THE DOCTRINE OF SELF-DETERMINATION

Abstract

Poverty and underdevelopment plague millions of people in the world today. Interestingly, the 800 million people that are currently living on less than a dollar a day correlate very closely with the 750 million people who were under colonial subjugation in 1945. In an effort to understand how the disparities in development came about, the theory of self-determination will be defined and historically assessed. Through qualitative evaluation of the principle and history of self-determination and case studies on three key regions that have never known genuine self-rule, it will become clear that the doctrine of self-determination only ever existed in rhetoric. Resource trap theory will be applied to those who have been plagued by outside rule and a general assessment of the state of self-determination in the world will be given. Lastly, an argument for what right transcendently will be given based on the current state of affairs and on Kantian ethics. ; 2013-05-01 ; B.A. ; Sciences, Dept. of Political Science ; Bachelors ; This record was generated from author submitted information.