ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the growing debates on cosmopolitanism that has come to dominate much of the International Relations literature on intervention and state sovereignty. It provides a detailed exposition of the various theoretical concerns of cosmopolitanism theorists. The chapter critiques cosmopolitan conceptions of state sovereignty by situating them within the parameters of Pakistan’s experience with the international institutions, such as UN, the IMF, the World Bank and Interpol. It is argued that cosmopolitanism theorists ignore the considerable influence of the US on these international organisations and in the face of such influence Pakistan remains sceptical of their motives and consequentially, more resiliently attached to its realist idea of state sovereignty. The chapter highlights and covers Pakistan’s reaction to cosmopolitanism and demonstrates that this reaction is largely representative of its fragile insecurities because of it being caught in an anarchic hierarchical structure comprised of unequal power arrangements, reinforced with baggage borrowed from its colonial past.
