There were two pillars to this new world order. The first was a prohibition on the use of force by one state against another. This was the very meaning of the United Nations. Borders were to be respected. No state could send its armies into another with the ambition of territorial or regime change. When disagreements between states arose, they were to be worked out without the threat of violence.
The second was a requirement that every government treat its own citizens with dignity and respect. The terms of this commitment were set forth in a series of Declarations and Treaties on human rights, including an absolute prohibition on genocide. The first pillar guaranteed a space for national development; the second set limits on domestic politics. States had a right to be self-determining, but they had no right to abuse their own citizens.
This was the fundamental vision of international law for the last two generations. It was always more vision than reality. No one thought we lived in a world in which the principles were always followed. Difficult cases arose when the principles were in conflict. Should nations intervene against others when they engaged in genocide?
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