PhD, Law Faculty, Baku State University
Address: 33, Academician Zahid Khalilov street, Baku, AZ 1148
E-mail: [email protected]
UDC 341.231; 342.25
LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT: AN ALTERNATIVE PARADIGM IN THE
REALIZATION OF THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION AND A
LEGAL-POLITICAL ANALYSIS OF INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE
In the modern world order, the tension arising between the principles of state sovereignty and the inviolability of borders, on the one hand, and the right of peoples to self-determination, on the other, constitutes the most sensitive point of international relations. The state-centric system established since the Peace of Westphalia (1648) faced two major waves of transformation in the 20th century: decolonization and the end of the Cold War. During these processes, although the concept of “self-determination” transitioned from a political lexicon to a legal plane, disputes regarding the boundaries of its application and its content have not subsided [17, p. 720].