International Law, Western States, Third World States,and the Principles of Independent Economic Self-determination

International Law in practice appears to have worked against those principles that accord the people of a State the right to Economic Self-determination, such as Free Choice to Economic Development. The paper argues that the exercise of the rights to self-economic determination (in particular economic development freedom) has been hampered and has not been freely pursued in practice by poor developing countries due to hegemonic control, economic exploitation and domination by the ‘powers that be’ within the international system. The research attempts to examine those Principles of International Law that accord peoples of a State the right to free economic-development both in theory and practice; the research also intends to make insights into legal policy implications and prospects of International Law in this area. The research uses the well-being and liberal-economic legal theoretical approaches, interdisciplinary and critical-analytical perspective within the framework of international economic-law and development.