Sovereignty and Territorial Borders in a Global Age1

Abstract

In an age marked by economic globalization, regional integration, and increasing transborder flows, some have questioned the continued viability of state sovereignty and territorial borders. This essay examines the conditions of sovereignty and borders in a world of trading states, exploring how conceptions of sovereignty are reflected in the grand strategy of advanced industrial democracies. By disaggregating sovereignty into its constitutive parts, the essay not only provides insights into how these facets affect modern statecraft but also reveals an underconceptualized dimension: societal sovereignty. Whereas sovereignty is willingly ceded by states to gain economically from increased trade and capital mobility, public concern over the social, political, and economic effects of high levels of international migration indicate a growing sensitivity to the maintenance of sovereignty over access to social and political community. In this process, borders serve an increasingly important symbolic function in maintaining stable conceptions of national identity that constitute the cornerstone of the nation-state.