Abstract:
In this paper, the concept of sovereignty and other related important problematic
concepts such as nation, people and self-determination, that are closely, in fact
organically, related to the concept of a nation state, and the problems associated with
them will be analyzed in different ‘waves’ (historical processes) of the emergence of
nation states. It is argued that the concept of sovereignty and other related concepts
were in each ‘wave’ abused first by the monarchist leaders and later by the nation
states, great powers and the international community. The author makes some modest
recommendations for the international relations and international law literatures about
how to establish and maintain peace in the new world order in the twenty-first century,
given the current context consisting of a fragmented international society and that of
several ethnic conflicts, such as the ethnic violence in Kosovo, Northern Ireland, and
Chechnya.
