Moreover, the existence of a territory under government control is one of the juridical criteria of statehood. The distinction between power over people and power over territory is a useful one to make, for it singles out two aspects of sovereignty that are best addressed separately: disputes involving the right of peoples to self-determination and territorial disputes among them. " (Gottlieb, 1993, p. 15).
This authority is generally associated with a state monopoly on the legitimate use of force within its territory. Internally, sovereignty implies that the state has the ultimate authority to take decisions within its space. Externally, it implies that others recognize the state's right to do what it wants within its space without interference.
The Norm of Non-Intervention.
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This view of sovereignty suggests a duty of non-intervention. If states claim a right to make their internal decisions unmolested, they have a duty to allow other states to do the same. This view also implies a principle of territorial integrity; the proposition that states can do what they want within their own territories seems to imply that others should not attempt to take parts of their territories away. "Non-interference in the internal affairs of another nation characterizes the 'balance of power' in the international system " (Kaplan, p. 697). In practice, however, the norm of non-intervention was applied only to the great nations. Minor nations need not be held to the norm of non-intervention since they did not have the power to intervene in the affairs of other states in any event. Among the great nations, the norm of non-intervention in intra-great nation affairs and relations helped to maintain stability. The great nations seized numerous opportunities to engage in formed and arranged intervention in the affairs of smaller, dependent states as the need arose: .
But the great European nations did desire to make the non-European world a safe place for Europeans to trade wherever trade was profitable.
