Re: National Sovereignty

"Charles J. Reid" wrote:
> 
> On Wed, 28 Apr 1999, Pat Gunning wrote:
> 
> >
> > I support some parts of international law; I object to others. This is
> > one of the rights of a free people, namely, to appeal to a higher
> > morality in order to evaluate a law.
> 
> -- I hope you are not suggesting that "higher morality" is Mr. Bill
> Clinton. And I'm at a loss to understand what you mean by "higher
> morality" on epistemological and ontological grounds. Methinks there might
> be some solipsism here.
> 
> //CJR

Charles, this is what I wrote previously:

"Respect for national sovereignty is most heightened after a war, when
the treaty-making parties must first reach agreement on sovereignty
before they can agree on anything else. However, the principles that are
laid down under such conditions -- that is, under conditions of duress
for the losers, exclusion of non-participants, repression in the various
countries that are represented in the negotiations -- should not be
regarded as having the force of moral authority."

"The moral principle upon which my post was based is twofold. First, I
strongly disapprove of A's action in taking away B's traditional
property and human rights. Second I strongly approve actions that
protect the traditional property and human rights. This principle cannot
always be unambiguously applied and the Kosovo conflict presents a
challenge to one who aims to apply it. However, the arguments that were
made in your posting seemed to completely disregard it.

So I agree that the agression of NATO against Serbia violates the
principle of respect for national sovereignty. But I do not regard
respect for national sovereignty as a higher moral principle than the
one stated above." 

Does Mr. Clinton share that morality? Who knows?
-- 
Pat Gunning, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman
Web pages on Subjectivism, Democracy, Taiwan, Ludwig von Mises,
Austrian Economics, and my University Classes
http://www2.cybercities.com/g/gunning/welcome.htm
http://www.fortunecity.com/meltingpot/barclay/212/welcome.htm