Sovereignty

The Conference

The concept of sovereignty is the core attribute of the modern state. It has an “inside” face—the relation of the state to its citizens—and an “outside” face—the relation of states to other states. With regard to the inside face, when the concept first emerged in Seventeenth Century Europe, it imported a reconceptualization of state authority, and was accompanied by a transformation in the understanding of the relationship between individuals and political authority

In today’s politics, where concerns about national security dominate public policy debate, the concept of sovereignty is once more under reassessment. The expansion of executive authority in times of emergency has been a central theme of republican defense of the interrogation tactics of the Bush Administration. It has also, however, been an important component in justifying the legitimacy of drone strikes under Obama. The following questions suggest themselves as ripe for reexamination in light of changing conceptions of sovereignty:

How does the rise of powerful, organized terrorist groups affect the claims to sovereignty of a state? For instance, if a state harbors aggressive groups within their territory, can those under threat violate sovereignty to take action against the threat? And what standards are appropriate for judging when, if ever, such an attack would be proper?

What are appropriate limitations on national security initiatives on foreign territory? For example, is unauthorized drone activity in a territory a violation of sovereignty? Is it proper for a government to authorize foreign operations within their territory without the knowledge of the people of that country?

When war expands past any territorial boundaries, does the concept of sovereignty still play a role? Do governments have claims to sovereignty in cyberspace?

How ought we to reconcile national security with the concept of international law enforcement? Does the idea that all states are sovereign relative to one another force all efforts to protect against attacks into the domain of the Law of Armed Conflict? Can international law enforcement supply an alternative to the militarization of the effort to combat terrorism?

Sovereignty and the New Executive Authority will address these and other questions in an interdisciplinary discussion among scholars from different backgrounds, as well unite theoretical and practical perspectives.

Schedule

FRIDAY, APRIL 19
9:30 – 10:00 a.m.	Breakfast Shuster Room, Silverman 147
10:00 – 11:30 a.m.	Session 1: The Concept of Sovereignty Shuster Room, Silverman 147 Moderator: Claire Finkelstein Readings: Christopher Morris, “Sovereignty,” Encyclopedia of Utilitarianism, edited by James E. Crimmins and Douglas G. Long. London and New York: Continuum Press, forthcoming.Christopher Morris, “The Modern State,” The Handbook on Political Theory, edited by Gerald Gaus and Chandran Kukathas. London: Sage Publications, 2004, pp. 198-209.Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, ed. Edwin Curley. Indianapolis: Hackett Publishing Company, 1994. Chapters 18, 21, and 28Jean-Jacques Rousseau, The Social Contract, trans. and ed. Donald A. Cress. Hackett Publishing Company, Inc., 2011. (Excerpted: Book I, Chapter 7.)David Gauthier, Notes on Sovereignty. [Abstract]Claire Finkelstein, “Rational Contractarianism and International Law.” (Excerpted) [Paper]
11:30 a.m. – Noon	Break
Noon – 1:30 p.m.	Session 2: Sovereignty, Religion and the Rule of Law Shuster Room, Silverman 147 Moderator: Sharon Lloyd Readings:Sanford Levinson, “Divided Loyalties: The Problem of Dual Sovereignty and Constitutional Faith.” [Paper]David Linnan, “Sovereignty and Legitimacy in the Rule of Law Equation.” [Abstract] [Paper]Rudy Barnes, “Religion, the Rule of Law and Military Legitimacy.” [Abstract] [Paper].
1:30 – 2:30 p.m.	Lunch Levy Conference Room, Silverman 245 Keynote Address: Jeffrey Addicott “Addressing the War on Terror Under the Rule of Law.” [Abstract]
2:30 – 4:00 p.m.	Session 3: Sovereignty and Emergency Powers Shuster Room, Silverman 147 Moderator: Kermit Roosevelt Readings:Eric Posner and Adrian Vermeule, Terror in the Balance: Security, Liberty and the Courts, “Introduction,” Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.Memorandum for Alberto R. Gonzales, Counsel to the President, August 1, 2002 (written by John Yoo, signed by Jay Bybee) (Excerpted)John Yoo, “The Continuation of Politics by Other Means,” California Law Review, Vol. 84, March 1996, No. 2. (Excerpted, pp. 241-256, 295-305)John Yoo, War by Other Means, Atlantic Monthly Press, 2006. (Excerpted, pp 52-64)Janet Alexander, “John Yoo’s War Powers: The Law Review and the World,” California Law Review, April 2012, Centenial Tribute Issue. (Excerpted, pp. 338-343, 347-352, 363-364)Glenn Sulmasy and John Yoo “Challenges to Civilian Control of the Military: A Rational Choice Approach to the War on Terror,” UCLA Law Review, Vol. 54, Aug 2007, No. 6.Alexander Guerrero, “National Insecurity: Democracy, War, and Popular Sovereignty.” [Abstract] [Paper]
4:00 – 5:00 p.m.	Break
5:00 – 6:30 p.m.	Session 4: Sovereignty and Foreign Relations The Racquet Club of Philadelphia 215 South 16th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102 Moderator: Rogers Smith Readings:Sharon Anderson-Gold, “Terrorism and the Politics of Human Rights,” Social Philosophy Today, 2004.Christopher Wellman, “Taking Human Rights Seriously,” Journal of Political Philosophy, 2012, (Excerpted, pp. 126-130.)Jens Ohlin, “Disentangling the Unwilling or Unable Standard for Foreign Intervention.” [Abstract]Kevin Govern, “Smart Power For Hard Problems: The Role of Special Operations Forces Strengthening the Rule of Law and Human Rights in Africa.” [Abstract] [Paper]
6:30 pm	Drinks and Dinner The Racquet Club of Philadelphia 215 South 16th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19102 Keynote Address: Mary Ellen O’Connell “Sovereign Myths.” [Abstract]

SATURDAY, APRIL 20
8:30 – 9:00 a.m.	Breakfast Shuster Room, Silverman 147
9:00 – 10:30 a.m.	Session 5: Executive Discretion, Secrecy and Targeted Killing: The Case of Anwar al-Awlaki Shuster Room, Silverman 147 Moderator: Kevin Govern Readings:Nasser al-Aulaqi v. Obama, Gates and Panetta, Complaint and Decision of the D.C. Circuit (2010), (Excerpted.) [Complaint ] [D.C. Circuit Decision (Excerpted, pp. 1-4, 49-65, 80-83)]Department of Justice White Paper, Lawfulness of a Lethal Operation Directed Against a U.S. Citizen Who is a Senior Operational Leader of Al’Qa’ida or An Associated Force Claire Finkelstein, “Secrecy, Targeted Killing and the Rule of Law.” [Abstract]American Civil Liberties Union v. Central Intelligence Agency, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, Decided March 15, 2013.Jules Zacher, “Presidential Authority and Nuclear Weapons: Taking Back our Rights.”Glenn Sulmasy, “Executive Power: The Last Thirty Years,” University of Pennsylvania International Law Journal, Volume 30, Summer 2009, No. 4.
10:30 – 11:00 a.m.	Break
11:00 – 12:30 p.m.	Session 6: Alternative Conceptions of Sovereignty Shuster Room, Silverman 147 Moderator: Nancy Hirschmann Readings:Thomas Pogge, “Cosmopolitanism and Sovereignty,” Ethics Vol. 103 No. 1 (1992). (Excerpted, pp. 57 – 71.)Anne-Marie Slaughter, “Disaggregated Sovereignty: Towards the Public Accountability of Global Government Networks,” Government & Opposition 2004, (Excerpted, pp.162-163, 174-190)Ekow Yankah, “The Sovereign and the Republic: A Republican View of Political Obligation.” [Abstract] [Paper]
12:30 – 2:00 p.m.	Lunch Keynote Address and Film Levy Conference Room, Silverman 245Keynote Address: Peter Galison “Secrecy and the Centralization of Power.” Clips from Secrecy, A film by Peter Galison and Rob Moss (2008). Website
2:00 – 3:30 p.m.	Session 7: Comparative and International Perspectives on Sovereignty Shuster Room, Silverman 147 Moderator: Bill Burke-White Readings:Matthew Lister, “Contract, Treaty, & Sovereignty.” [Abstract] [Paper]Gordon Smith, “Russian Exceptionalism: Putin’s Assertion of Sovereignty at Home and Abroad.” [Abstract] [Paper]

Abstracts & Papers

Addressing the “War on Terror” under the “Rule of Law”
Jeffrey Addicott
St. Mary’s University
Abstract

Religion, the Rule of Law and Military Legitimacy
Rudolph C. Barnes, Jr.
Attorney-at-Law
Abstract
Paper

Secrecy and the Centralization of Power
Peter Galison
Harvard University

Smart Power For Hard Problems: The Role of Special Operations Forces Strengthening the Rule of Law and Human Rights in Africa
Kevin Govern
Ave Maria School of Law
Abstract
Paper

National Insecurity: Democracy, War, and Popular Sovereignty
Alexander Guerrero
University of Pennsylvania
Abstract
Paper

Secrecy, Targeted Killing and the Rule of Law
Claire Finkelstein
University of Pennsylvania
Abstract

Sovereignty, “Unwilling or Unable” States, and Self Defense against Non-State Actors
Derek Jinks
University of Texas School of Law
Abstract

Sovereignty and Legitimacy in the Rule of Law Equation
David Linnan
University of South Carolina
Abstract
Paper

Contract, Treaty, & Sovereignty
Matthew Lister
University of Denver
Abstract
Paper

What is Sovereignty?
Christopher W. Morris
University of Maryland
Abstract

Sovereign Myths
Mary Ellen O’Connell
University of Notre Dame Law School
Abstract

Disentangling the Unwilling or Unable Standard for Foreign Intervention
Jens David Ohlin
Cornell Law School
Abstract

Russian Exceptionalism: Putin’s Assertion of Sovereignty at Home and Abroad
Gordon Smith
University of South Carolina
Abstract
Paper

The Sovereign and the Republic: A Republic View of Political Obligation
Ekow Yankah
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Abstract
Paper

Additional Readings

Historical Sources/Articulations of Sovereignty

Christopher Morris, “Sovereignty” in Encyclopedia of Utilitarianism, edited by James E. Crimmins and Douglas G. Long (London and New York: Continuum Press, forthcoming).

Christopher Morris, “Sovereignty” in Encyclopedia of Democratic Thought, edited by Paul Barry Clarke and Joe Foweraker (London & New York: Routledge, 2002), pp. 673-676.

Christopher Morris “The Very Idea of Popular Sovereignty: ‘We the People’ Reconsidered”, Social Philosophy & Policy 17, 1 (Winter 2000), 1-26.

Christopher Morris “The Modern State” in The Handbook on Political Theory, edited by Gerald Gaus and Chandran Kukathas (London: Sage Publications, 2004), pp. 195-209.

Dan Philpott, “Sovereignty” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sovereignty/)

Challenges to and defenses of traditional conceptions of sovereignty

Allen Buchanan “Political Legitimacy and Democracy,” Ethics, 2002

Steven G. Calabresi, Mark E. Berghausen & Skylar Albertson “The Rise and Fall of the Separation of Powers,” Northwestern University Law Review, 2012

Omar Dahbour “Advocating Sovereignty in an Age of Globalization,” Journal of Social Philosophy, 2006.

David Held “Law of States, Law of Peoples: Three Models of Sovereignty,” Legal Theory, 2002.

Bernd Krehoff “Legitimate Political Authority and Sovereignty: Why States Cannot Be the Whole Story,” Res Publica: A Journal of Legal and Social Philosophy, 2008.

Barak Mendelsohn “Sovereignty under Attack: The International Society Meets the Al Qaeda Network,” Review of International Studies, 200

Christopher Morris “The Very Idea of Popular Sovereignty: “We the People” Reconsidered,” Social Philosophy and Policy, 2000.

Thomas Pogge, Cosmopolitanism and Sovereignty, Ethics Vol. 103 No. 1 (1992)

Qerim R Qerimi “The Real Face of the New World Order: Sovereignty and International Security in the Age of Globalization,” Politikon, 2004

Mathias Risse “What to Say about the State,” Social Theory and Practice: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal of Social Philosophy, 2006.

Brad R. Roth “The Enduring Significance of State Sovereignty,” Florida Law Review, 2004

Brad R. Roth “Coming to Terms with Ruthlessness: Sovereign Equality, Global Pluralism, and the Limits of International Criminal Justice,”Santa Clara Journal of International Law, 2010

Anne-Marie Slaughter “Disaggregated Sovereignty: Towards the Public Accountability of Global Government Networks,” Government & Opposition, 2004

Ann-Marie Slaughter “Sovereignty and Power in a Networked World Order,” Stanford Journal of International Law, 2004

Helen Stacy “Relational Sovereignty,” American Society of Law International Proceedings, 2005

Marlene Wind “Challenging Sovereignty? The USA and the Establishment of the International Criminal Courtr,” Ethics and Global Politics, 2009.

Sovereignty and Warfare

Renée De Nevers “Sovereignty and Ethical Argument in the Struggle against State Sponsors of Terrorism,” Journal of Military Ethics, 2007.

Gerald Doppelt “Walzer’s Theory of Morality in International Relations,” Philosophy and Public Affairs, 1978.

Michael Dusche “Human Rights, Autonomy and National Sovereignty,” Ethical Perspectives: Journal of the European Ethics Network, 2000.

Anne-Marie Slaughter “War and Law in the 21st Century: Adapting to the Changing Face of Conflict,” Europe’s World, 2011

Michael WalzerPhilosophy and Public Affairs, 9 (September 1980): 209-229.

Sovereignty and territory

Anthony J. Colangelo “Constitutional Limits on Extraterritorial Jurisdiction: Terrorism and the Intersection of National andInternational Law,” 48 Harv. Int’l L. J. 121 (2007)

Stuart Elden “Contingent Sovereignty, Territorial Integrity and the Sanctity of Borders,” SAIS Review of International Affairs, 2006

Joan Fitzpatrick “Rendition and Transfer in the War Against Terrorism: Guantanamo and Beyond,”Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review, 2003

Anthony Messina “Pathways from September 11: Politics, Policy, and State Sovereignty in an Age of Terror,” Political Science & Politics, 2008

Richard Nicholson, “Functionalism’s Military Necessity Problem: Extraterritorial Habeas Corpus, Justice Kennedy, Boumediene V. Bush, and Al Maqaleh V. Gates,” Fordham Law Review December, 2012

Galia Rivlin, “Constitutions Beyond Borders: The Overlooked Practical Aspects of the Extraterritorial Question,” Boston University International Law Journal Spring 2012

Saskia Sassen “Bordering Capabilities Versus Borders: Implications for National Orders,” Michigan Journal of International Law, 2009

Frank M. Walsh “Rethinking Legality of Columbia’s Attack on the FARC in Ecuador: a New Paradigm for Balancing Territorial Integrity, Self-defense and the Duties of Sovereignty,” Pace International Law Review, 2009

Emergency Powers of the Sovereign and John Yoo

Janet Cooper Alexander, “John Yoo’s War Powers: The Law Review and the World,” California Law Review April, 2012, Centennial Tribute Issue

Robert J. Delahunty and John Yoo “Executive Power v. International Law,” Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, 2007

Robert J. Delahunty and John C. Yoo, “The President’s Constitutional Authority to Conduct Military Operations Against Terrorist Organizations and the Nations that Harbor or Support Them,” Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, 2002

Vicki Divoll “The ‘Full Access Doctrine’: Congress’s Constitutional Entitlement to National Security Information from the Executive,” Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy, 2011

Stephen M. Griffin, “A Bibliography of Executive Branch War Powers Opinions since 1950,” Tulane Law Review February, 2013

Sanford Levinson and Jack M. Balkin “Constitutional Dictatorship: Its Dangers and Its Design,” Minnesota Law Review, 2010

Jide Nzelibe and John Yoo “Rational War and Constitutional Design,” Yale Law Journal Symposium, 2006

John Yoo “George Washington and the Executive Power,” University of St. Thomas Journal of Law & Public Policy, 2010

John Yoo “Unitary, Executive or Both?” University of Chicago Law Review, 2009

John Yoo “Andrew Jackson and Presidential Power,” Charleston Law Review, 2008

John Yoo “UN Wars, US War Powers,” Chicago Journal of International Law, 2000

John Yoo “Sounds of Sovereignty: Defining Federalism in the 1990s,” Indiana Law Review, 1998

John Yoo, “The Continuation of Politics by Other Means: The Original Understanding of War Powers,” California Law Review March, 1996

Sovereignty and human rights

Sharon Anderson-Gold “Terrorism and the Politics of Human Rights,” Social Philosophy Today, 2004.

Jovana Davidovic “Are Humanitarian Military Interventions Obligatory?” Journal of Applied Philosophy, 2008.

James Nickel “Is Today’s International Human Rights System a Global Governance Regime,” Journal of Ethics: An International Philosophical Review, 2002.

Christopher Wellman “Taking Human Rights Seriously,” Journal of Political Philosophy, 2012.

Miscellaneous

Laura Donohue “Federalism and the Battle over Counterterrorist Law: State Sovereignty, Criminal Law Enforcement, and National Security,” 25 Stud. Conflict & Terrorism 1 (2002)

Keith E. Whittington and Daniel P. Carpenter “Executive Power in American Institutional Development,” Perspective on Politics, 2003.

James R. Clapper, Statement for the Record: Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community, 2013.