The two phrases mean substantially the same thing and have to an extent been used interchangeably by those who advocate the principle as a standard of right.

"Self-determination" was not a new thought.

It was a restatement of the old one.
Under the present political organization of the world, based as it is on the idea of nationality, the new phrase is as unsusceptible of universal application as the old one was found to be.

Fixity of national boundaries and of national allegiance, and political stability would disappear if this principle was uniformly applied.

Impelled by new social conditions, by economic interests, by racial prejudices, and by the various forces which affect society, change and uncertainty would result from an attempt to follow the principle in every case to which it is possible to apply it.
Among my notes I find one of December 20, 1918--that is, one week after the American Commission landed in France--in which I recorded my thoughts concerning certain phrases or epigrams of the President, which he had declared to be bases of peace, and which I considered to contain the seeds of future trouble.