The sovereignty of nations exists within a framework established by international law and, for UN member states, by the United Nations Charter.
The United Nations Charter strongly protects the sovereignty and political independence of states. At the same time, it establishes obligations that sovereign nations agree to uphold when they become members of the organization.
The Sovereignty of Nations
Article 2(1) of the United Nations Charter states:
“The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members.”
This establishes the fundamental principle that UN member states are sovereign equals, regardless of their size, population, wealth, or military power.
Article 2(7) further states:
“Nothing contained in the present Charter shall authorize the United Nations to intervene in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state…”
There is, however, an important qualification. Article 2(7) does not prevent enforcement measures taken under Chapter VII of the Charter.
Article 2(4) also establishes one of the central principles of the international system:
“All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force…”
The Charter therefore attempts to establish a balance. Nations are sovereign and politically independent, but they also have obligations toward one another.
Article 1(2) identifies another fundamental principle:
“To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples…”
Self-determination is therefore not simply a political slogan. It is embedded within the founding purposes of the United Nations.
When nations join the United Nations, they accept the Charter as an international legal framework. Article 2(2) requires members to fulfill their Charter obligations in good faith. Article 25 provides that UN members agree to accept and carry out Security Council decisions made in accordance with the Charter. Article 103 further provides that, when Charter obligations conflict with obligations under another international agreement, the Charter obligations prevail. (United Nations)
But this does not transform the United Nations into a world government.
The United Nations cannot simply legislate for individual Americans, replace the United States Constitution, elect or remove American officials, establish the American tax system, operate state governments, or exercise general police power over American citizens.
The sovereignty of the United States remains intact.
What the United States has done, like other member states, is agree to participate in an international system in which certain obligations apply to its conduct toward other nations.
This distinction is essential.
Sovereignty does not mean unlimited freedom from international law.
It means that nations retain their political independence while accepting certain rules governing their behavior toward other nations and toward the international community.
That brings us to one of the most difficult questions in international relations:
What happens when the sovereignty of a nation or the self-determination of its people is violated?
The Charter provides mechanisms through which the international community can respond, including diplomatic measures, economic sanctions, and, under specific Chapter VII circumstances, enforcement measures. The Security Council has primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security. (United Nations)
Yet the ultimate objective should not be perpetual confrontation.
It should be peace.
The Powder Keg of Geopolitics
As I shift gears, I would like to discuss the powder keg that is the current state of geopolitics.
Throughout the world, conflicts have arisen among nations and peoples. From my personal perspective, we are only a few steps away from a much larger global conflict.
The rise of military action in the Middle East has drawn numerous countries and armed groups into an increasingly complex web of alliances and rivalries. These relationships have created a dangerous environment in which trust between nations continues to deteriorate and the ability of diplomacy to resolve disputes peacefully is increasingly challenged.
Three areas of particular concern are Ukraine, Palestine, and Iran.
As the world seeks knowledge, understanding, and a peaceful way out of these conflicts, each situation has become increasingly entangled with military power, competing national interests, and questions of sovereignty and self-determination.
Ukraine
Ukrainian forces and Russia have been in conflict since 2014, with Russia’s full-scale invasion beginning in February 2022.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution ES-11/1 in March 2022, which addressed the aggression against Ukraine. It was adopted by a vote of 141 in favor, 5 against, and 35 abstentions. (United Nations Digital Library)
Yet an obvious question remains:
Where is the enforcement of international law when the sovereignty of a nation is violated?
The answer reveals one of the fundamental limitations of the international system.
International law can establish rules, condemn violations, impose sanctions, and create mechanisms for accountability. But enforcement ultimately depends upon political institutions and the willingness of states to act.
At the same time, Russia has repeatedly presented NATO’s eastward expansion and European security arrangements as threats to Russian security. That explanation does not erase the separate legal question surrounding the use of force against Ukraine, but it is part of understanding the competing security perceptions that have contributed to the conflict.
In the end, the security of the people of Europe, Ukraine, and Russia is caught within a dangerous balance of power.
When will both sides use diplomacy to build rather than war to destroy?
How many more people must die before the political leaders involved recognize that security achieved through perpetual conflict can never produce lasting peace?
Palestine and Israel
The conflict involving Israelis and Palestinians is deeper than October 7, 2023. Its history reaches back through decades of competing national aspirations, displacement, war, occupation, terrorism, political movements, and international diplomacy.
The British Mandate for Palestine incorporated the Balfour Declaration’s support for a Jewish national home, while Arab Palestinians sought independence and opposed the direction of the Mandate. During the Mandate period, Jewish immigration increased substantially, particularly during the rise of Nazi persecution in Europe. Violence between Arab and Jewish communities intensified. (United Nations)
In 1947, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 181, recommending partition of Mandatory Palestine into an Arab state and a Jewish state, with Jerusalem under a special international regime. The proposed Arab state did not come into existence following the subsequent war. (United Nations)
This history matters because the question of Palestinian self-determination has remained unresolved.
The United Nations later recognized the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and, in 2012, granted Palestine non-member observer State status. The General Assembly resolution explicitly reaffirmed the goal of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. (United Nations)
At the same time, Jewish people have a legitimate claim to national self-determination and security, and Israelis have a right to live without terrorism and attacks against civilians.
Those principles do not have to be mutually exclusive.
Palestinian self-determination and Israeli security can exist together.
The challenge is creating a political structure capable of protecting both.
For me, the most important principle is that ordinary people should not have to pay the price for the political ambitions of governments, military organizations, or ideological movements.
Hamas’s attacks on Israeli civilians cannot be ignored. Neither can the enormous civilian suffering resulting from the subsequent war in Gaza.
The destruction of civilian life and infrastructure creates another generation of people who may grow up knowing only fear, anger, and loss.
The answer cannot simply be more violence.
A durable political settlement would need to address security, borders, governance, self-determination, refugees, Jerusalem, settlements, and the rights of both peoples.
A two-state framework has long been one of the principal diplomatic models proposed for achieving this. The United Nations itself has repeatedly articulated a vision of an independent Palestinian state living alongside Israel in peace and security. (United Nations)
The ultimate decision, however, must involve the people who actually live there.
The international community can facilitate negotiations.
It can provide guarantees.
It can provide humanitarian assistance.
It can establish mechanisms for monitoring and enforcement.
But peace ultimately has to be built by the people who must live with it.
Iran
And lastly, we reach Iran.
Iran is a sovereign nation.
Its people possess the same fundamental right to national self-determination as the people of other nations.
The question of Iran’s nuclear program, however, demonstrates how sovereignty and international obligations can collide.
Iran has asserted its right to peaceful nuclear technology. Under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, non-nuclear-weapon states have an acknowledged right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, subject to the treaty’s non-proliferation obligations and safeguards. (United Nations)
That distinction is extremely important.
There is a difference between peaceful nuclear energy and the development of nuclear weapons.
The international community has a legitimate interest in preventing nuclear proliferation.
But that objective should be pursued through verification, diplomacy, international agreements, and institutions such as the International Atomic Energy Agency whenever possible.
The United Nations Security Council’s framework concerning Iran has historically involved precisely this tension: allowing peaceful nuclear activity while seeking verification that nuclear material and activities are not diverted toward weapons development. Resolution 2231 endorsed the JCPOA and established specific international restrictions and verification mechanisms. (UN Main)
This is where diplomacy becomes essential.
If a nation believes that it must develop nuclear weapons simply to guarantee its survival, the international community may inadvertently create the very proliferation problem it is attempting to prevent.
Security should therefore be created through confidence rather than fear.
At the same time, Iran also has responsibilities.
Iran’s support for armed groups throughout the Middle East is part of the broader regional security problem and cannot simply be ignored. A genuine peace process would require commitments from all sides, not merely from Iran’s adversaries.
The same principle should apply everywhere.
If we expect one nation to respect sovereignty, we must expect other nations to respect it as well.
If we expect one government to stop supporting armed groups, we must examine the actions of other governments by the same standard.
If we expect one nation to obey international law, we must expect the same from its allies and adversaries.
The Choice Before Us
The stage and its actors of geopolitics have led this world toward an increasingly dangerous period of international conflict.
Nations have the right to determine their own futures.
People have the right to live without foreign aggression.
People have the right to security.
People have the right to self-determination.
And governments have a responsibility to pursue peace before war.
Military power has become one of the primary instruments of international politics. It is used to defend nations, deter adversaries, pursue political objectives, and influence the balance of power.
But military power alone cannot create lasting peace.
The United Nations was created in the aftermath of two world wars with a fundamental objective: to prevent another catastrophic global conflict.
The Charter begins with an aspiration that remains relevant today: to maintain international peace and security and to develop friendly relations among nations.
Perhaps the greatest challenge facing the international community is not determining which nation possesses the greatest military power.
It is determining whether nations can learn to use their power responsibly.
Ukraine needs a path toward peace.
Israelis and Palestinians need a path toward security and self-determination.
Iran and its regional adversaries need a path toward security without nuclear proliferation and perpetual confrontation.
And the rest of the world needs a diplomatic system capable of preventing these individual conflicts from becoming one larger conflict.
The right to sovereignty must be protected.
The right to self-determination must be protected.
The right to life must be protected.
And international law must apply consistently, regardless of whether the nation involved is a friend, an enemy, an ally, or an adversary.
Ultimately, the purpose of diplomacy should not be to determine which nation wins.
It should be to create a world in which fewer people have to die.
That is the promise of international cooperation.
And that is the challenge before the United Nations and its member states today.
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