Human Rights in the Emerging Global Order

Book excerpt: Kurt Mills investigates how the concept of sovereignty is changing as a result of normative, empirical, and institutional developments. From a normative political theory perspective he argues that respect for human rights, popular sovereignty, and self-determination are inherent in the social purpose of the state and thus must be considered when evaluating claims to sovereignty and non-intervention. Human Rights in the Emerging Global Order examines how recent international practice in the areas of human rights, self-determination, refugees and human migration and humanitarian intervention are challenging traditional conceptions of sovereignty in important, yet ambiguous, ways. Finally, it provides policy prescriptions to deal with these continuing humanitarian problems.