Cuius Regio, Eius Religio
Whose Rule, His Religion
At the time it was the most important provision in the Peace of Westphalia. It meant the religion of the ruler would be the official state religion and other states would not interfere. It brought an end to the Thirty Years War in 1648 and the concept extended to internal affairs in general. The treaties (there were two because Protestants and Catholics refused to meet with each other) enshrined principles of sovereignty and legal equality among nations that have guided conduct of foreign affairs ever since. Academics use the adjective Westphalian to describe the modern international system.
The system is rapidly eroding. In one forum after another nations are ceding perquisites of sovereignty to international courts and supranational agencies. Europe did it in forming the European Union and there is a lengthy waiting list to join. Much of the developed world did it in establishing the World Trade Organization. There is a queue for applicants there too. Even the United States is obliged to modify commercial legislation to conform to WTO rulings. The US Supreme Court has gone so far as to scrutinize American criminal codes in light of evolving international standards. Even the weak and ineffectual United Nations claims the right to impose its will on those occasions where the five permanent members of the Security Council can agree.
We find ourselves increasingly in need of governing mechanisms that do not allow national veto. When Chinese coal fired power plants dump mercury pollution in the American Pacific Northwest, religious extremism in Pakistan spills over into Britain, deforestation in Brazil affects annual floods along the Nile, or economic policies in Mexico undermine border security in the United States, the offended party needs a means of redress beyond diplomatic appeal to the offender. When the misguided Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930 raised American tariffs, other countries could do little in response but raise their own tariffs and precipitate a great global depression. The WTO is the better way. Global warming concerns everybody. We will have to deal with it and effective measures will have to be mandatory. There must be some means of enforcement.
It’s the nukes though that I suspect will drive a truly profound shift. Proliferation continues and the world community is powerless to slow it let alone stop it. Sooner or later a bomb is going to explode in a major city and force a serious re-thinking about how we intend to police ourselves, just as the horrific depopulation of Germany did all those centuries ago. Our response will most likely focus narrowly on nuclear regulation but we will establish new principles that will permanently breach the barrier of sovereignty that so many rogue governments have hidden behind for so many years.
It’s long overdue. For forty years after WWII many of the world’s excesses were kept in check by tensions between two super powers. The demise of the Soviet Union left only one and one is proving not enough. The WTO has been effective. It should be strengthened, its membership expanded, and its mandate broadened to include more goods and services. Global health and financial regulators should be made more powerful too. Most important, the world’s thugs must be brought under control. If the United Nations cannot be reformed it should be scrapped and replaced with international legislative, judicial, and executive institutions that have legitimacy and teeth. I think we will see those things and more. If they don’t happen soon we could face a crisis that will make the Thirty Years War look like a walk in the park.
At the time it was the most important provision in the Peace of Westphalia. It meant the religion of the ruler would be the official state religion and other states would not interfere. It brought an end to the Thirty Years War in 1648 and the concept extended to internal affairs in general. The treaties (there were two because Protestants and Catholics refused to meet with each other) enshrined principles of sovereignty and legal equality among nations that have guided conduct of foreign affairs ever since. Academics use the adjective Westphalian to describe the modern international system.
The system is rapidly eroding. In one forum after another nations are ceding perquisites of sovereignty to international courts and supranational agencies. Europe did it in forming the European Union and there is a lengthy waiting list to join. Much of the developed world did it in establishing the World Trade Organization. There is a queue for applicants there too. Even the United States is obliged to modify commercial legislation to conform to WTO rulings. The US Supreme Court has gone so far as to scrutinize American criminal codes in light of evolving international standards. Even the weak and ineffectual United Nations claims the right to impose its will on those occasions where the five permanent members of the Security Council can agree.
We find ourselves increasingly in need of governing mechanisms that do not allow national veto. When Chinese coal fired power plants dump mercury pollution in the American Pacific Northwest, religious extremism in Pakistan spills over into Britain, deforestation in Brazil affects annual floods along the Nile, or economic policies in Mexico undermine border security in the United States, the offended party needs a means of redress beyond diplomatic appeal to the offender. When the misguided Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930 raised American tariffs, other countries could do little in response but raise their own tariffs and precipitate a great global depression. The WTO is the better way. Global warming concerns everybody. We will have to deal with it and effective measures will have to be mandatory. There must be some means of enforcement.
It’s the nukes though that I suspect will drive a truly profound shift. Proliferation continues and the world community is powerless to slow it let alone stop it. Sooner or later a bomb is going to explode in a major city and force a serious re-thinking about how we intend to police ourselves, just as the horrific depopulation of Germany did all those centuries ago. Our response will most likely focus narrowly on nuclear regulation but we will establish new principles that will permanently breach the barrier of sovereignty that so many rogue governments have hidden behind for so many years.
It’s long overdue. For forty years after WWII many of the world’s excesses were kept in check by tensions between two super powers. The demise of the Soviet Union left only one and one is proving not enough. The WTO has been effective. It should be strengthened, its membership expanded, and its mandate broadened to include more goods and services. Global health and financial regulators should be made more powerful too. Most important, the world’s thugs must be brought under control. If the United Nations cannot be reformed it should be scrapped and replaced with international legislative, judicial, and executive institutions that have legitimacy and teeth. I think we will see those things and more. If they don’t happen soon we could face a crisis that will make the Thirty Years War look like a walk in the park.
posted by Onfoot at 6:49 PM
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