Socio-Philosophical, Ethno-Cultural And Territorial-Geographical Contexts Of The Right To Self-Determination

The Right to Self-Determination is one of the most disputable and polysemantic principles in inter-ethnic and international relations. It is impossible to understand its’ meaning, forms of implementation and probable consequences out of the social, philosophical, ethnocultural, territorial and geographic context. In the post-colonial era, its’ value was not decreased; on the contrary, its impact was raised when exploring the relevant connections to be applied in interacting with the concept of “Indigenous Peoples†the way it was developed by the UN. The formation of new societies (and states) has been a permanent phenomenon since the existence of the world. Namibia, East Timor, Southern Sudan – all acts of self-determination recognized and supported by the international community. The case of Brexit can be considered similar to the aforementioned examples. Along with them, there are many other cases that are subject of dispute and frictions, which are not yet over or are still only processes in the making which will sooner or later appear in various parts of our planet. In view of the political and legal framework, the overall territory of the earth has more ot less been completely distributed among sovereign independent states; nevertheless, the question of self-determination is a highly conflictual one. The range of opportunities that existed to solve such conflicts has already been tried and tested within the system of the UN. In a lengthy process the concepts of “Indigenous Peoples†, “Internal Self-Determination†, “Free, Prior and Informed Consent†and “constructive agreements†between Indigenous Peoples and states were developed