Territorial integrity

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Territorial integrity is the principle under

UN Charter and has been recognized as customary international law.[1] Under this principle, forcible imposition of a border change is an act of aggression
.

In recent years[

United Nations Charter "to develop self-government, to take due account of the political aspirations of the peoples, and to assist them in the progressive development of their free political institutions, according to the particular circumstances of each territory and its peoples and their varying stages of advancement."[2]

History

Prior to the modern era, there was not a clearly defined system of international boundaries.[3] Rather, authority over territorial spaces was non-linear, often overlapping and shifting.[4][5] According to Mark Zacher, "precisely surveyed national borders only came into clear view in the eighteenth century".[6] Guntram Herb dates the emergence of clearly defined political territories to the 15th century.[7]

The

Westphalian sovereignty, but even this did not necessarily reflect any absolute right to particular territory.[8] Even after Westphalia, territorial exchange remained common between states. In turn, these states were culturally diverse and politically disorganized, and people were not collectively identified by state borders.[9]

The emergence of nationalism and self-determination in the 18th and 19th centuries began to alter people's perception of the states in which they resided. Nationalism promoted the belief that territory belonged to a nation and that the territorial integrity of a nation should be respected.[10] Guntram Herb argues national identity is "dependent on territory because only territory provides tangible evidence of the nation's existence and its historical roots, and a nation needs a clearly demarcated national territory to demand its own state".[11] John Etherington agrees, stating: "Underlying all nationalist claims over territory is the proposition that nation and territory ultimately belong to each other, to the extent that the characteristic features of each cannot be understood without making reference to the other".[12] He observes how, because all nationalist movements necessarily make territorial claims in a world marked by competing claims over territory, this becomes an essential part of their self-justification.[13]

Following World War I, the establishment of the League of Nations ushered in a new era of international cooperation. The League's Covenant codified territorial integrity as a key principle of international law.[14] However, the political conditions for maintaining the territorial status quo after the war were not always maintained and various post-war settlements involved exchanges of territory irrespective of local populations.[15]

With the formation of the

Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (now Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe), territorial integrity became a well-established part of international resolutions. The UN Charter of 1945 affirmed states’ obligation not to use force to alter state boundaries.[16]

In a changing world

The recent (post-World War II) strict application of territorial integrity has given rise to a number of problems and, when faced with reality "on the ground", can be seen as too artificial a construct.[17]

Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Nagorno-Karabakh
between 2008 and 2020

At the

World Summit Outcome Document regarding the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity".[19]

However, this responsibility to protect refers only to the ability of external powers to override sovereignty and does not explicitly involve the changing of borders.

The

International Court of Justice advisory opinion on Kosovo's declaration of independence
claims that territorial integrity is not violated as far as international law is concerned by declarations of independence in themselves.

Writing on the cross-border institutions created in

Ulster unionism
were blurred by the Agreement's implementation of cross-border decision-making.

See also

References

  1. ^ Corten, Olivier (2011). "Territorial Integrity Narrowly Interpreted: Reasserting the Classical Inter-State Paradigm of International Law". Leiden Journal of International Law. 87: 88 – via Hein Online.
  2. ^ "UN Charter Chapter XI".
  3. ^ Zacher, Mark W. (2001). "The Territorial Integrity Norm: International Boundaries and the Use of Force" (PDF). International Organization. 55 (2): 215–250. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  4. doi:10.1177/1354066118760991
    .
  5. ^ Zacher, p.216
  6. ^ Zacher, p.216
  7. ISBN 9780847684670
    .
  8. ^ Zacher, p.216
  9. ^ Zacher, p.217
  10. ^ Zacher, p.217
  11. ^ Herb, p.9
  12. doi:10.1111/j.1754-9469.2007.tb00160.x
    . Retrieved 20 February 2024. p.25
  13. doi:10.1111/j.1754-9469.2007.tb00160.x
    . Retrieved 20 February 2024. p.25
  14. ^ Zacher, p.219
  15. ^ Zacher", p.220
  16. ^ Zacher, p.221
  17. ^ Stuart Elden (University Of Durham) Boundaries-in-the-making (Part 1): Critical perspectives on national borders Archived 2006-08-23 at the Wayback Machine paper presented on 4 June 2005 to the Association of American Geographers Archived 2007-02-06 at the Wayback Machine 2005 Annual Meeting
  18. ^ Annan calls for endorsement of Responsibility to Protect Archived 2005-09-10 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ Resolution 1674 (2006) Archived 2009-02-23 at the Wayback Machine on the United Nations Information System on the Question of Palestine website
  20. doi:10.1080/714004696
    . Retrieved 25 February 2024., pp.2-3

Further reading

  • Sebastian Anstis and Mark Zacher (June 2010). "The Normative Bases of the Global Territorial Order." Diplomacy and Statecraft 21: 306–323.
  • Mark Zacher (2001). "The Territorial Integrity Norm." International Organization 55: 215–250.
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