The rights of nations

The relatively recent emergence of the state as the exclusive focus of political authority and sovereignty has encouraged a collapse of the distinction between nations and states and an obliteration of the moral and political rights of nations. Much contemporary liberalism emphasizes the rights of individuals and the limits of the powers of states, which raises a number of fundamental questions about what defines a nation and about the rights which national groups may legitimately claim. This book presents essays which address these questions by some of the world's leading social and political thinkers.