An Agenda for the Next Century: The Myth and Mantra of State Sovereignty
![handle is hein.journals/vajint35 and id is 125 raw text is: An Agenda for the Next Century: The
Myth and Mantra of State Sovereignty
Louis HENKIN*
Professor Joan Fitzpatrick has, as one would expect, presented
an exposition that is perceptive and impressive. Her discussion,
however, is also depressing-as refugee discussions inevitably and
increasingly are. Professor Fitzpatrick identifies the trend away
from an international refugee regime based on asylum towards a
precarious system based on so-called safe havens. She assails
this development as undermining a well-established refugee frame-
work that has spanned more than four decades. She sees a move
away from integration and assimilation of refugees towards tempo-
rary status, which, she notes, may not be temporary. Professor
Fitzpatrick characterizes this trend as less civilized, as inhumane.
In addition, Professor Fitzpatrick views safe havens as even less
normal, involving distinctions within societies and distortions of
states and the state system.
I do not differ with professor Fitzpatrick's diagnosis or analysis.
But, at an academic conference, it might be useful to cast a few
rays from a different perspective. Admittedly, my endeavor is per-
haps more academic, less realistic, less relevant, even somewhat
quixotic. I like to think that such a perspective may prove benefi-
cial in looking, as the title of this conference suggests, toward the
next century (or the one after, if necessary).
I was struck by Professor Fitzpatrick's characterization of the
problem. She notes that [i]nternational refugee law has been
viewed as a compromise between the exclusive power of the state
over entry into and presence in its territory, the very essence of
sovereignty, and the competing humanitarian impulse to aid stran-
* University Professor Emeritus, Columbia University.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/vajint35&div=13&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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An Agenda for the Next Century: The Myth and Mantra of State Sovereignty
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