'Remnants of Past Troubles': Defining Self-Government Among Territories

38 Pages Posted: 9 Jul 2008 Last revised: 14 Jul 2008

See all articles by Alan Mygatt-Tauber

Alan Mygatt-Tauber

United States Department of the Navy; Seattle University School of Law

Date Written: March 1, 2008

Abstract

The United Nations has declared 2001-2010 the Second Decade for the Elimination of Colonialism. In order to achieve this goal, the 16 remaining non-self-governing territories identified under Article 73 of the UN Charter must achieve self-government. But how is the UN to determine when that goal has been achieved? It is the argument of this article that the current definitions promulgated by the UN fail to provide any clear guidance, and conducts an empirical analysis, utilizing Qualitative Comparative Analysis, to compare non-self-governing territories and self-governing territories. It finds that the UN's lists of factors of self-government fail to provide an adequate explanation for why some territories are universally recognized to be self-governing, while others are still viewed as colonies of larger powers. It concludes with a new list of factors that can be used to make a principled determination of when a territory becomes self-governing.

Keywords: international law, territories, UN, colonialism, self-government, self-determination, empirical, boolean logic, United Nations

Suggested Citation

Mygatt-Tauber, Alan, 'Remnants of Past Troubles': Defining Self-Government Among Territories (March 1, 2008). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1157460 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1157460

Alan Mygatt-Tauber (Contact Author)

United States Department of the Navy ( email )

United States

Seattle University School of Law ( email )

901 12th Avenue, Sullivan Hall
P.O. Box 222000
Seattle, WA n/a 98122-1090
United States

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