Page "International law and the Arab–Israeli conflict" Paragraph 14

In their relations with other peoples and countries during the colonial era the Concert of Europe adopted a fundamental legal principle that the supreme legal authority, or sovereignty, lay outside the indigenous nations.

That legal principle resulted in the creation of a large number of dependent states with restricted sovereignty or colonial autonomy.

Various terms were used to describe different types of dependent states, such as condominium, mandate, protectorate, colony, and vassal state.

After World War II there was strong international pressure to eliminate dependencies associated with colonialism.