DO NO HARM!: LET US RECOGNIZE THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION

The failure to recognize the right to self-determination of any territory has been the cause of many wars of independence across different continents, such as that of Greece and other Balkan countries against the Ottoman Empire, or that of the United States and many Latin American, African, and Asian colonies against their respective European empires. This also includes the Netherlands regarding Spain, Spain regarding Napoleonic France, France regarding the Third Reich, and a long list of others throughout history.

Sometimes these conflicts have been accompanied by genocides, such as the one committed by the Pakistani army in Bangladesh, where between 300,000 and 3 MILLION innocent people were murdered and between 200,000 and 400,000 women were raped. Another example is the massacre of Armenians by Turkish nationalists, in which between 1.1 and 2.1 MILLION victims perished.

But all of this is not something from a more or less distant past, because more recently it has happened with Croatia, Bosnia, or Kosovo regarding Serbia, South Sudan against Sudan, or Eritrea against Somalia. And it continues to happen today with Palestine/Israel or the Donbas war, which has escalated into the war between Russia and Ukraine.

All of the above has been accompanied not only by millions of deaths, but also by amputees, the wounded, the tortured, the traumatized, rape victims, orphans, mothers who have lost children, families who have lost their homes, displaced persons and refugees, the impoverished, and other types of victims. SO MUCH SUFFERING THAT COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED simply by letting the people in each territory decide their future by majority rule!

So much pain caused by negative selfishness!: by economic interests or the desire not to lose territory, power, and international relevance. So much damage caused by the irrational dogma of national unity (similar to what previously existed regarding the sacred indissolubility of marriage), by an unhealthy conservatism that clings to our country remaining as it always was, and/or by a toxic nationalism obsessed with the childhood narrative of what constitutes the “nation.”

Read DO NO HARM!: Let us enjoy positive selfishness and avoid the negative

Read DO NO HARM!: Let us be rational and avoid poisonous dogmatism

Read: DO NOT HARM! Let’s be conservative with what is good and progressive with what is harmful.

Read DO NO HARM!: Let us question the nationalist narratives that cause conflict

But the fair thing is that, just as any individual has the right to decide freely about their life without harming anyone, any territory should have the right to choose its future by a sufficient majority of its inhabitants sustained over time. A reasonable percentage would be, for example, 65%, as applied by the United Nations in cases such as Quebec.

Some cite international law to reject the self-determination of peoples. Specifically, they claim that according to it, self-determination is only applicable to colonies, as is the principle of territorial integrity. But the fact that a law is international does not necessarily mean it is just or civilized; it simply means it is what the majority of countries have agreed upon. And these countries are largely driven by their selfish interests, including the desire of the majority of them and their inhabitants for there to be no changes in the territorial status quo of their state.

After all, slavery was also part of international law, as was the right of conquest until after the Second World War. That is why empires like the British and French were not dismantled until the 50s and 60s. The right to rape women in wars was also international, not being abolished until the 1949 Geneva Conventions and not being taken seriously until the 90s, when some women reached high-ranking positions at the UN.

When a territory’s right to decide is trampled upon with violence, it is a barbarity that causes suffering, sometimes on a massive scale. It is based on “might is right” instead of justice. Therefore, one day this will likely be seen as something uncivilized, in the same way that we view the illiterate and archaic practices of past centuries that we have overcome today.

Let us take the example of Canada and the United Kingdom, which granted Quebec and Scotland the right to hold an independence referendum.

On the other hand, it also constitutes an abuse when a minority, in an authoritarian manner, seeks to impose independence on the majority. Or when, to that end, it undertakes actions that damage the economy that others value so much, blocks infrastructure that belongs to everyone, violates legitimate rights, or in other ways harasses others.

LET US ALWAYS RESPECT THE CLEAR WILL OF A CLEAR MAJORITY IN ANY TERRITORY!

Thank you for sharing to avoid unnecessary wars, conflicts, and unrest.