International Journal of Law

Authors
Somadina Ibe-Ojiludu

Abstract
Many believe that global governance is a threat to sovereignty. One person whose doctrine has remained influential in this direction is Martti Koskenniemi. This article reflects on his articulation of the said doctrine in his ‘What Use for Sovereignty Today?’, disagreeing with his belief that global governance erodes sovereignty and arguing that if there is any edge that global governance has over sovereignty, such an edge is driven by sovereign states. Sovereignty, thus, gives global governance life and empowers it. Consequently, global governance should not be seen as a rival to sovereignty. The instrumentalist and the non-instrumentalist views co-exist in international law. The two are complementary because each of them can contribute to the creation of a just world. Thus, a state-centric vision of international law and a global-governance-based vision of international law can both co-exist in international law provided that each has the ultimate goal of bettering the lot of people.