National sovereignty is a privilege, not a right.
Designing and implementing a successful form of global governance depends on a single simple principle: that national sovereignty is not a right but a privilege to be earned.
If we can get agreement on that idea, the obvious next step is to determine the basis on which the privilege of sovereignty can be earned and maintained. While this is another simple, basic concept, developing the actual terms for granting or recognizing sovereignty would be a difficult process indeed. We can’t overstate the immense challenge of getting nearly two hundred currently existing nations to reach consensus on the rules for their continued independence.
Still, the end result would surely be worth it, assuming the project is undertaken and carried out in good faith.
It’s basically a three step process:
First, all participating nations must agree on the fundamental principle underlying the concept of global governance: that national sovereignty is a privilege, not a right. The corollary to that is an expectation that sovereignty privileges will be revoked for those who do not maintain certain minimum standards. Any nation withholding agreement at this point would exempt itself from the opportunity to participate in designing the governmental structure.
Second, participating bodies must negotiate a set of international standards to which all nations will be held. These standards might incorporate articles found in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, although it’s nearly certain that we’d see impassioned debates over how to revise those statements or whether to scrap them altogether and begin anew. This step could be expected to take several years.
Third, after the initial agreement is reached (step 1) and the basic international standards for sovereignty are established (step 2), some mechanism for verifying compliance with standards and for enforcing decisions about revoking sovereignty would have to be developed. Again, this would be an arduous process that could involve many years of negotiation.
In practice, of course, all three steps might be taking place simultaneously and not in strict linear order. It would be a messy process and the outcome would undoubtedly be far from perfect—but it would represent a beginning and an important advance for all of us in recognizing that we are part of a single human family.
The time to begin is now.
Mike Treder is the Managing Director of the IEET, and former Executive Director of the non-profit Center for Responsible Nanotechnology.