Sovereignty Regimes and the Norm of Noninterference in the Global South: Regional and Temporal Variation

Abstract

State sovereignty is a fundamental organizing principle of international relations. Although always imperfectly respected, the sovereignty norm-set—territorial integrity, sovereign equality, and noninterference—carries enormous weight. It is not, however, static or monolithic, and this article seeks to historicize and contextualize sovereignty in the Global South by examining one of its essential components, the norm of noninterference. Making use of qualitative and quantitative evidence, it argues that the norm of noninterference, held sacrosanct in developing regions during the postdecolonization era, has eroded in important ways in Latin America and Africa as regional interference practices in response to domestic crises have gained legitimacy in the post–Cold War era. Noninterference has meanwhile been upheld and protected to a much greater degree in Southeast Asia.