Abstract
To justify interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states, powerful nations and supranational institutions most frequently project themselves as the defenders, if not the custodians, of lofty human ideals. Examples of norms frequently invoked to rationalize sundry encroachments on individual and state sovereignties are freedom, equality, democracy, justice, rule of law, human rights, and world peace. The question is, where did these values and ideals originate from? Who knows best what is good for an individual––is it the individual himself or others external to him/her? Are the ideals, which inspire international action, traceable to the “international mind and community” as such, or to divine sources, or are they simply the outcome of social evolution—that is, evolution of customs and practices in a particular society?
Your creation as well as your resurrection is but as an individual soul….
—Qur’an, Sura 31, Ayat 28
Faith has to do with things that are not seen and hope with things that are not at hand.
—Thomas Aquinas
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Balogun, M.J. (2011). The Individual as the Origin and Purpose of Sovereignty. In: Hegemony and Sovereign Equality. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8333-6_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-8333-6_2
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