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International Relations & Diplomacy vocabulary · International Law & Human Rights

Self-determination

Meaning in international relations & diplomacy, with examples

/ˌself dɪˌtɜːmɪˈneɪʃən/nounCommon term

In international relations & diplomacy, self-determination means: The right of a people to choose its own political future and form of government, and to shape its own economic, social and cultural development.

In Turkish: kendi kaderini tayin hakkı, self-determinasyon

How it is used

Stated in the UN Charter and in the two 1966 human rights covenants, and central to decolonisation. Scholars distinguish 'internal' self-determination (participation within a state) from 'external' self-determination, and its relationship with territorial integrity is much debated.

Example sentences

  1. The right to self-determination played a key role in decolonisation after 1945.

  2. The seminar compares different legal views on self-determination.

  3. Internal self-determination can be achieved through autonomy or fair political participation.

Common collocations

  • right to self-determination
  • right of peoples to self-determination
  • internal self-determination
  • external self-determination
  • territorial integrityThe principle that a state's borders and territory must not be violated or changed by force or pressure from other states.
  • sovereigntyThe full right and power of a state to govern its own territory and people without outside interference; a basic principle of the modern international system.
  • human rightsThe basic rights and freedoms that belong to every person, such as the right to life, freedom of expression and a fair trial, which states are expected to respect and protect.
  • recognitionThe formal acceptance by one state that another entity is a state, or that a government is the legitimate government of a state.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: International Law & Human Rights

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