sovereign state de jure sovereign state A sovereign state whose political sovereignty has been recognized by the United Nations, in accordance with international law. Matthew Diller Sovereignty, in the legal sense, is acquired by a state upon receiving recognition by the international community. However, without specifying that this recognition can only be acquired through full membership to the United Nations, a non-arbitrary standard would be difficult, if not impossible, to come by since there are a good many sovereign states whose sovereignty is not explicitly recognized by one or more states. Given that the de facto criteria for sovereignty must be achieved prior to membership to the UN General Assembly and that every member therein is considered to be "international recognized," full membership to the UN is a sufficient criterion for de jure sovereignty. This can be further justified by noting that, in cases where UN member X claims to not recognize the sovereign status of UN member Y, the diplomatic and political behavior of member X towards Y nevertheless tacitly implies that it recognizes Y's sovereignty. de jure state