(via LGF)  FANTASTIC article from Ralph Peters on "The Sovereignty Con" and how a single uniform notion of it is an outdated concept.  Ralph is quickly climbing up my personal pundit totem pole (see here and here) and just a few notches below VDH.

Peters suggests a 3 tiered, progressive model for Sovereignty:

Level One: Every government, from Mexico to India, that respects the will of its people through democratic institutions, works for the betterment of its citizens, demonstrates progress toward respect for human rights and strives toward the rule of law deserves continued recognition of its full, legal sovereignty.

Level Two: States that cannot control their own territory, that lack the ability to protect their own citizens or to prevent international terrorists and other criminals from using their territory as a refuge, would be able to claim only partial sovereignty. More capable, rule-of-law states would have the right to intervene for limited purposes to bring killers and other criminals to justice. In every other respect, these weak, but well-intentioned states would enjoy the traditional privileges and protections of sovereignty.

Level Three: Regimes that refuse to enforce the rule of law inside their borders, that knowingly harbor terrorists and criminals, that behave aggressively toward their neighbors or that abuse their own citizens would forfeit their territorial sovereignty and their right to govern. Period.

This, of course, runs counter to some of the most cherished notions underlying not just the UN ("one nation, one vote") but also Transnational Progressivism ("one group, one vote"). 

The PoMo left doesn't like this because it inherently asks for value judgements by one group of people (who, incidentally, tend to be the folks who possses the capability to act) towards others.  I ranted a bit in an earlier post on group politics (spawned by Nelson "race card" Mandela) here.

It also forces us into recognizing the missionizing, idealism of the New Right which was once so thoroughly espoused by the 60's left.