The right to exist is said to be an attribute of nations. According to an essay by the nineteenth century French philosopher Ernest Renan, a state has the right to exist when individuals are willing to sacrifice their own interests for the community it represents. Unlike self-determination, the right to exist is an attribute of states rather than of peoples. It is not a right recognized in international law. The phrase has featured prominently in the Arab–Israeli conflict since the 1950s.
The right to exist of a de facto state may be balanced against another state's right to territorial integrity. Proponents of the right to exist trace it back to the "right of existence," said to be a fundamental right of states recognized by writers on international law for hundreds of years.
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Famous quotes containing the words right to and/or exist:
“What does it matter whether I am shown to be right! I am right too much!And he who laughs best today will also laugh last.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (18441900)
“Great passions, my dear, dont exist: theyre liars fantasies. What do exist are little loves that may last for a short or a longer while.”
—Anna Magnani (19181973)