Sovereignty: ground rule or gibberish?

Abstract

In the study of International Relations few terms cause more confusion than sovereignty. As all the territorial participants in international life proclaim themselves to be sovereign it is a difficult term to get away from. But it also seems enormously difficult to get hold of, at least in any way which combines clarity and helpfulness. The matter is not assisted by the common suspicion that sovereignty has something to do with law, for law is widely taken to be an element to which any level-headed student of the international scene will give little time. On the other hand, sovereignty is also often supposed to have something to do with power—and that is a factor which, it is generally agreed, commands attention. However, in addition sovereignty has at least the smell, if not the clear suggestion, of absolute power—and that surely is something which is hardly applicable to any of the world's states, not even the super-states. All that can be said with confidence about them is that they are stronger than the others—but in that case what price the equality which sovereign states profess on the ground that they are all sovereign?