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States play the central and undisputed leading role in the creation of international law. However, the determination of whether an entity is actually a State can present a challenge. The generally agreed upon criteria for statehood are:
- Possesses a defined territory
- Inhabited by permanent population
- Controlled by an independent government
- Engages in formal relations with other states
The application of criteria is often subject to political considerations, however. Breakaway regions of countries often meet or are on the way to meeting these criteria, such as Kosovo, the Albanian-majority province of Serbia, or Chechnya, part of Russia, but are not recognized as states by the international community.
State representation, where more than one government tries to represent a single state, is also an important consideration. For example, even though the Taliban religious movement effectively controlled Afghanistan prior to the U.S. invasion in 2001, Afghanistan was represented in the UN by the government that had been deposed by the Taliban but still claimed to be the country’s legitimate rulers.