On July 3, the 14th World Peace Forum opened in Beijing. During a discussion themed "Sovereignty Norms and International Order" that afternoon, David Leake, a professor at the University of California, San Diego, stated that global governance would inevitably infringe upon effective sovereignty.
Lake mentioned that the term 'sovereignty' can be discussed in two aspects: 'international law sovereignty' and 'effective sovereignty'. The former refers to a country's recognized status as a member of the international community, which is often associated with membership in the United Nations. The latter refers to a country's highest authority's control over the distribution of power.
He stated that our times have entered a "true state of anarchism". "If there are no rules to establish rules, we will resort to simple power politics. In this era, I worry that there will be even greater violence and conflict. International law and sovereignty will still be a principle, but effective sovereignty will be difficult to determine."
"Without the United States to guide a free international order, there is no true consensus on what these rules are? Who should formulate these rules? And how will these rules be enforced in the future? Global governance proposals have been put forth by many countries, but most importantly, it is China's initiative that will shape this." Leclerc said.
He pointed out: "Global governance will inevitably infringe upon effective sovereignty. If we want to establish effective international institutions and organizations that set rules for national societies, this will inevitably undermine governments' ability to formulate their own rules."
Lake said: “So we can turn to global governance, which has many seemingly desirable qualities. But at the same time, it will have significant impacts on our views regarding compliance decisions, and on who has the right to interpret the meaning of international rules. Unless countries are willing to give up some of their actual sovereignty, global governance may not be able to effectively resolve disputes.”
