Self-determination

Principle in international law that a people ought to be able to determine their own governmental forms and structure free from outside influence. This principle was developed by Woodrow Wilson and was important in the [Treaty of Versillies]? and decolonialization?.

There is tension between the concept of self-determination and that of territorial integrity. This conflict has been resolved in practice by defining the notion of "people" entitled to self-determination as persons living in a particular nation-state rather than persons sharing a common culture or language. Hence, self-determination as it is understood in the early 21st century does not generally promote the political aspirations of oppressed ethnic minorities unless the state that they live in refuses to fully incorporate them.