Sovereignty over Natural Resources

Essay from the year 2017 in the subject Politics - Topic: Public International Law and Human Rights, grade: 1.0, University of Erfurt (Willy Brandt School of Public Policy), course: State Sovereignty and Practice, language: English, abstract: The ability of States to be independent and have autonomy and supreme control over their internal affairs subject to limitations of public international law is known as state sovereignty. All States have exclusive jurisdiction to administer and control matters within their borders. The territory of a State is not only limited to the land but includes, airspace, territorial sea, exclusive economic zones and the continental shelf for coastal States. No state or international organ may interfere in issues that are within the jurisdiction of another state. State sovereignty encompasses a lot of dimensions within a country, one of them being sovereignty over natural resources. Sovereignty over natural resources is a complex and powerful organising principle in world politics which emerged in the post-1945 period and has been affirmed in various international legal instruments. Due to its complexity, the permanent sovereignty principle has not however risen to jus cogens status in international law.