The five faces of the state: Sovereignty in international legal discourse.

摘要

The meaning of state sovereignty is changing, and international-relations scholars remain largely unable to explain, or even describe, exactly what it has become. Given the vague and over-analyzed nature of term, the difficulty of studying it is understandable. One unexplored method of analysis, used in this dissertation, is to ask how sovereignty is being spoken of in international legal disputes in three important legal tribunals: the International Court of Justice, the World Trade Organization Dispute Settlement Body, and the International Chamber of Commerce Court of Arbitration. What analysis of cases from these three bodies from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s reflects is that Sovereignty is not a concrete and static attribute of states, but rather it is an ongoing process, constantly redefined by independent actions. For the period discussed, the sovereign state did not have one single form, but rather had many different "faces": the Prince, the Protector, the judge, the Citizen, and the Merchant. These faces describe a dynamic of states' competing roles based on three important tenets about international relations, politics, and law. First, historical context is relevant. Second, entities are not defined by one role. Third, process and the consequence of process are important factors in determining the role the state plays and the stage upon which that role is played.