scholarly journals The Virtues of Bright Lines: Self-Determination, Secession, and External Intervention

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 384-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brad R. Roth
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Order ◽  
The Self ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
The Past ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
United Nations Charter ◽  
External Intervention

AbstractThe United Nations Charter-based international order sought to reconcile the self-determination of peoples with the inviolability of state boundaries by presuming sovereign states to be manifestations of the self-determination of the entirety of their territorial populations. This presumption, albeit nationally rebuttable, traditionally prevailed even where states could only by a feat of ideological imagination be characterized as “possessed of a government representing the whole people belonging to the territory without distinction.” But the international reaction to fragmentation in the former Yugoslavia—regarding both the initial “dissolution” and the subsequent struggle over Kosovo—called into question the rigid doctrines of the past and opened the door to secessionist claims theretofore dismissible as beyond the pale. Although no vindication of Russian intervention in Ukraine can properly be drawn from the Yugoslav cases, the Ukrainian crises help to surface the hidden dangers of an emerging jurisprudence that would allow previously inadmissible considerations—whether ethnic, historical, constitutional, or “democratic”—to compromise the territorial inviolability norm.

Reflections on the Indonesian Case

1948 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rupert Emerson
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Security Council ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
General Assertion ◽  
Form Of Government ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Right ◽  
United Nations Charter

The tangled affairs of Indonesia, twice thrust upon the Security Council, have served as an admirable touchstone of the principles, purposes, and effectiveness of the United Nations as well as of the policies of some of its leading members. Fundamental principles of the new postwar order were at stake. The Atlantic Charter had affirmed the right of all peoples to choose the form of government under which they would live, and the collapse of empires before the Japanese onslaught led to the widespread conclusion that the old colonial system was dead. These doctrines found sober and modified expression not only in Chapter XI of the United Nations Charter, but also in the more general assertion of the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples and of the universal application of human rights and fundamental freedoms. The rights of dependent peoples, the validity of the doctrine of self-determination, and the possibilities for peaceful change all hovered about the Security Council chamber in the course of the debates on the two Indonesian cases.

Resolution 530 (1983

1984 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 838-840
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Central America ◽  
Use Of Force ◽  
Foreign Minister ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Northern Border ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The One

The Security Council,Having heard the statement of the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Nicaragua,Having also heard the statements of various States Members of the United Nations in the course of the debate,Deeply concerned, on the one hand, at the situation prevailing on and insid the northern border of Nicaragua and, on the other hand, at the consequent dange of a military confrontation between Honduras and Nicaragua, which could further aggravate the existing crisis.situation in Central America,Recalling all the relevant principles of the Charter of the United Nations,, particularly the obligation of States to settle their disputes exclusively by peaceful means, not to resort to the threat or use of force and to respect the self-determination of peoples and the sovereign independence of all States,Noting the widespread desire expressed by the States concerned to achieve solutions to the differences between them,

scholarly journals Rising Powers and Peacebuilding

2021 ◽  
pp. 299-313
Author(s):  
Kai Michael Kenkel
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Global South ◽  
International Order ◽  
Rising Powers ◽  
The Past ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
Global Peace ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Rising Power

Over the past two decades, a number of states have risen to take on substantial roles in peacebuilding efforts across the globe. China, Brazil, India, South Africa, and Turkey, among others, have become major players in their regions and beyond. This chapter analyzes how peacebuilding serves as the locus for these states to contest the rules underpinning the international order and to stake their claim to influence. These states have to date worked within the dominant liberal paradigm rather than revamping it; thus they have brought significant improvements in legitimacy and efficacy through their domestic experiences. The chapter identifies the commonalities that Southern rising powers apply to peacebuilding, as well as divergent characteristics that hamper its spread. It provides a definition of this class of states apt for analyzing their peace policies and crystallizes elements of a Southern-based rising-power contribution to global peace. Examples are given of how these states have sought to multilateralize their cooperation and act consistently within the United Nations. The analysis then takes a closer look at the practices of Brazil and India, two major rising powers from the Global South.

The United Nations and Decolonization: the Case of Southern Yemen

1972 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
King-yuh Chang
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Political Change ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Special Committee ◽  
Colonial Power ◽  
New Members ◽  
The United Nations

Since 1962 the United Nations, mainly through the Special Committee on the Situation with regard to the Implementation of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples (Special Committee of 24), has attempted to effect political change in dependent territories in accordance with the principle of self-determination of peoples. While the organization usually demands that the inhabitants be given a chance to determine their political future and to choose their government, its primary objective has been somewhat more specific. Spurred on by the influx of new members that occurred around the start of the decade, most of them former colonies, the UN has pressured for the complete displacement of alien rule in dependent territories and has tended to accept whatever type of government emerges as long as it is indigenous, that is, not controlled by a colonial power or European settlers.

scholarly journals Secession, Democracy & Human Rights

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Reimers
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Spontaneous Order ◽  
Political Scientist ◽  
Current Process ◽  
Coercive Behavior ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Right ◽  
United Nations Charter

The United Nations (UN) officially declared "self-determination" as a right of all peoples. Although the United Nations Charter (1945) offers some guidelines for the application of this right, there are major challenges in its implementation in the case of secessionist tendencies. Faced with this situation, the economist Jörg Guido Hülsmann, in his essay Secession and the Production of Defense, discussed not only the argument that pure private production is always superior to public and compulsory schemes, but also the current process of secession which, should always be justified against violent and coercive behavior of governments against (part of) its population. Hülsmann's ideas are presented in the contrast of the latest secessionist movements in Catalonia and Scotland, and in combination with Hayek's concept of "spontaneous order." The separatist movementin Catalonia is also analyzed based on the ideas of political scientist Margaret Moore, who advocates three types of normative theories that can justify the right to secession.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document