Changes in statehood and sovereignty of modern states

The state in the developed Western world is undergoing a transformation causing a diminishing meaning of borders and a fading extent of sovereignty. The world is, as Jackson and Sorensen conclude, still a territorial world, but we can observe a weakening of “Westphalian parameters” (2007, p. 2, p. 25). Even though the Westphalian order in terms of the territorially defined sovereign nation state is still the dominant form, it faces several profound challenges through the irresistible processes that globalization brings about.

Economic developments, first and foremost with reference to the area of finance, account for a decline in the meaning of national borders, which have come increasingly under pressure after the end of Cold War. The revolution in information and communication technologies contributes its share. Looking at the political dimension we can realize a shift of various aspects of state sovereignty as regards the regulative rules to other levels, in the case of the EU-example to the supranational level.

From the absolutist state in the 17th century to the current order it has been a long way: with the Peace Treaty of Westphalia the modern state emerged and became global after the end of the Second World War. Now it’s a mixed actor model, which requires the adaptation of states to cope adequately with these new collective challenges of the 21st century.