Sovereignty: Flimsy Excuse for Genocide

We live in an imperfect world. Crudely put, there's a lot that's just not fair, from social structures to economics to politics. But should we accept state sovereignty as a shield under which governments can commit genocide and crimes against humanity against their populations, just because of the unequal distribution of power in the international political system?

According to the well-known Professor Mahmood Mamdani, yes, we should.

In his frustrated response to Save Darfur policy analyst Sean Brooks's review of his controversial book on Darfur, Mamdani rails against Western meddling in the affairs of African nations, condemning demands for "unhindered access" to conflict victims as if it was some sort of sinister agenda -- all the while ignoring the misdeeds of those who put people in these situations to begin with -- and asserts, "...so long as we live in a world constituted by sovereign powers, I insist that any attempt to qualify or restrict sovereignty be applied across the board to all powers. If we are unwilling to do this, we must respect the sovereign rights of every state."

He's not saying that sovereignty should be carte blanche to commit mass murder, but that until the standards of international intervention are equally applied across all countries, rather than the most powerful (the U.S. and allies) dishing out scrutiny without being subject to it themselves, then they should apply to no one. Valid point, in principle, and perhaps if you're talking about agriculture subsidies -- but not when it comes to state-sponsored mass murder. The "it's not fair" argument is rather flimsy.

The world order is unbalanced, unequal, unjust, and it manages to shortchange (to use a polite term) less fortunate countries over and over again. But when it comes to mass atrocity, the existence of this imbalance is not a valid argument against international intervention to protect and aid civilian populations. Just because the U.S. government would be able to repel anyone who tried to stop them should it decide to annihilate the state of New Jersey does not mean that the government of Sudan should get off scot-free for its scorched earth campaign in Darfur. Two wrongs do not make a right.

Sovereignty is not a right, nor a guarantee, but a responsibility -- and defending criminal states against incursions into their affairs does nothing to instill balance in world politics, but everything to abandon the people within these states to the whims of their attackers.

Photo credit: UN Photo/Albert Gonzalez Farran