‘Autonomy plus’ meets ‘sovereignty plus’ : small jurisdictions and a future of fractured sovereignty

Abstract

The world contains a large number of subnational jurisdictions (SNJs), including various small islands and archipelagos, with their citizens enjoying varying levels of autonomy, short of sovereignty. In their dealings with their patron state, these SNJs tend to progressively seek to extract even more powers of self-determination and self-rule; while the patron state often seeks contain these claims or nudge them forward, in ways that curtail and restrict that patron state’s clout and oversight over the subnational unit: we refer to this dynamic as ‘autonomy plus’. Meanwhile, states that enjoy full sovereignty may seek a level of protection and security – political, military or economic – afforded by a larger country, and one which they would not be able to assure for themselves alone: we refer to this trend as ‘sovereignty plus’. This paper argues that contemporary trends suggest a growing, politically stable, convergence of ‘autonomy plus’ territories and ‘sovereignty plus’ states along the ‘autonomy to sovereignty’ spectrum. Rather than independence and self-determination, in the context of a new international economic order, the governance model of the 21st century is likely to involve a fractured sovereignty that challenges, and transforms, but does not eliminate, core-periphery, colonial relations.