The Reasonable Connotation And Interpretation Of National Self-determination

National self-determination, as a basic principle of international law, plays apositive role in anti-colonial movement in the world. However, after the Cold War,National self-determination theory was in trouble. There is no unified view on thenational self-determination theoretically, and it is also used as an independent basis inpractice required by those people who force against the existing system. This isbecause of ambiguity of its inherent concept, which leads to abuse of nationalself-determination in international practice. This misreading of the nationalself-determination theory will be great threat to the country’s territorial integrity andthe world peace and stability. This paper has five parts to interpret the reasonablemeaning of national self-determination, pointing out the plight of the nationalself-determination theory at present, analyzing what the national self-determinationought to be from various angles, and then pointing out that the contemporary value ofthe national self-determination.