Targeting Westphalian Sovereignty: The Use of Armed Drones in Non-Conflict Areas

This paper aims to analyse how Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) popularly known as drones, impact the Westphalian sovereignty of those states in which the strikes are carried out. More broadly, the paper will investigate the wider implications drones have for an international system organised and based around the pillars of a Westphalian system of international relations. Territorial integrity and exclusion of external actors from a specific polity coupled with a monopoly of violence inside a certain territory are seen as the sine qua non elements of internal and external sovereignty. Analysing Westphalian sovereignty through the drone lens is important because the drone could act as a fundamental vehicle to analyse the state of affairs of the international system. The analysis conducted points to the drone as being the catalyst at the same time for a weakening and strengthening of the Westphalian state: a weakening for the states in which the strikes are carried out, and a...Show moreThis paper aims to analyse how Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) popularly known as drones, impact the Westphalian sovereignty of those states in which the strikes are carried out. More broadly, the paper will investigate the wider implications drones have for an international system organised and based around the pillars of a Westphalian system of international relations. Territorial integrity and exclusion of external actors from a specific polity coupled with a monopoly of violence inside a certain territory are seen as the sine qua non elements of internal and external sovereignty. Analysing Westphalian sovereignty through the drone lens is important because the drone could act as a fundamental vehicle to analyse the state of affairs of the international system. The analysis conducted points to the drone as being the catalyst at the same time for a weakening and strengthening of the Westphalian state: a weakening for the states in which the strikes are carried out, and a strengthening for those states with UAVs capabilities which have dramatically expanded their reach to protect their citizens and project power in the international realm. A projection of power which reflects or reinforces a view of the international system divided amongst the have and the have-nots, a schism created by the possession of drone capabilities.Show less

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Targeting Westphalian Sovereignty: The Use of Armed Drones in Non-Conflict Areas