Who Gets a State, and Why?

Summary: Sovereignty is the ultimate prize in international relations. But it is not an objective term -- increasingly, it is awarded and defined by powerful actors whose interests are at stake.

STEPHEN D. KRASNER is Graham H. Stuart Professor of International Relations at Stanford University, a Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, and a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. From 2005 to 2007, he served as Director of the Policy Planning Staff at the U.S. Department of State.