Argue for and against the idea that sovereignty is of declining significance

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Argue the case both for and against the suggestion that sovereignty is of declining significance in international relations

By: Anna Leijonhufvud

IR1005 Introduction to International Relations

Tutor: Jeremy Kleidosty, Thursdays 11 am

Due date: 31st of October

Introduction

“It is too facile to claim that, in a globalised world, the age of state is dead, although it is also now much harder to sustain the argument that the state is all-powerful” (McCrone quoted in Tierney, 2005, 171)

Realists claim the sovereign state the central actor in international politics. Indeed, most theories of international relations recognize the sovereign state as the dominant entity in the international society. Nevertheless, the rise of international institutions and worldwide economic integration is questioning the very viability of the sovereign state (Brown, 2005, 3). This essay will elaborate on the existence of state sovereignty in today’s globalized world. It will bring forth arguments pro the suggestion that sovereignty is of declining significance in international relations, as well as con.
         Firstly, the concept of sovereignty is briefly evaluated. Secondly, it is contended that sovereignty consists of four identities and that these for identities are disconnected. Thirdly, challenges to state sovereignty will be divided into three dimensions 1) the emergence of supra-national states 2) sub-state nationalism 3) globalization and primarily economic integration. Lastly, this essay will reason that these challenges are threatening different elements of sovereignty, arguing their relative significance.
         Due to reason of space and the vastness and controversy of this essay topic, limitations are inevitable. The essay is majorly dealing with contemporary issues related to the debate and the reader should bear in mind that the essay is elusive in the sense that arguments are only dealt with cursorily.

The concept of sovereignty

Before examining how state sovereignty may be withering away, it is imperative to understand how sovereignty has been traditionally conceived. Since the late 16th century sovereignty has been strictly linked to the concept of states and Bodin undeniably referred to the supreme authority conferred on the state. Albeit, in medieval France ‘souverain’ could refer to any authority “which had no other authority above itself” (Oppenheim, 1912, 111) and therefore its highest court were at that time entitled ‘Cours Soverains’ (Pemberton, 2009, 1).
         Sovereignty in absolute terms reflects the status secured at the Peace of Westphalia in 1648, the constitution recognized the following definition: “within its borders the state or government has entitlement to supreme, unqualified and exclusive political and legal authority” (McGrew, 2006, 29). In reality, sovereignty is an indefinite phenomenon, mirroring the complex system of how states function today (Pemberton, 2009, 1).          
         Nuanced identifications of sovereignty commonly refer to it as not an organic whole but a container of both legal and political elements (Brown, 2005, 116). More specifically, Krasner identifies four different ways of conceptualizing sovereignty. Firstly,
Domestic sovereignty refers to the authoritarian organization within the state and its effectiveness. Secondly, Interdependence sovereignty is the ability of a state to control the movements of goods, people, capital and ideas across its borders. Thirdly, International legal sovereignty refers to the recognition as a sovereign state in the international society. For example, an internationally legal sovereign state can sit in the United Nation and voluntarily sign treaties. Lastly, Westphalian sovereignty has according to Krasner nothing to do with the Peace of Westphalia. It refers to authoritative external influences being absent, in other words, not to intervene in other sovereign states internal affairs (Krasner, 1999, 3-5). If nothing else stated, forthcoming discussion will refer to sovereignty as incorporating all these elements.

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Sovereignty – a container of elements

In terms of sovereignty, the world has never really worked in the way people assert it has. Krasner claim that domestic, interdependence, legal international and Westphalian sovereignty are disconnected and hardly any state embodies all four of them, the United States might be one of the rare cases (Krasner, 1999, 5-10).
         Hong Kong is one amongst many problematic examples. As a member of the World Trade Organization Hong Kong to some extent has international legal sovereignty, however, it does not have Westphalian sovereignty as China at any time can ...

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