Self-determination is a human capacity, initially and principally an individual capacity, but then also a collective capacity. It is partially inherent, partially acquired, and the one or the other aspect is dominant depending on the understanding of each historical period. This capacity, however, does not just have to be learned or acquired; it must also prevail over forces that wish to partially or completely deprive all or many persons of this right. Hence self-determination is essentially also a question of power. It comes to face challenges from those who wish to determine others. This can lead to conflicts. If such conflicts are not to develop into a permanent struggle of all against all, rules need to be established that define who is permitted to determine others, under which conditions, and to what extent, and to specify who has the right to determine oneself, and in which scope.

The basic principle of this right of self-determination is that every individual and every collective – here especially every people – is accorded as much self-determination as possible and is subject to only as much alien determination as necessary. Every individual and every collective (people) obtains as much self-determination as is compatible with the same rights of other individuals and collectives. This presupposes that a society regards a maximum of self-determination for all its members as an ideal. If forces prevail that seek instead to achieve an unequal distribution of power, then the right of self-determination turns into a right of rulers to determine the ruled, and thus into alien determination. The following discussion focuses on the right of self-determination of peoples, but its individual foundations will also come under consideration time and again.

THE DIVISION OF THE WORLD INTO STATES: PERSONALITY PRINCIPLE AND TERRITORIAL PRINCIPLE

The right of self-determination of peoples is based on a twofold regulative idea. First and foremost, it grants every people the right (but not the obligation) to form an independent state. And as a prerequisite for this, it gives every individual the right to live in the state of one's own choosing, by means of a free choice of the people to which that individual wishes to belong.