In the
contemporary international system , at least
four possible ways have been identified
through which a political entity can acquire sovereignty. These include:
1.
Formal granting of independence by a colonial power to
a colonized territory
2.
Through a successful revolution or liberation way.
3.
through a
successful war of secession, and
4.
By the recognition of the independence of an un-colonized or claimed territory by member
states of the international system20.
As examples
abound on each of these processes, we
shall only highlight a few instances, especially those that have been
neglected.
Granting of independence to
colonized territories
Most
of the new states of Africa and Asia acquired their sovereignty and
independence through this means. The
wind of change, according to Mc-millan, saw
to it that the 1960s became a decade of liberation from colonial
tutelage for most hitherto Afro-Asian colonized territories. The reverses suffered by the colonial powers
of Europe in early to mid 20th
centuries following the two world wars, among other
things, made colonialism an achromatic. They thus had no option but to grant independence to their erstwhile colonies. Although the
Portuguese continued to cling to their colonies in
southern Africa and the pacific
rim until the 70s and
80s , the British and French,
except for Lan Smith’s intransigence
in 1965 in Rhodesia now
Zimbabwe, had hands –off their colonies within the 1960s.
These states thus acquired
the sovereignty rights
that come with independence
existence