Grin

Well. I feel smart. See student-professor e-mail communications below, re: questions for phase one, task one.


Tuesday, July 10:

Hello Mr. (Professor-Dude)!

I'm having a bit of trouble with the Discussion Board task in that I cannot seem to find a definition of international sovereignty as opposed to sovereignty in a nation. I have been able to find information about internal versus external sovereignty, however - is external sovereignty the same as international sovereignty, or am I supposed to determine how the sovereignty of Mexico (or the U.S.) works and is affected on an international scale, more specifically in relation to the scenario given of Acme Automaker?

Thanks for your help!

Sincerely
(Student Chick)


Wednesday, July 11:

What definition do you have for external sovereignty? I'd advise that you consider external and internal implications.

(Professor-Dude)


Wednesday, July 11, later and feeling a bit irked at the lack of real help from Professor-Dude:

What I've been able to learn of external sovereignty is that it is the aspect of sovereignty that deals with international law, which is what made me think that maybe it's what you're asking for. It is the aspect that ensures the authority of a state or entity is free from outside influences on it's basic prerogatives, that it is in fact it's own authority. The website I learned this from is the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, found here: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sovereignty/. This site explains as well internal sovereignty as another aspect, more along the lines of what exactly makes the authority of a sovereign legitimate, or upheld by the people or workings of that state. It also made mention of the fact that although states and entities may hold their own authority in some matters, they do not always hold it in all matters, that their sovereignty is non-absolute, meaning that those states or entities may well be required to conform to the authority of other sovereigns, with examples of the EU and UN given, which furthers for me the international aspect of it.

From everything else I've read so far and based on the scenario given, I think this is the international sovereignty asked about, but I'm just not sure, as nowhere have I been able to find a solid definition of the term 'international' sovereignty, only internal, externa, absolute and non-absolute.

Does the definition above of external sovereignty sound like what you're asking for, or am I way off?



Now, today is the 13th, the day that the assignment I needed this information for is due. I recieved no response to my long musing on what international sovereignty might be (external sovereignty), and was further irked. However I went ahead and completed the assignment using the info I'd aqqcuired from the above-mentioned website (thanks mom!!!) and felt I'd done an ok job.

About an hour after posting the assignment I finally received a reply from Professor-Dude. It's short and simple and still doesn't tell me for certain whether I am correct in my assumption that external sovereignty is basically international sovereignty, but I'm thinking I am correct. Checkit out!:

Friday, July 13:

"It is the aspect that ensures the authority of a state or entity is free from outside influences on it's basic prerogatives, that it is in fact it's own authority." - I like this statement.

You're a thinker. I like that.

(Professor-Dude)



-Big grin-

Too bad I didn't actually use that statement in the assignment ...