IPS 1B: WORLD POLITICS (2019)

Week 1 Worksheet
The International System
Is state sovereignty an outdated concept in our “global” world?

Before answering, make sure you read the “Instructions” and “Marking Criteria” for
Worksheets posted on Moodle under Assessment Information.
Please note, this Worksheet is a “test-run” only, so you can familiarise yourself with the task
and our expectations. You should bring a copy of your answers to the first tutorial but should
NOT submit it through Moodle. We will only start marking the Worksheets from wk 2.

A. Article summary

 Author and title:

Author: Jessica T Matthews
Title: Power Shift

 Thesis:1 (Summarise)
Jessica T Matthews argues that the state sovereignty is indeed an outdated concept in
our global world. The author highlights this by presenting a number of arguments with
the central argument being the fact that governments, recently, have been sharing their
social, political and security roles to businesses (which are often private) and other
international organisations who often have stakes in various other countries.

 Main supporting arguments:2 (Summarise)

(1) Due to governments sharing their roles to private businesses and international
organisations, public opinion is often controlled by these businesses which results in
governments being pressured to follow a certain course.
(2) Non-government Organisations (NGO) have vast amounts of wealth and resources (for
example Care and Greenpeace). As such, these organisations can influence governments
form all across the world. These organisation specialise in a certain aspect which would

1
The article’s thesis is the central point the author seeks to make. This will normally be directly related to the
week’s tutorial question.
2
The article’s supporting arguments are the reasoning or evidence the author lays out to persuade the reader
that his or her thesis is valid. There are likely to be more than three, but your task is to identify the most
important ones.
usually be handled by the government (such as education) and deliver this aspect to more
than one country, hence making the idea of state sovereignty obsolete.
(3) Jessica T Matthews also highlights the fact that this sharing of roles can be to the
betterment of society as it means more peace, justice and a capacity to manage problems
shared across the world.

B. Critical reflection

 Counter-arguments:3 (Research, argue, reference)

In the globalized world, the transformed sovereignty of states gives them the power and
authority to act in the best interests of their people, considering all factors and influences.
Sovereignty still plays an important role and it should because it is embedded in
globalization. Whether the utopian global society without any boundaries will be a reality or
not, only time can say.

The sovereignty of a state is a valued possession. It gives a state its independence and
allows it to act on its own and make its own decisions without having to listen to another
state.

Hence, without state sovereignty being relevant, one can say that countries would openly
start interfering with another country’s internal matters without any regard for its
repercussions. Thus, whilst businesses and non-government organisations may provide
specialised treatment within a certain aspect, the sovereignty of the state allows
government to make the decisions to hand over their social, political and security roles to
businesses and NGO’s for the betterment of their constituents.

Bibliography
Faiaz, Muhtadi. 2016. "Sovereignty In The Age Of Globalization - Muhtadi Faiaz’S Blog -
Medium". Medium. https://medium.com/blog-faiaz/is-state-sovereignty-diminishing-or-
transforming-in-the-globalized-world-fd48edfbc949.

Simmons, Beth. 2000. "Is Sovereignty Still Relevant?". The American Journal Of International
Law 94 (1): 226-231.

3
Counter-arguments are reasoning or evidence that, if valid, would weaken or invalidate the article’s thesis.