Sovereignty

About: Sovereignty is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 25909 publications have been published within this topic receiving 410148 citations.

Terror and Territory: The Spatial Extent of Sovereignty

Abstract: Political theorists tend to prioritize the temporal over the spatial. We tend to imagine states of nature before the social contract and the triumph of utopian societies after our contemporary political struggles. But politics does not simply occur between past and future, it also occurs in and over space. And recent work in political geography by scholars such as John Agnew, David Harvey, Bruce Braun and Gearoid O’Tuathail has developed sophisticated theoretical analyses of political space. I am happy to report that Stuart Elden’s Terror and Territory is an important addition to this literature, and a work that political theorists working on the concept of sovereignty must read because of its timely analysis of how spatial practices shape contemporary political logics. Elden’s work analyzes the various spatial practices enacted by both the US Government and its various rivals in the Global War on Terror. Although much recent literature on the relationship between territory and terrorism has argued that terrorism represents a de-territorialization of warfare, Elden offers us a more nuanced reading of the War on Terror as simultaneously being involved in practices of de-territorialization and re-territorialization. He looks at the territorial strategies of Islamic groups, and considers the significance of the US Government’s insistence on maintaining the territorial integrity of countries such as Iraq and Somalia. The book begins with the observation that the Latin root of the word territory is unsettled. It could be either terra – referring to land – or terr% ere – referring to frighten. Elden uses this ambiguity in the etymology of territory to explore how contemporary logics of territory are intertwined with logics of fear. As Elden suggests, if territory does have its root in terr% ere then territory could mean a place where people are frightened away from, or a space over which fear is exercised. And this definition reflects how – harking back to Weber’s definition

State Sovereignty in International Relations: Bridging the Gap Between Theory and Empirical Research

Abstract: This article explores many of the key theoretical and analytical issues attending empirical research on state sovereignty. It reviews recent research on sovereignty, the state, and state-building in an attempt to summarize what we now know or think we know about state sovereignty. Bringing the fruits of that research to bear on the concepts that define state sovereignty, I offer some criteria from which analysts might derive empirically testable propositions about sovereignty's historical status and future prospects. In conclusion, I argue that research on these issues should be (re-) directed to the bedrock of sovereignty: rule making and enforcement authority, or what I call policing.

Imperialism, Sovereignty and the Making of International Law

Abstract: that NGOs engaging in issues regarding Chechnya or Kashmir \"have difficulties being accredited, when Russia and India are members of the N G O Committee\" (p. 133). In addition, she points out that the nineteen-nation committee processes only about one hundred applications annually, even though about four hundred NGOs now apply for accreditation each year. Because of these backlogs, an N G O now has to wait several years for its application to be reviewed. Martens observes that the increasing institutionalization and professionalization of NGOs in UN affairs can exacerbate the divide between the NGOs with financial resources and those without. Other scholars have also taken note of this problem. In my view, this imbalance presents a formidable challenge for governments, foundations, and civil society to promote greater access in international forums for opinions and facts coming from developing countries.

Norm subsidiarity and regional orders: sovereignty, regionalism and rule-making in the Third World

Abstract: This paper proposes a new conceptual tool to study norm dynamics in world politics. Termed norm subsidiarity, it concerns the process whereby local actors create rules with a view to preserve their autonomy from dominance, neglect, violation, or abuse by more powerful central actors. After a theoretical discussion of the definition, motivations, and effects of norm subsidiarity, the paper offers a case study of normative action against Cold War alliances (especially South East Asia Treaty Organization) by a group of Third World leaders led by India's Jawaharlal Nehru at the Bandung Asia-Africa Conference in 1955. It then offers examples from Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa to highlight the practice of norm subsidiarity. The paper contributes to the literature of international relations in three main ways. First, it reminds constructivist international relation scholars of the importance of understanding norm creation as a bottom-up process, marked by significant contestations and feedback. Second, it highlights the normative behaviors of Third World countries and their regional institutions, a neglected aspect of the literature on norm dynamics. Finally, the theory and practice of norm subsidiarity shed more light on the agency role of Third World countries in world politics.