Chapter 9 : Contemporary Challenges to Sovereignty

Conventional theory upholds the supreme legal authority of the state in internal and external spheres. Recently, this has faced two major challenges:

• Internal challenge: Growing authority of groups/associations claiming allegiance (manifested in the pluralist theory of sovereignty).
• External challenge: International environment and globalization threatening nation-state autonomy.

Legacy of Imperialism

Imperialism and Colonialism

• Imperialism originally meant forming an empire (bringing several countries under one supreme authority) and has existed since ancient times.
• In modern times, it found new expression as colonialism, driven by the expansion of trade and industry in Europe (18th and 19th centuries).
• European powers (Britain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal) set up colonies in Africa, Asia, and America to exploit resources after their own national consolidation. Champions of imperialism usually argue they seek to extend the benefit of civilization to 'uncivilized' people; the author notes this is an attempt to attribute moral dignity to the pursuit of their self-interest.
• J.A. Hobson (English economist) in Imperialism (1902):
• Argued imperialism is a search for a 'captive market'.
• Mechanism: Maldistribution of wealth in capitalist society → desire to spread markets beyond own territory for profit → imperialism as a method of exploitation.
• V.I. Lenin (Russian Marxist/Revolutionary) in Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism (1916):
• Argued imperialism is an economic necessity of the capitalist economy.
• Mechanism: Capital accumulates → cannot find profitable use at home → forced to look abroad.
• Identified 3 driving forces of imperialist expansion:

1. Search for new spheres of investment.
2. Search for new markets.
3. Search for new sources of raw materials.

• Described the "division of nations into oppressor and oppressed" as the "essence of imperialism".
• Although Lenin exhorted oppressed nations to unite and overthrow oppressors, his message could not go beyond the Russian Revolution (1917) at that time.
• Decolonization: Began after the Second World War (1939-45). India was the first to gain independence in 1947.

Advent of Neo-Colonialism

• Exploitation of former colonies (Asia, Africa, Latin America) continued after independence through subtle means termed neo-colonialism.
• Developing countries remain sources of cheap labour and raw materials, while prices…