International Relations Researches

International Relations Researches

The relationship between the right to self-determination and the principle of territorial integrity in the practice of the United Nations Security Council

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Hossein Dehghan Zargabad 1
Ahmadreza Soleimanzadeh 2
Armin Amini 3
1 PhD Student, Department of International Law, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran.
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Law, Urmia Branch, Islamic Azad University, Urmia, Iran.
3 Associate Professor, Department of International Relations, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran.
10.22034/irr.2025.539774.2746
Abstract
The United Nations Security Council, as the main body responsible for maintaining international peace and security, has faced crises in which the conflict between the principle of the right to self-determination of nations and the principle of preserving the territorial integrity of states has been manifested. This article seeks to clarify the patterns of the Council's dealing with this conflict by examining the fundamental concepts of these two principles and the legal analysis of the Security Council's performance in cases such as East Timor, Abkhazia, Crimea, and especially Nagorno-Karabakh. The authors are trying to show, based on the findings of the article, that the Security Council in its practice often emphasizes maintaining international stability and respecting territorial integrity. However, in exceptional and special cases where it has faced widespread human rights violations or lack of real representation by the central government, it has tended to favor the right to self-determination and has approved it.This article concludes that the UN Security Council has relied on political and security considerations rather than purely legal rules in balancing the two principles.
Keywords
Security Council
Right to Self-Determination
Territorial Integrity
East Timor
Abkhazia
 
 
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