National sovereignty

facing serious threat

May 7, 2014
UKRAINE, Donetsk : Armed pro-Russian
militiants march to take position in eastern
Ukrainian city of Donetsk on May , !"#$, the day
after hea%y fi&htin&s 'et(een pro-Russian
militiants and Ukranian troops killed at least )$
people near the eastern Ukranian city of *la%yansk+
,he death toll from a military offensi%e in a
flashpoint to(n in east Ukraine rose to at least )$,
officials said today, amid fresh (arnin&s of ci%il
(ar and the shutdo(n of a ma-or airport in the re&ion+ AFP
.hile economic and strate&ic interests ha%e compelled the .est to en&a&e in its military
/mis0ad%entures in Ira1 and Af&hanistan, for instance, it is mainly security considerations
(hich are inducin& Russia to take particular co&ni2ance of de%elopments in re&ions
constitutin& Eastern Europe, (hich (as formerly its %erita'le protecti%e 'arrier a&ainst
.estern Europe+
As far as the 'i& po(ers are concerned, national so%erei&nty seems to 'e an easily disposa'le
concept in International Relations+ ,he (orld (as (itness to ho( this cardinal concept in the
3comity of nations4 (as 'latantly %iolated in the 5alkans and *outh .est Asia and it is 'ein&
treated to the same distur'in& spectacle no( in the 6rimea and e%idently in the Ukraine too+
,he UN-sanctioned principle of the Ri&ht to 7rotect /R!70 needs
to 'e seen as %alid in consideration of the fact that all mem'er
states of the 3UN 8amily4 are o'li&ed to protect their citi2enries
from harm and in the e%ent of their pro%in& incapa'le or
un(illin& to do so, the 3international community4 may ha%e to
take upon itself this crucial responsi'ility+ 9o(e%er, there is no
denyin& that R!7 could 'e a'used 'y the po(erful states of the
international system+ ,he horrors of the R(andan ci%il (ar of the
early nineties, pro%ed 'eyond dou't that the (orld could not stand idly 'y (hen communities
of a country 'utchered each other (ith impunity+
It (as this trauma of R(anda and inhuman 3ethnic cleansin&4 in some parts of the 5alkans
around the same time that essentially set the UN thinkin& of the need for R!7, 'ut it is not
entirely the 3Ri&ht to 7rotect4 that led to the U* military in%ol%ement in *er'ia in #::: and
later Ira1 and Af&hanistan, for e;ample+ Ironically, it (as the national interests of the U* and
the .est, narro(ly concei%ed and %iolently implemented, that led to the crises situations in the
countries -ust mentioned+ Moreo%er, it is the UN (hich is o'li&ed to practice R!7+ 6ountries
and &roupin&s of states cannot take on themsel%es this responsi'ility (hich is a prero&ati%e of
the UN system+
In the case of Koso%o, the U*-led NA,< needed to demonstrate that in the post 6old .ar
(orld, it and it alone, (as the principal military &roupin& and that its (ill and mi&ht needed to
pre%ail the (orld o%er+ ,he (orld (as 'ein& alerted to this fact in the Koso%an crisis and (as
also 'ein& simultaneously reminded that the path (as 'ein& further pa%ed for the pre%alence of
.estern economic interests internationally+
,hese and many more aspects of U* and .estern he&emony ha%e 'een recei%in& the attention
of commentators of .estern capitalism o%er the last couple of decades 'ut they (ould no(
ha%e to factor in to their confi&urations of international de%elopments the dramatic chan&es in
Russia4s relations (ith some of its former 3satellites4 in its %erita'le 'ackyard+
.hile economic and strate&ic interests ha%e compelled the .est to en&a&e in its military
/mis0ad%entures in Ira1 and Af&hanistan, for instance, it is mainly security considerations
(hich are inducin& Russia to take particular co&ni2ance of de%elopments in re&ions
constitutin& Eastern Europe, (hich (as formerly its %erita'le protecti%e 'arrier a&ainst
.estern Europe+
In all such de%elopments, national so%erei&nty seems to 'e countin& for nothin& for the 'i&
po(ers+ ,he strictures on this score (hich could 'e directed at the .est, in respect, for
instance, of Ira1 and Af&hanistan, could 'e directed at Russia too (ith re&ard to the Ukraine+
In a sense, considerin& the fore&oin&, it could 'e said that the tasks 'efore the UN ha%e not
chan&ed much from the early years of its e;istence+ Esta'lishin& the so%erei&n e1uality of UN
mem'er countries and the in%iola'ility of their &eo&raphical and physical inte&rity (as a
principal challen&e of the UN in the forties and fifties and it is remainin& so to this day+
6onsiderin& these facts, it could 'e said that a principal aim of the international community
has remained still'orn+ ,o 'e sure, colonialism, in the usual sense of the term, is no more, 'ut
could it 'e said that (e ha%e seen the last of 3,he A&e of Empires4=
<il and the need to do 3'usiness4 took the .est into Ira1, (hile the need to maintain a stron&
military presence in *outh .est Asia and the >ulf re&ion took it into Af&hanistan+ ,he
increasin& economic si&nificance of the Asia-7acific is compellin& the U*, mean(hile, to
stren&then its defence and military ties (ith the states of this re&ion+ ,his is 'asically (hat U*
7resident 5arack <'ama is a'out, in his current tour of Asia+ 5arrin& many of the former
communist states of East Asia, the U* has 'een ha%in& defence ties (ith the ma-ority of East
and *outh-East Asian states+ ,herefore, 3Empire-'uildin&4, in a %ital sense, continues+
,he (orld, from the %ie(point of the main capitalist po(ers, is one %ast market, (hich is
(aitin& to 'e e;ploited and, as some students of capitalism remind us, capitalism takes
numerous &uises and forms in current times, includin&, 36asino 6apitalism4 and 3Mc.orld4+
,herefore, for the U* and other po(ers sharin& its economic interests, 3niceties4 in
International ?a(, such as the concept of national so%erei&nty, may need to 'e disre&arded in
the scram'le to 'uild economic empires, (here capitalism could ha%e a free run+
A&ainst this some(hat (orryin& 'ackdrop, the UN (ould need to (ork consistently and
untirin&ly to(ards fosterin& and consolidatin& the core %alues of the system it has (ith some
success maintained o%er the decades+ Apparently, UN reform may need to 'e persisted (ith+
,he UN *ecurity 6ouncil may need to 'e restructured to reflect the current (orld po(er
'alance (hich is tiltin& to(ards the &lo'al *outh+ 6ountries, such as, India, 5ra2il and *outh
Africa need to 'e mem'ers of the UN*6 to 'etter reflect the po(er realities of the times+
*uch rearran&ements (ould ena'le a check to 'e imposed on the disproportionate control
'ein& e;ercised 'y the .est in UN structures+ After all, the .est is no more the po(er it (as+
,his could result in the so%erei&nty of the more po(erless states of the (orld 'ein& protected+