Does any country really have a right to exist?

[Cruzan]

Did the Soviet Union? Did Yugoslavia? Did Czechoslovakia? How about Iraq, or France, or Germany, or the U.S. for that matter? How about Taiwan? Did or do any of these, or any or other country, have some external right to existence? Or as a practical matter does it really just come down to the force and will of a population and government to assert its sovereignty, and the arbitrary choice of other countries to in turn recognize that? In other words, does a country exist simply when it does and ceases to when it or external forces decide it does no longer, with 'rights' essentially not entering the picture?

[Taverner]

1. Do the majority in that country want it to exist?

[MannyGoldstein]

2. You Can Ask The Same Question About A Person's Right To Live

Big question, no?

[doublethink]

3. Does this ring a bell?

We hold these truths to be self–evident,
That all men are created equal,
That they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights,
That among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–
That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men,
Deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

-end-

Does any country really have a right to exist? Yes.

[Katherine Brengle]

4. Nope.

[LanternWaste]

5. To me, it's akin to asking...

To me, it's akin to asking if imaginary red and blue lines on a map have a right to exist.

But then, I'm the first to say that Nationalism, Console Gaming, and the I-Pod are the opiates of the masses (yeah... on days like this, I'm *really* a blast at parties)

[LeftishBrit]

6. There is a difference here between its own decision and external forces...

If a country chooses, voluntarily or after negotiations to change or cease its existence, then that is one thing.

However, if a country is *forced* not to exist, that is another matter, as this almost invariably means a violent assault on the citizens of the country, and an abridgement of their rights, which may range from extermination through expulsion to some form of subjugation. It happens frequently, of course; but that doesn't mean it's a good thing. In fact, even forced regime change well short of terminating a country's existence - as has happened in Iraq - is likely to have such effects.

I suppose in a sense a 'country' doesn't have rights, but its citizens do; and in practice they generally come to the same thing.

[bemildred]

7. Not according to Thomas Jefferson.

I thought we threw this divine right of kings stuff out some time ago. People have rights. Governments have powers derived from the just consent of the governed.

[Raejeanowl]

8. Hey, Now

Let's start by looking at us. The original political and religious refugees who became plain old land-grabbers and genocidal idiots.


Sounds very, very similar to...you can't say the name of the country around here.