UN21 Project
Research Group on States and Sovereignty
A Five Year Research Plan

Atul Kohli

Professor of Politics and International Affairs

Princeton University

As part of the UNU's research project on The United Nations System in the 21st Century, this research group will focus on the changing nature of states and sovereignty. The design of the current UN system is premised mainly on a world organized as a system of states. As we move into the next century, however, sovereign states are under pressure form both "above" and "below. Global forces -- economic, technological and cultural -- are forcing states, even powerful states, to reorganize and to reconceptualize conventional notions of sovereignty. The room for weaker states to maneuver is additionally constrained by the preferences of powerful states. Moreover, many states are being challenged from "below," as groups within them redefine themselves as a "people," or even a "nation," and demand greater rights of self-determination; a number of existing states are bound to become failed states of the future. None of these developments spell an end to the world of states; states remain and are likely to remain powerful global actors, well into the 21st century. Nevertheless, these emerging trends do focus attention on the changing nature of states and of the state system.

The questions that will guide the research of this group are: how are new challenges altering states and the state system on the one hand, and on the other hand, what type of a United Nations -- global counsel or global manager⁽¹⁾ -- will facilitate peace, prosperity and human dignity within this changing state system. The focus of our collective research efforts will be less on the reform of specific UN institutions and more on an analysis of the changing parameters within which a future UN may function. States and the state system are clearly one such parameter. We will thus study the changing nature of states by analyzing their changing role in five issue areas: peace and security; economic development; environmental management; human dignity; and governance. The changing role of states in managing peace and security will thus be the focus of our efforts in the first year, in economic development in the second year, and so on.

While the specific topics to be discussed each year are elaborated below, the eventual aim of the five year project is to produce an edited volume on how states and sovereignty are being altered, especially in so far as these changes may necessitate a reform of a multilateral, cooperative institution like the United Nations. Two to four overview papers will be solicited each year that synthesize the current state of knowledge and views on important topics. In order to facilitate some coherence across the diverse papers and over the five years, paper writers ought to keep the following loose guidelines in mind:

- It will be important to distinguish analytically between the state system and the role of states. Inquiries at the level of the state system may worry about the underlying principle of anarchy, changing global norms of sovereignty and, of course, changing patterns of global distribution of power. Discussion of changing roles of states, in turn, will focus on both causes and consequences of these changes. The discussion of causes may take into account the impact of the changing state system, but will also need to discuss national-level changes. As to consequences, it will be especially important to focus on changing possibilities of multilateral cooperation. Generalizations about both causes and consequences of changing state roles may, in turn, need to be limited to changes in specific issue areas, as well as to types of states (e.g., powerful vs. weak states).

- As to the substance of our collective efforts, please keep in mind that the resulting volume will need to make a statement on how states and the state system are changing and the implications of these changes for the future of the UN. Our conclusions about the changing nature of states may be closer to one of two ideal types: that the world is becoming less state-oriented in the sense that global norms of statism and sovereignty are weakening, and that important functions hitherto performed by states will in the future be performed by such non-state actors as markets, supranational organizations with "pooled sovereignty," and/or by non-governmental organizations; or no, that his depiction is inaccurate, that what is truly happening is that states are refocusing and reorganizing in the sense that the global system of states is very much in tact but, given global economic and social changes, states are abandoning some traditional roles and acquiring new ones.⁽²⁾ These are "big" issues and thoughtful scholars will differ in their judgements. Invited paper writers also do not need to be decisive in their choice of such ideal-typical options. It would nevertheless be helpful if each paper writer suggested which of these ideal types is most consistent with their specific analysis. Such conclusions, in turn, would be helpful for linking the analysis of states to the future shape of the UN; for example, the model of the UN as a manager may be more consistent with a view that the world is becoming less state-oriented, whereas if states are merely of the past, i.e., more of a counseling agent that needs to seriously take into account facts of realpolitik; the latter UN will act as a "manager" mainly when UN actions coincide with the interests of powerful states.

- Finally, given that the whole exercise has policy recommendations as its goal, scholars should not shy away from normative issues. Irrespective of the analysis of empirical trends, should states and the state system be moving in the direction that they are moving? Why? Why not? How can prevailing trends be altered? Some attention to these issues will help the editor(s) of the final volume pull together policy recommendations.

Within these general guide lines, specific sub-themes will vary yearly during the five year life of the project. These are outlined below:

Year I (1996): Peace and Security

A major conference will be held in Tokyo in November 1996 on the theme of peace and security issues and the future of the UN. All the five research groups (of which this group on states and sovereignty is one) will contribute two to three papers each, for a total of ten to fifteen papers that will constitute the core of the yearly conference. Focusing on different themes, this procedure will be repeated every year for five years.

Paper writers for the states and sovereignty group will for the first year thus focus on peace and security issues. The central concern of these papers will be to analyze the changing nature of states and of the state system in the issue area of peace and security: Is the post-cold war world radically different as far as global peace and security issues are concerned? Has the usefulness of military power undergone any serious change? Are major future conflicts likely to resemble conventional conflicts of the past (e.g., inter-state warfare) or new types of conflicts, such as civil wars in failed states, more likely to dominate the peace and security agenda? Irrespective of the type of conflict, what type of peace and security role is the major global actor, the United States, most likely to play in this changed world? And finally, what role can a future UN play in facilitating global peace and security?

Three papers on the following three topics will be solicited to address some such questions:

- Changing nature of the state system: This paper will analyze broad system-level changes in the global political economy as they bear on issues of peace and security. The paper in the end must develop an argument about whether the world we live in is becoming less state-oriented or not. [Suggested paper writer: Lawrence Freedman, Kings College, London]

- The nature of the US as a global power: This paper will analyze the changing peace and security role of the US in the post-cold war era. It will address such questions as, what are the US's major peace and security concerns in the new era? How are the contradictory pressures towards isolationism and global assertiveness likely to evolve? What role is the US likely to play in solving (or maybe even in instigating) global conflicts? [Suggested paper writer: Sherle Schwenninger, World Policy Institute, New York]

- The problem of failed states: This paper will analyze the forces that typically underlie failed states (failed in the sense that they are unable to perform the quintessential task of maintaining order within their borders). Are these forces on the rise? Why? What, if any thing, can be done about addressing this problem? Is this a key peace and security area that will demand future attention of the UN? [Suggested paper writer: someone from Africa]

A fourth paper on the changing role of such emerging powers as China and India would nicely round out the coverage of states and security issues. Given resource constraints, however, I am hoping that another research group may solicit such an essay. Also, I am hoping to ask George Sorensen of Denmark to join me as a coresearcher, at least for some of the years.

Year II (1997): Economic Development

The annual 1997 conference will be held in New York in the November of that year, organized around the theme of economic development. The focus of research efforts of our group will naturally be on the role of states in economic development. While details of paper topics will again be developed in due course, it is likely that three or four papers will be solicited on the following types of topics: lessons of East Asian economic success; impact of economic globalization on states as economic actors; prospects of transforming predatory states into more effective states; and results and lessons of neo-liberal economic reforms.

Year III (1998): Environment

The conference this year will be in Tokyo and will focus on environment. This is an issue are in which I am not very knowledgeable; I will seek a coorganizer in due course to tease out the relevant themes for this year. Needless to add that the focus of our research efforts will be on states as both a problem and a solution in the issue of environmental degradation.

Year IV (1999): Human Dignity

The New York conference in 1999 will focus on issues of human dignity. Once again, details of topics will be developed in due course. My early thoughts are that it will be important to analyze the role of states in facilitating or hindering justice and dignity to such underprivileged groups as the poor, women, and ethnic minorities.

Year V (2000): Governance

The last conference in Tokyo will focus on issues of governance, both national and global. Topics of political stability, good government and democracy will need to be discussed. When focusing on democracy, it will be important to go beyond the concerns with procedures of democracy to also look at the substance of democratization of power and wealth, and the role the UN may play in facilitating such trends.

1. The concepts are elaborated in the UNU document, "The United Nations System in the 21st Century," Revised Proposal, Jan. 1996, esp. p. 3.

2. A third possibility that the world may actually be becoming more state-oriented (think, for example, of rising nationalism in some parts of the world and/or of the spread of the East Asian Model of state-managed-national-economies) can not be totally discounted.