The Challenges Posed By US Unilateralism Policy Against Sovereignty Principle

As the basic unit of the international society, a state has been the main body in international relation, and has played a primary role in the transaction of international affairs. Sovereignty is one of the prerequisites and the inherent attributes of a nation, and it is the foundation of the international legal system. If only a nation is in existence, does sovereignty never vanish. Ever since the concept of sovereignty has been defined, for the past hundreds of years, this principle has been the corner stone of the modern international legal system. Whether in the field of political science or international relation, sovereignty has been a topic of repeated discussion. However, as cold war passed into history, the dissolution of Soviet Union has made US the single surviving super power in the current power stage of the world. One of the outcomes of such lopsided international structure is unilateralism. It embodies hegemony which infringes on the very basic principles of international law . This would exert far-reaching impact upon the future of international community.The article is composed of 4 sections. First, starting from the traditional view of sovereignty, the article described the evolution of theory of sovereignty. As the necessary condition of the existence of the state, sovereignty is attribute of a state, the foundation of international law. After World War II, the theory of sovereignty has gradually evolved into the principle which international law bases upon. The principle of sovereign equality of states is the inevitable ramification of sovereignty principle and the principle of nonintervention parallels it while principle of peaceful coexistance and nonaggression is the extension of sovereignty principle. It is the springbroad of all those theories, and the abovementioned principles are all embodiments of the sovereignty principle. The arguments about the sovereignty have never been stopped since the invention of the concept. Among most debated arguments, these three mostly represent the current status in quo of sovereignty principle. Firstly, whether sovereignty represents an absolute authority. In today's international relation, as the absolute and exclusive authority, sovereignty has been restricted in many aspects, and sovereignty's corner stone function has been diminished. At the same time, the developing countries try their best to deepen the sovereignty principle. Secondly, the relation between human rights and sovereignty. Although human rights are prevalent and international rights, they essentially belong to the jurisdiction of sovereignty. Thirdly, the relationship between self-determination and sovereignty. In fact, as the nation, self-determination right has developed into sovereignty since the nation was founded. The second part of this article described the connotation of unilateralism, in which case a single state draws on its own resource and power, acts in a way that affects others, especially for weaker and smaller states. Its value system is narrowly defined by its own interests, in disregard of interests of other states, which are affected by its action. This section also analyzed the theoretical basis and practical causes of the existence of unilateralism in US's foreign policies. The practical cause of unilateralism is that, after cold war, US is the only super power remaining, it ranked first in military, economy, technology and culture development at world stage while the conservatism gradually gained its dominance in the internal US politics. On the theoretical basis, "limited authority", "single pole world power structure" and "global democratization" represent the unilateralism.The third section lists the actions of US government in the pursuit of unilateralism. The article also analyzes the challenge of US actions against principle of sovereignty, in reference to International Law Principle Declaration declared in 1970. Primarily, US's unilateral action in foreign policy infringed on the principle of sovereign equality of states. S...