On the Practicality of Federal World Government

Abstract

The practicality of this proposal for a limited federal world government is based upon one simple but profound insight: it is possible to create a meaningful and effective federal government without requiring its component political units to be militarily defenseless, and without forbidding them from detaching themselves from the union if that is their wish. Needless to emphasize, few national governments in the contemporary world would be comfortable about explicitly authorizing their subsidiary units (states, provinces, districts, and so on) to maintain whatever military forces they desire, and to declare their independence from the nation whenever they desire. Such liberties are commonly perceived as contradictory to the core principle of national sovereignty. The armed forces of subsidiary political units are typically regarded as potential threats to the authority of the national government. And history is littered with examples similar to the U.S. Civil War of 1861–1865, precipitated by unauthorized declarations of independence by the Southern states. These declarations were regarded as treasonous and were met with force.