Sovereignity Issues

Sarah Zaman,Urdu VOA News,Washington

What is sovereignty? What does respect for sovereignty mean? And how is the war on terror putting pressure on this concept. Military Affairs expert Dr. Sabastian Gorka says that sovereignty is not just the idea of a government exercising control within it's country's borders but also the practical application of it. He says there is no such thing as absolute sovereignty in today's world as the concept of self defense tends to supersede it. He says in case a person or organization that poses credible threat to a country is hiding in another, international law requires the aggrieved nation to request the host country to either apprehend and extradite such entities or send them to a third country where they can be prosecuted. But if the host country's sovereignty is weak, as some would say in case of Pakistan where not only is it hard for the federal government to assert full control over its territory but there is also a struggle between various institutions like parliament, military and intelligence agencies, and it cannot apprehend the entity itself, an operation like that of OBL's killing is justified by international law. Benjamin Wittes, a law expert with Brookings says sovereignty is exercised only by the government and public opinion does not matter in it.

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