1.  “The supreme, absolute power by which any independent state is governed; supreme political authority; the self-sufficient source of political power from which all other political powers are derived; the right of regulating its internal affairs without foreign dictation; the supreme right to make laws and execute them, to raise and collect taxes, and the right to make war and treaties.”

2.  In International Relations, a sovereign state is the equal of any other sovereign state.  It is in control of a specified and agreed territory  It has the right to make law and declare war, to issue money  Over time, the sovereignty of the nation moved from the monarch to the people through their representatives—something the US pioneered

3.  The United States went to war, along with the members of the UN, against Iraq in 1990 because Iraq invaded the sovereignty of Kuwait.  This was a clear violation of the “rules of sovereignty”

4. Taiwan continued to claim that it was the legitimate government of all China, while the Communists claimed that Taiwan was a province of the P R China In Nov 03 the Taiwan government voted to give the people the right to vote for Independence In 1949 there was a Communist revolution in China, and the previous government was forced to flee to the island province of Taiwan For a long time, the US supported Taiwan. But PR China would not have diplomatic relations with any country that recognized the sovereignty of Taiwan As China became more and more important in US trade and world affairs, it seemed ridiculous not to recognize it, and so we did. On the other hand we still recognize the rights of Taiwan, accept its passport. In 1979 the US transferred recognition to the PRC but pased the Taiwan Relations Act Public Law 96- 8 96th Congress So, is it, or isn’t it, a country? It functions like one, we treat it like one, but it had better not try to declare independence. So, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Maybe, Taiwan and China will form some relationship like that between PRC and Hong Kong

5.  Globalization and the need for global management and regulation  The rise of the multi-national corporation  The emergence of indefinable political units, mainly the European Union—is it a state or not?  The emergence of Rogue, Phantom and Failed States  The Global village breaking down nationalism?

6.  Some writers are talking about “globalization as the end of the Nation State.” Is it? Probably not

7. This is Strobe Talbot, Deputy Secretary of State under Pres. Clinton, who made the following, rather remarkable observation: “All countries are basically social arrangements…No matter how permanent and even sacred they may seem at one time, in fact they are all artificial and temporary…Within the next 100 years…nationhood as we know it will be obsolete; all states will recognize a single, global authority.”

9.  Our closest allies are giving up sovereignty, but really only moving it into something that could, eventually, look like the USA—A Federal, or Confederal, Europe.  The US, Given what we have said about the vital importance of continuity the Americans feel, is unlikely to move away from its jealous protection of national sovereignty. "A day will come when all nations on our continent will form a European brotherhood…A day will come when we shall see… the United States of America and the United States of Europe face to face, reaching out for each other across the seas." Victor Hugo - 1848