ABSTRACT
Universal human rights are aligned with a cosmopolitan vision of the world in which individual citizens, global civil society, and global governance are the key actors. In theory, they serve as a moral and legal framework to prevent confl ict and ensure the fair treatment of all peoples by imposing moral principles of behavior on nation states. In this sense, universal human rights embody a supranational moral authority that questions the actions and sovereignty of nation states (Doyle & Gardner, 2003; Held, 2002). Kofi Annan, the former Secretary-General of the United Nations, argued that sovereignty is now being ordered around people rather than states, in large part due to the adoption of human rights, which do not rely on the authority of any single political community. He stated:
State sovereignty, in its most basic sense, is being redefi ned-not least by the forces of globalisation and international co-operation … A new, broader defi nition of national interest is
needed in the new century, which would induce states to fi nd greater unity in the pursuit of common goals and values. In the context of many of the challenges facing humanity today, the collective interest is the national interest. (Annan, 1999, p. 49)
In this context, human rights provide a legal and moral foundation for global citizenship and the protection of individual rights on the basis of personhood instead of membership in a nation state.
