Territorial integrity

Prior to the modern era, there was not a clearly defined system of international boundaries. Rather, authority over territorial spaces was non-linear, often overlapping and shifting. The Peace of Westphalia in 1648 is commonly considered to have established territorial integrity as a cornerstone of sovereignty, embodied in the concept of Westphalian sovereignty, but even this did not necessarily reflect any absolute right to particular territory. He observes how, because all nationalist movements necessarily make territorial claims in a world marked by competing claims over territory, this becomes an essential part of their self-justification. have led to controversy on possible re-emergence of the right of conquest as international law. ==In a changing world==

The recent (post-World War II) strict application of territorial integrity has given rise to a number of problems and, when faced with reality "on the ground", can be seen as too artificial a construct. and Nagorno-Karabakh between 2008 and 2023 At the 2005 World Summit, the world's nations agreed on a "Responsibility to Protect", allowing a right for humanitarian intervention. It has been argued that this could create a flexible application of concepts of sovereignty and territorial integrity, easing the strict adherence and taking into account the de facto status of the territory and other factors present on a case by case basis. The United Nations Security Council Resolution 1674, adopted by the United Nations Security Council on April 28, 2006, "Reaffirm[ed] the provisions of paragraphs 138 and 139 of the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document regarding the responsibility to protect populations from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity". However, this responsibility to protect refers only to the ability of external powers to override sovereignty and does not explicitly involve the changing of borders. The International Court of Justice advisory opinion on Kosovo's declaration of independence claims that territorial integrity is not violated as far as international law is concerned by declarations of independence in themselves. Writing on the cross-border institutions created in Northern Ireland following the Good Friday Agreement, Cathal McCall observes how these configurations constituted a "functional transterritorial model of governance for Northern Ireland based on the principles of interdependence, inclusion and consent" as opposed to the previous "exclusivist territorial political pillars of modern Irish nationalism and Ulster unionism". That is, the exclusivist assumptions of territorial integrity, embodied in Irish nationalism and Ulster unionism were blurred by the Agreement's implementation of cross-border decision-making. ==See also==