After The Cold War Challenge The Sovereignty Of Theoretical Thoughts

As the essential attribute of modem nation state, SOVEREIGNTY is one of the basic concepts of international law, west political theory and international relations. The whole 20th century saw sovereignty was depreciated in theory and practice. Culminating at the end of World War I, World War II and the Cold-War, counter sovereignty thoughts in the 20th century made three well-marked waves. It is in the Post Cold -War era that sovereignty has been encountering unprecedented challenges. As globalization and what is called "Post-Modernism" draws on, is sovereign state as an institution really out of season? If it is still in bloom, how could we understand SOVEREIGNTY per se in the globalizing age?Outlined by the two questions above, our dissertation consists of two parts, i.e. counter sovereignty thoughts (Part I) and sovereignty in the globalizaed age (Part II); Part I serves to summarize and evalue various thoughts of couter sovereignty in the Post-Cold War period; Part H will do the construction of SOVEREIGNTY on the basis of Part I.Part I: Counter sovereignty thoughtsFrom philosophical and sociological point of view, we classify counter sovereignty thoughts in the Post-Cold War era into two categories, i.e. rational thoughts and irrational thoughts. The former primarily include empirical thoughts ('weaking-ending of sovereignty', and 'divisibility-transferability of sovereignty') and normative thoughts ('global governance', and 'moral interdepencence-human rights being superior to sovereignty'); the latter principally consist of 'radical feminism' and 'cultural politics of identity'.'Weakening-ending of sovereignty' is in essence economic determinism. It casts doubts upon the territorial integrity of nation state, compentence of rule and management of the government as well as the identification of the citizens of the state. At the same time, it inspires us to focus upon sovereignty historically, to re-exame the connotation of territory as well as domestic and external jurisdiction of nation states. 'Divisibility-transferability of sovereignty' holds that contents of sovereignty vary with state power and sovereignty can be divided and transferred. As a sovereign relativism, it is liable to insrumentalize and functionalize sovereignty. Nevertheless, it positively purports to the possibility of a level analysis of sovereignty. Based upon neo-liberalism, 'global governance' attempts to usurp the authority of state with that of pluralist powers, thus building a west leading world order in which developing states are bound to be repressed. 'Moral interdependence-human rights being superior to sovereignty' is philosophically libertaranism. It stresses the universality of suchwest values as human right, humanism, democracy and freedom and then lay a theoretical foundation so that 'democacies' could interfere with internal affairs of non-democracies under the auspice of human rights. The two normative thoughts help to unmask the fact that international norms and relations are exerting subtle impacts upon the construction of sovereignty.Radical feminism' is virtually anarchism. Starting from the theory of knowledge-power, it exposes the oppressivness of sovereignty, discloses its hidden androcentrism, anthropocentrism, and occidental-centrism and summons the deconstruction of sovereignty. Its positive influcence lies in uncovering legitimate crises of modem capitalist states which result from the overt expansion of the state itself. 'Cultural politics of identity' is a parochial cultural relativism. It advocates destroying the linear and rigid dogma of sovereignty, dethroning political-territorial sovereign states, and re-drawing the map of sovereign states according to cultural identification. Meanwhile, it lends prominence to the importance of territory and identification of inferior ethical, national and cultural groups in the construction of sovereignty.Philosophically speaking, counter sovereingty thoughts above are all defined as libertarianism, i.e. setting rational sovereign state against ra...