Redefining Sovereignty for the 21st Century

Abstract

In confronting the transformative nature of international institutions and global norms, this paper will address implications for sovereignty in the 21st century. Driven by transformative global human rights and humanitarian norms, multipolar alignment of power, authority and legitimacy, and the increasing influence of non-state actors, sovereignty has taken on characteristics previously unimagined, and is likely to align with continuing developments in human rights and democratic governance.Using rights-based analysis, emerging notions of sovereignty will be explored with particular reference to the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) norm. The effects of interdependency on sovereignty will be examined, in addition to the changing nature of the relationship between state and non-state actors. Furthermore, the relationship between the Global North and South will be explored to demonstrate hierarchies of power and claims to legitimacy in the inter-state system. As modern conflicts take on increasingly irregular, asymmetric, and intra-state characteristics, claims to absolute authority by states have begun to be formally subordinated by international human rights and humanitarian norms. Conceived as a liberal compromise between absolute mutual non-interference and the international society’s obligation to protect civilians from mass atrocities, the role of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) norm will be assessed as a major development in the emergence of post-national sovereignty.