ABSTRACT
The 9/11 terrorist attacks have introduced a new complexity to the debate about sovereignty in world politics. Before 9/11, this debate revolved around two main issues. The first was the impact of globalization on the nation-state framework, including questions about whether sovereignty is being eroded by transnational economic linkages, such as trade, production networks and financial flows. The other centred on the doctrine of humanitarian intervention, and the normative question about whether the non-intervention principle should be relaxed or bypassed to allow military action against genocide or state failure. 2 The principal challengers to sovereignty in these debates were multinational corporations, “activists beyond borders” and, to a lesser extent, multilateral organizations.
