ABSTRACT
Sovereignty refers to the exercise of supreme political authority over a people within a given territory. It is a principle that draws together two key political ideas: territoriality and autonomy. This chapter explores how concerns over economic development, human rights, democracy, and security have interacted with globalization to affect the degree, design, and defense of sovereignty. Viewing the state and the nation as variables that run from fragile to strong helps us understand why globalization affects the degree of sovereignty in various countries differently. The chapter identifies the linkages between globalization and sovereignty and by distinguishing the degree, design, and defense of sovereignty as a framework for charting changes in our understanding and approach to sovereignty. While terrorism is likely the most visible threat to security judging from the Western media, there are others that are at least equally or even more concerning. Two of those are the global arms trade and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).
