This study investigates the doctrine of self-determination in the practice of the United Nations and in relation to the self-determination claims of the Palestinian people. In the first years that...Show moreThis study investigates the doctrine of self-determination in the practice of the United Nations and in relation to the self-determination claims of the Palestinian people. In the first years that followed its establishment, the United Nations terminated British mandate on the territory and since then its Partition Plan has not materialize. Over the time, he principle of self-determination underwent numerous reforms. To look back at the development of the principle as well as its application the the Palestinian self-determination claims this work employs process tracing method. This research looks at the five decades following the establishment of the United Nations and analyses them in three separate time frames. The time frames are based on historical context of the time. Findings of this work suggest that process of disregard, negligence and flexible interpretation of the doctrine of self-determination have played part in the unsuccessful exercise of the right to self-determination by the Palestinians.Show less
The lingering dispute between Cambodia and Thailand over the ancient Temple of Preah Vihear has still not been resolved. This may seem strange from the point of view of international law. In 1962,...Show moreThe lingering dispute between Cambodia and Thailand over the ancient Temple of Preah Vihear has still not been resolved. This may seem strange from the point of view of international law. In 1962, the International Court of Justice made a ruling on this issue, which should have resolved the dispute between the two countries. The ongoing dispute is, in fact, an indicator of the more comprehensive problem of demarcation of the past. The origins of the Preah Vihear Temple border conflict date back to colonial times and the subsequent decolonization period. During those times, both Cambodia and Thailand made efforts to augment their territorial sovereignty and to promote nationalism. The conflict thus created unfortunately continues to this day. The temple dispute has always been ready to erupt under the right circumstances if it suited Thai and Cambodian politicians. Moreover, the negative images and memories between Thailand and Cambodia have never ceased to exist, but are instead carefully maintained for political purposes. Such perspectives make it highly unlikely that the Preah Vihear issue will be resolved any time soon. Thai and Cambodian leaders have become stuck in a cycle of distrust about border issues that has been going on for many decades. The Preah Vihear dispute shows just how fragile Thai-Cambodian relations really are. The painful historical background, along with nationalist sentiments in the unfinished development of nation-building in both countries, is thwarting the formation of good relations. Preah Vihear, the temple on the border, has remained at the center of bilateral anxiety. This place of consecration has thus become a bone of contention.Show less
This thesis analyses the authority of international law from the perspective of international legal positivism. The traditional approach that takes the state’s will as the foundation of...Show moreThis thesis analyses the authority of international law from the perspective of international legal positivism. The traditional approach that takes the state’s will as the foundation of international law is problematic as it results in the voluntarist dilemma. For international law to have objective power, a state should be incapable of escaping its authority by its own will even though this will is what constituted international law in the first place. The incompatibility of this would mean that international law’s authority is actually based on a ‘special’ will that is external to the wills of states. Georg Jellinek devised a theory of international law that supposedly accounts for international law’s objective authority while maintaining the state’s will as its foundation. His theory is built on what he calls “the normative force of the factual”, but falls short as it cannot withstand Hume’s law. Herbert Hart’s theory of law is more promising as it leaves the state’s will out of the equation and focuses on legal practice to understand the necessary features of a legal system. International law, however, is “law” but not a legal system. This thesis challenges Hart’s understanding of international law as “law” and argues that there is an international legal system consisting of primary and secondary rules.Show less
The research draws upon the process of democratic transition and subsequent consolidation in the post-authoritarian Chilean state. The agency of a transnational flow of information produced by...Show moreThe research draws upon the process of democratic transition and subsequent consolidation in the post-authoritarian Chilean state. The agency of a transnational flow of information produced by networks of international institutions when promoting democracy around the world is considered due to its centrality to the Post Cold War wave of democratization. Within this context, the thesis argues that national political culture can constitute an obstacle to this exogenous process, as exemplified by the institutionalised conflict between civilian and military power in post-Pinochet Chile. The centrality of the role of the government in the process of democratisation is hence presented as being more directly effective than external influences such as those diplomacy and international law.Show less
