Human Rights in the Discourse on Sovereignty: The United States, Russia and NATO's Intervention in Kosovo
Abstract
The concept of sovereignty has been a contestable
idea throughout history, and its meaning has
oftentimes transformed to reflect prevailing
systemic conditions and political priorities of
major actors in each historical period. In this
study, I argue that the social construction of
state sovereignty is at the beginning stages of
another major redefinition. In an era of
globalization and regional integration, discourse
on sovereignty has become increasingly prolific
as the rhetoric of sovereignty moves away from
Westphalian principles that were based exclusively
on the agency of independent states. Furthermore,
multinational campaigns to promote international
human rights engender a discourse that suggests
the idea of sovereignty is changing. Does this
emerging discourse confirm the growing legitimacy
of humanitarian intervention, or is it merely a
discursive trend in international relations that
does not indicate significant change in state
perception and behavior? The purpose of this work
is to address this question.
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- Masters Theses [19412]