“National sovereignty is an obligation as well as an entitlement. A government that will not perform the role of a government forfeits the rights of a government.”

- Richard Perle

 ‘Sovereignty’, loosely defined as the power to govern independently, is a delicate affair in politics and must be dealt with care. Nation-states, like individuals, tend to guard their sovereignty. Realists often propose that sovereignty is closely linked with the legitimacy of a state, and thus, becomes all the more crucial.

The constant border violations along the eastern and western boundaries of Pakistan can be regarded as an attack on its sovereignty. The conditionalities imposed by international institutions, the threat of economic and military sanctions, foreign influence on domestic policymaking; all these realities point towards the question: does absolute sovereignty exist in the third world?