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The Case for Sovereignty: Why the World Should Welcome American Independence (Hardcover)

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Product Description

The Coalition Provisional Authority’s transfer of sovereignty to Iraq elevates the level of public debate about what we mean by "sovereignty." A timely new book articulates the concept of sovereignty and explains why it is the likeliest path to peace.

In The Case for Sovereignty: Why the World Should Welcome American Independence (AEI Press, June 24, 2004), Jeremy A. Rabkin argues that sovereignty is the indispensable precondition for constitutional government. Without a strong notion of sovereignty, the powers of governments are determined only by the shifting winds of international negotiations between nations that differ a great deal on how to secure peace.

Continuing debate over the war in Iraq displays in sharp relief how far apart Americans and Europeans have drifted on matters of international law and security. Rabkin, a professor of government at Cornell University, explains why European Union (EU) schemes for global governance are fundamentally at odds with the American idea. He traces the basis for America’s concept of sovereignty and self-government to the Constitution. Traditional notions of sovereignty were, as he shows, central to the outlook of the American Founders. In contrast, the postmodern philosophy of the EU draws on premodern and illiberal ideas, along with impulses that fueled extremist political visions in the twentieth century.

Sovereignty, although inextricably linked to the American idea, is not just good for the United States; it is good for the world. Rabkin warns that a "post-sovereign" world would:

embolden terrorists and rogue states by inhibiting adequate or timely responses to genuine security threats;
destabilize fragile new democracies, as international bureaucrats launch impetuous prosecutions to satisfy outsiders’ notions about how to punish past abuses;
burden trade agreements with unrelated impositions—depressing economic development in the short term and risking all-out trade wars in the long term;
exacerbate conflicts, as different sides are encouraged to frame their claims in the absolutist rhetoric of international rights;
undermine respect for law within nations, as national constitutions come to be seen as merely provisional standards, subject to override by international directives; and
erode national loyalties and political identities, as governments share governing responsibilities with supranational organizations and constituencies within nations seek to bypass their own governments in direct appeals to outside patrons.

Europeans charge that American sovereignty is a license for ar

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 272 pages
  • Publisher: AEI Press; 2nd edition (September 25, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0844741833
  • ISBN-13: 978-0844741833
  • Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,217,866 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Jeremy A. Rabkin
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The Case for Sovereignty: Why the World Should Welcome American Independence
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The Case for Sovereignty: Why the World Should Welcome American Independence 3.3 out of 5 stars (3)
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Law without Nations?: Why Constitutional Government Requires Sovereign States 2.3 out of 5 stars (3)
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A Timely Warning against Transnational Legal Standards, August 8, 2007
Without a doubt, Rabkin's book represents a timely addition to an important debate. The perspective he brings to bear, including a healthy skepticism about the questionable normative commitments underlying appeals to transnational legal standards and a hard-nosed look at the actual efficacy of efforts to realize "global governance," is provocative and perhaps underemphasized.

At the same time, the book often lacks the analytical rigor that would make it a more serious challenge to advocates of global governance. At bottom, the book's argument turns on the claim that the normative commitments Rabkin holds dear (limited government, individual autonomy, and consent-based politics) are fundamentally incompatible with a commitment to transnational legal codes, defined and enforced by supranational organizations. Yet this central part of the argument is largely asserted rather than being established through careful arguments. Moreover, for readers familiar with the insights of modern political science, in particular public-choice theory, Rabkin's almost mystical faith in the ability of national political systems (specifically national legislatures) to realize "the public good" is likely to be perplexing. Although he surely identifies important deficiencies in transnational legal institutions as they currently exist, he largely glosses over similar inadequacies at the domestic level that are likely to introduce the same kinds of distortions that he fears at the international level (for example, the disproportionate influence of "elites" or special-interest minorities).

Rabkin also tends to lump together arguments and positions that are more nuanced and differentiated than he acknowledges. The book sometimes descends into mere polemical non sequiturs. For example, after recounting the Srebrenica massacre of 1995, in which Serb forces slaughtered more than eight thousand Bosnian Muslims while Dutch United Nations peacekeepers did nothing to intervene, Rabkin offers the following "explanation" for the actions of the Dutch soldiers: "It should not have been very surprising. In 1940, the Dutch relied on international law for their protection and were overrun by Germany in a matter of hours. A Dutch resistance movement did not develop for several years--well after the Dutch allowed their Jewish fellow citizens to be rounded up for extermination. Were the Dutch now going to take risks for people on the other side of Europe?" (p.180).

In short, LAW WITHOUT NATIONS deals with a significant topic that is only likely to grow in importance as increasing global economic and political interdependencies give rise to calls for an expanded role for transnational governance. Rabkin's plea for the importance of sovereign nation-states in protecting the values of individual liberty and autonomy that are the hallmark of the Western political tradition is provocative. Although the book does not present the strongest case that can be made for its position, its arguments should be taken seriously by those who clamor for supranational governance.
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13 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A argument that America must stay true to its decisions, September 10, 2004
By Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews
The Case For Sovereignty: Why The World Should Welcome American Independence by Jeremy A. Rabkin (Professor, Department of Government, Cornell University) is a forceful argument that America must stay true to its decisions first and the will of other nations such as European countries and even international law. Claiming that allowing international law to hold priority over the Constitution would be fundamentally at odds with American democracy, using European derision of America's will to invade Iraq under President George W. Bush as an example of a supposed attempt to restrict American sovereignty, The Case For Sovereignty explores the lessons of history to create a detailed, well-researched, exhortively argued an unapologetic manifesto for daring to remain at international odds as a nation.

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3 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars the paranoid style in american politics..., July 9, 2006
Europe is bad, America is good, Number One , best of the world, uniquely great...Well, that is all there is to it here. This book is a constant insult to the intelligence of the reader, whether he be conservative or liberal, given the absurd violence and anger of the tone. Interestingly enough however, as others have pointed out, Rabkin's true haunting fear is not about the European Union, but rather American progressives willing to claim American ideals for the cause of peace and justice.
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