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Is sovereignty 'organised hypocrisy'?
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Castro, Francesca Lo |
| Copyright Year | 2020 |
| Abstract | Sovereignty can be said to be the fundamental pillar on which international relations take place. It is sought by territories claiming independence and forcibly defended by those who had it granted. It has also been one of the most debated concepts in International Relations (thereafter IR) in the last 20 years, particularly since the end of the Cold War when the nature of statehood and boundaries seems to be redrawn by the forces of globalisation and human rights rhetoric. But what is the fuss about this political idea? On the one hand, some have argued that sovereignty is becoming an obsolete idea given that the successful neoliberal economic policies and ethical foreign policy operate in a border-less world. On the other hand, the modern international system of states is based on this idea as it acts as a regulator or ‘code of conduct’ on the way states ought to behave to each other. Nevertheless, as Krasner (1999) puts it, sovereignty is nothing but an ‘organised hypocrisy’ as it is acknowledged by all to be utopian, but used by many as it is instrumental in contexts such as decolonisation or forceful self-defence mechanisms. The aim of this essay is thus to understand whether sovereignty is really a straw man, a false utopian idea injected consciously in politics so as to make the world work in a certain way. To begin with, this work will define the concept of sovereignty by using both the classification of Krasner employed in his book, but also other interesting sources and comments. Secondly, it will demonstrate that sovereignty is a necessity and the essence of contemporary international relations, as even small states as the Vatican or Gibraltar always tend to proclaim the authority they possess over their piece of land. Thirdly, it will support Krasner’s argument that sovereignty is hypocrisy by using valid examples which can show the reality lying at the basis of the idea. Finally, it will offer an objective evaluation of the opposite arguments by showing the way in which the practicability of the idea wins over its utopian essence (probably it is better to be unrealisable under certain aspects). This essay will thus argue that sovereignty is not merely a hypocritical concept, given that certain concessions of it are implied in its very evolution, but also reflects the world powers willingness to act illegally within the limits circumscribed by international law. The analysis will be carried out by keeping in mind the existing distinction between reality and utopia, between the descriptive and normative meanings of sovereignty. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://www.e-ir.info/pdf/12872 |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
