Period ◽  
Western Imperialism

AbstractAt the end of the nineteenth century, China found itself torn between its imperial past and its nation-state future. By the time it became a Republic in 1911, China had to redefine its territory in new national sovereign terms. Until then its territory had been inscribed in more malleable frontiers and boundaries within the normative framework of the so-called ‘tribute system’. The article shows how, applying the new legal techniques of empire learned from the West, the Chinese central government, wherever possible, attempted to expand its new sovereign domain in territories like Tibet, Xinjiang, and Mongolia, where, according to international law, all the prerequisites existed for national self-determination and independence. In the context of opposing British and Tibetan claims, the Chinese appropriation of international law in the Republican period (1911–1949) helped China not only to assert itself in the international domain as a sovereign state, defending itself against Western imperialism, but also to pursue its own fictional imperial claims over Tibet, without which the Communists’ ‘liberation’ of Tibet would have not been possible. The paper highlights the interplay of imperial techniques based on international law, the relativity of this legal language, and how the strategies of empire are not only a prerogative of the West, but can be quickly adopted by those who have been subjected to them, resulting in a vicious circle.

‘What, Then, of the Land’?: Territoriality, International Law, and the Republic of New Afrika

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Sam Klug
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
International Law ◽  
International Society ◽  
National Development ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Sovereign State ◽  
Legal Personality ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Postcolonial States ◽  
International Legal Personality

Abstract This article charts how African American appeals to international law shifted away from a politics of petition to a politics of sovereignty with the growing influence of postcolonial states in international society and the UN’s recognition of a right to self-determination. Whereas earlier efforts by African-descended peoples in the Americas to gain a hearing before international bodies often required pushing the boundaries of international legal personality to include entities other than states, in the late 1960s and early 1970s a black nationalist group called the Republic of New Afrika (RNA) pursued international subjectivity in its traditional and fullest form: as a sovereign state. Examining the writings of RNA leaders, especially Imari Obadele, this article explores how the group’s claims for territory, reparations, and international subjectivity relied on international legal discourse about plebiscites, self-determination, and national development.

Unilateral Economic Sanctions, International Law, and Human Rights

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 291-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Idriss Jazairy
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Cold War ◽  
International Law ◽  
Economic Sanctions ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Berlin Wall ◽  
The West ◽  
Eventual Collapse ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
United Nations Charter

AbstractAs part of the roundtable “Economic Sanctions and Their Consequences,” this essay examines unilateral coercive measures. These types of sanctions are applied outside the scope of Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, and were developed and refined in the West in the context of the Cold War. Yet the eventual collapse of the Berlin Wall did not herald the demise of unilateral sanctions; much to the contrary. While there are no incontrovertible data on the extent of these measures, one can safely say that they target in some way a full quarter of humanity. In addition to being a major attack on the principle of self-determination, unilateral measures not only adversely affect the rights to international trade and to navigation but also the basic human rights of innocent civilians. The current deterioration of the situation, with the mutation of embargoes into blockades and impositions on third parties, is a threat to peace that needs to be upgraded in strategic concern.

Self-Determination, Human Rights, and the Nation-State

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (4-5) ◽  
pp. 443-484
Author(s):  
Gaetano Pentassuglia
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Nation State ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
General Process ◽  
Cultural Minority ◽  
The Right

Abstract In this article I examine selective dimensions of the nexus among the right to self-determination, human rights, and the ‘nation-state’ as they relate to claims made by certain ethno-cultural minority groups. I first discuss some conceptual extensions of ‘national’ claims and their underlying relation to international law and state sovereignty. Then, I critique elements of ‘national’ self-determination that are supposedly constitutive of the law of self-determination, including arguments about sub-national groups as ‘peoples’, and discuss some alternative approaches to the role of international law vis-à-vis this sort of claims. Finally, I argue that international human rights law can offer a synthesis of the above nexus insofar as it works, not so much as a platform for accepting or rejecting seemingly ‘absolute’ rights or solely enabling legal-institutional ad hocism, but rather as a general process-based framework for assessing group- related pathologies that are (directly or indirectly) of international law’s own making.

scholarly journals Prosecuting Piracy at the High Seas: the Experience of Malaysia

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 307
Author(s):  
Muhammad Hameedullah Md Asri ◽  
Md Khalil Ruslan
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Geneva Convention ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
International Treaties ◽  
Sovereign State ◽  
High Court ◽  
United Nations Convention ◽  
The Law ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Right

The development of the law on piracy under two major international treaties; the Geneva Convention, 1958 and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 1982 has witnessed great acceptance and application of the law with many coastal states have crafted specific anti-piracy law as a manifestation of their commitments to the international treaties. However, up until today, Malaysia has yet to come out with a single and unified statute against piracy despite being a member to both treaties. The law is scattered in a different set of documents and carried out by various agencies that are responsible to each respective law. It is argued that given this is the position in Malaysia, the prosecution of piracy would be a critical problem for the law enforcement. In this paper, we address this concern by looking at both Malaysian legal framework as well as the experience of the country against international piracy, particularly the case of Bunga Laurel. The findings suggest that there are more than twenty Acts that might be used against piracy. As a sovereign state under the international law, Malaysia also has the right to resort to principles of international law for the apprehension and prosecution of high sea pirates. To this effect, the case of Bunga Laurel has really manifested the successful application of Malaysian law by the High Court of Malaya against international piracy. The paper concludes that the absence of a single anti-piracy law is not necessarily an obstacle, but instead an advantage with great choice of law available for the prosecution in this country.

scholarly journals Geopolitical Location of the Republic of Azerbaijan: temporal and Spatial Changes

2020 ◽  
pp. 246-260
Author(s):  
Aydin I. Ibrahimov ◽  
◽  
Gulzar M. Ismaylova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
The West ◽  
Sovereign State ◽  
Fixed Element ◽  
Republican Period ◽  
The Third ◽  
Spatial Changes ◽  
The Status ◽  
Similarities And Differences ◽  
Temporal And Spatial ◽  
The Republic

For instance, the evolution of the Republic of Azerbaijan was examined in three different periods. The first one is the republican period (1918–1920); the second one is the sovereign state period (1920–1991); and the third one is the period since 1991. Each period was compared with the others and the similarities and differences experienced in the geopolitics of the country were evaluated. Three main lines are clearly seen in the geopolitics conducted approximately throughout the last century by different Azerbaijans. Firstly, the main geopolitical competitor is the Republic of Armenia; secondly, the competition taking place in the region between Russia and the West creates the atmosphere which influences the geopolitical behaviors; and thirdly, the fixed element which determines the status of the country is the energy resources.

The Existing Cause of Biafra and its Right to Self-determination

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Yinka Olomojobi
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Regional Differences ◽  
The State ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
State Sovereignty ◽  
The South ◽  
Sovereign State ◽  
Independent States ◽  
The Right

Abstract There has been recent agitation for self-determination in the south-east of Nigeria for the state known as Biafra (a pro-secessionist group). The principle of self-determination is a well-debated discourse since it connects with the right to secede and create a sovereign state. Like a marriage at gunpoint, a reluctant partner will always want a way out of the marriage, and will take a hike at the first opportunity. Given this political inheritance, Nigeria has fallen prey to several attempts to undermine state sovereignty originating in ethnic and regional differences. The controversy has concerned both the principle’s status in international law and its charter. This principle has played a prominent part in the emergence of former colonies as independent states. The aim of this article is to explore the ongoing agitation for a Biafran Republic and to assess whether it is in conformity with the right to self-determination.

scholarly journals Re-Reading Vitoria: Re-Conceptualising the Responsibility of Rebel Movements

2014 ◽  
Vol 83 (4) ◽  
pp. 357-403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Greenman
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Law ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Management Model ◽  
International Organisations ◽  
Sovereign State ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Francisco De Vitoria

This article begins with an analysis of the concept of responsibility elaborated in the jurisprudence of Francisco de Vitoria. It is argued that Vitoria’s concept of responsibility plays a central role in his construction of an international legal framework for the management of the Indians by the Spanish, a ‘management model’ which operated so as to legitimise Spanish administration of the colonised world and ultimately, to consolidate the emerging authority of the European sovereign state. In the second part of the article this re-reading of Vitoria forms the basis of reflection on present international law and practice regarding the responsibility of rebel movements. It is used to challenge the idea that the increased engagement with rebel movements by international organisations and legal scholars since the end of the Cold War is necessarily a liberalising and emancipatory move.

The Soviet Approach to the Right of Peoples to Self-determination: Russia’s Farewell to jus publicum europaeum

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauri Mälksoo
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
The West ◽  
The Real ◽  
Liberal Democratic ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of International Law ◽  
The Right

The aim of this article is to explore the theory and practice of the Soviet position on the right of peoples to self-determination in 1917 and afterwards. It is a misunderstanding to mention Lenin’s (the Bolsheviks’) and Wilson’s concepts of self-determination in one breath, as ‘precursors’ in international law. The Soviet concept of the right of peoples to self-determination was adopted for tactical and propagandistic purposes, and it had little in common with the liberal democratic concept of this right that saw the right of peoples to self-determination as an end in itself. The real contribution of the Russian Bolsheviks to the history of international law has, to some extent, been overlooked. Throughout the 20th century, the West and the ussr had different regional standards and usages of the right of peoples to self-determination, thus presenting a continuous challenge to the idea of the universality of international law.

Two Faces of Self-determination in Political Divorce

ICL Journal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Han Liu
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Conventional Wisdom ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Real Problem ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Parent State ◽  
Daunting Task ◽  
The Right

AbstractFor decades, international law has denied the right to secede even if it enshrines self-determination. Existing scholarship explains this contradiction by opposing the right to self-determination and the principle of territorial integrity: self-determination itself does not justify a valid claim to the disputed territory. This article, against conventional wisdom, argues that the opposition is superficial. The real problem lies within the notion of self-determination itself. Self-determination contains within it two opposite faces: one breeds separatist movements; the other supports unification and territorial sovereignty. Historically, self-determination grounded both union and separation in the rise of the nation-state; secessionist self-determination only came into play when epochal wars had weakened the sovereignty of the parent state. Conceptually, the ambiguity of self-determination makes defining the ‘self’ a daunting task for the law, especially when both the parent state and the seceding group make national claims.

scholarly journals BAYANGAN AKAN BANGSA DALAM KONTEKS HAK UNTUK MENENTUKAN NASIB SENDIRI: SUATU WACANA

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tristam Pascal Moeliono
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Religious Beliefs ◽  
The State ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Nation States

Two issues shall be discussed: what is meant by people’s right to self determination and how has it been realized, also in the context of indigenous-tribal peoples. Analysis shall be done, by using a juridical doctrinal method. The purpose would go beyond explaining but also induce understanding of people’s right to self determination in the context of nation states. One determining faktor in the construction of a nation state is the emergence of an imagined solidarity between peoples from different races, tribes, or religious beliefs, being the result of suffering under colonialism. Notwithstanding that indigenous or tribal peoples may and in fact experience similar suffering under the state they are considered to be part of, international law, while recognizing their right to self determination, does not fully extend the same scope of rights to them.

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