Editing Sovereignty (section)

===External===
{{See also|Sovereign state#Recognition}}
External sovereignty concerns the relationship between sovereign power and other states. For example, the [[United Kingdom]] uses the following criterion when deciding under what conditions other states recognise a political entity as having sovereignty over some territory;
{{quote box
| width = 30%|"Sovereignty." A government which exercises de facto administrative control over a country and is not subordinate to any other government in that country or a foreign sovereign state.|(''The Arantzazu Mendi'', [1939] A.C. 256)|Stroud's Judicial Dictionary
}}

External sovereignty is connected with questions of international law – such as when, if ever, is [[Foreign intervention|intervention]] by one country into another's territory permissible?

Following the [[Thirty Years' War]], a European religious conflict that embroiled much of the continent, the [[Peace of Westphalia]] in 1648 established the notion of territorial sovereignty as a norm of [[non-intervention|noninterference]] in the affairs of other states, so-called [[Westphalian sovereignty]], even though the treaty itself reaffirmed the multiple levels of the sovereignty of the Holy Roman Empire. This resulted as a natural extension of the older principle of ''[[cuius regio, eius religio]]'' (Whose realm, his religion), leaving the Roman Catholic Church with little ability to interfere with the internal affairs of many European states.  It is a myth, however, that the Treaties of Westphalia created a new European order of equal sovereign states.<ref>Andreas Osiander, "Sovereignty, International Relations, and the Westphalian Myth", ''[[International Organization]]'' Vol. 55 No. 2 (Spring 2001), pp. 251–287.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Burbank |first1=Jane |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y7B9euuLEkUC |title=Empires in World History: Power and the Politics of Difference |last2=Cooper |first2=Frederick |date=2010 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-12708-8 |pages=182, 219 |language=en}}</ref>

In [[international law]], sovereignty means that a government possesses full control over affairs within a territorial or geographical area or limit. Determining whether a specific entity is sovereign is not an exact science, but often a matter of diplomatic dispute. There is usually an expectation that both ''de jure'' and ''de facto'' sovereignty rest in the same organisation at the place and time of concern. Foreign governments use varied criteria and political considerations when deciding whether or not to recognise the sovereignty of a state over a territory.{{Citation needed|date=January 2011}} Membership in the [[United Nations]] requires that "[t]he admission of any such state to membership in the United Nations will be affected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council."<ref>{{cite web|title=UN Chart, Article 2|url=https://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter2.shtml|access-date=4 October 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208031716/https://www.un.org/en/documents/charter/chapter2.shtml|archive-date=8 December 2013}}</ref>

Sovereignty may be recognized even when the sovereign body possesses no territory or its territory is under partial or total occupation by another power. The [[Holy See]] was in this position between the annexation in 1870 of the [[Papal States]] by Italy and the signing of the [[Lateran Treaties]] in 1929, a 59-year period during which it was recognised as sovereign by many (mostly Roman Catholic) states despite possessing no territory – a situation resolved when the Lateran Treaties granted the Holy See sovereignty over the [[Vatican City]]. Another case, ''[[sui generis]]'' is the [[Sovereign Military Order of Malta]], the third sovereign entity inside Italian territory (after [[San Marino]] and the [[Vatican City State]]) and the second inside the Italian capital (since in 1869 the Palazzo di Malta and the Villa Malta receive [[extraterritorial]] rights, in this way becoming the only "sovereign" territorial possessions of the modern Order), which is the last existing heir to one of several once militarily significant, [[crusader state]]s of sovereign [[Military order (society)|military order]]s. In 1607 its Grand masters were also made [[Reichsfürst]] (princes of the Holy Roman Empire) by the Holy Roman Emperor, granting them seats in the [[Reichstag (Holy Roman Empire)|Reichstag]], at the time the closest permanent equivalent to an UN-type general assembly; confirmed 1620. These sovereign rights were never deposed, only the territories were lost. Over 100 modern states maintain full diplomatic relations with the order,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.orderofmalta.int/diplomatic-relations/862/sovereign-order-of-malta-bilateral-relations/?lang=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151203180316/http://www.orderofmalta.int/diplomatic-relations/862/sovereign-order-of-malta-bilateral-relations/?lang=en|url-status=dead|title=Bilateral diplomatic relations of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta|archive-date=3 December 2015}}</ref> and the UN awarded it observer status.<ref name="UN_ARES48265">{{UN document |docid=A-RES-48-265 |type=Resolution |body=General Assembly |session=48 |resolution_number=265 |access-date=10 September 2007|title=Observer status for the Sovereign Military Order of Malta in the General Assembly}}</ref>

The [[government-in-exile|governments-in-exile]] of many European states (for instance, Norway, Netherlands or [[Czechoslovakia]]) during the [[Second World War]] were regarded as sovereign despite their territories being under foreign occupation; their governance resumed as soon as the occupation had ended. The government of [[Kuwait]] was in a similar situation ''vis-à-vis'' the [[Iraq]]i occupation of its country during 1990–1991.<ref name="nolan">{{cite book|last=Nolan|first=Cathal J.|title=The Greenwood Encyclopedia of International Relations|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FMJ8KP8i3v0C&pg=PA1559|volume=4|year=2002|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|page=1559|isbn=9780313323836}}</ref> The government of [[Republic of China]] (ROC) was generally recognized as sovereign over [[Greater China|China]] from 1911 to 1971 despite the 1949 victory of the Communists in the [[Chinese Civil War|Chinese civil war]] and the [[Retreat of the government of Republic of China to Taiwan|retreat of the ROC to Taiwan]]. The ROC represented [[China and the United Nations|China at the United Nations]] until 1971, when the People's Republic of China obtained the UN seat.<ref name=":Chen">{{Cite book |last=Chen |first=Dean P. |title=China under Xi Jinping: A New Assessment |publisher=[[Leiden University Press]] |year=2024 |isbn=9789087284411 |editor-last=Fang |editor-first=Qiang |chapter=Xi Jinping and the Derailment of the KMT-CCP "1992 Consensus" |editor-last2=Li |editor-first2=Xiaobing}}</ref>{{Rp|page=228}} The ROC [[political status of Taiwan|political status]] as a state became increasingly disputed; it became commonly known as [[Taiwan]].

The [[International Committee of the Red Cross#Legal status|International Committee of the Red Cross]] is commonly mistaken to be sovereign. It has been granted various degrees of special privileges and legal [[Immunity from prosecution|immunities]] in many countries, including Belgium, France, Switzerland,<ref>By formal agreement between the Swiss government and the ICRC, Switzerland grants full sanctity of all ICRC property in Switzerland including its headquarters and archive, grants members and staff legal immunity, exempts the ICRC from all taxes and fees, guarantees the protected and duty-free transfer of goods, services, and money, provides the ICRC with secure communication privileges at the same level as foreign embassies, and simplifies Committee travel in and out of Switzerland.<br />On the other hand Switzerland [http://www.udiregelverk.no/~/media/Images/Rettskilder/Visa%20Code/Visa%20Code%20vedlegg%2010%20a.ashx does not recognize ICRC issued passports] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510112534/http://www.udiregelverk.no/~/media/Images/Rettskilder/Visa%20Code/Visa%20Code%20vedlegg%2010%20a.ashx|date=10 May 2011}}.</ref> Australia, Russia, South Korea, South Africa and the US, and soon in Ireland. The Committee is a private organisation governed by Swiss law.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icrc.org/eng/who-we-are/overview-who-we-are.htm|title=About the International Committee of the Red Cross|date=29 October 2010}}</ref>