Humanity or Sovereignty for academics and political activists

"Humanity or Sovereignty" was begun in an academic environment, the author, Dr.
Lyndon Storey, holding a PhD and having some experience of teaching at University
level. At the same time it was influenced by his political involvement in various
"globalist" causes.

This page is presented to alert more academically inclined readers to the significance
of this book for various branches of academic thought and to alert political activists to
the significance of the book for the work they are engaged in.

Political philosophy:
This book addresses several core issues of political philosophy as it considers what is
necessary for a society of humans: In particular it addresses the often ignored
question of what is the ideal size of a political community. It shows unquestionably
that the only legitimate approach is to develop a system which is consistent with
political justice for all of humanity. It critiques western thinkers such as Plato,
Aristotle, Rousseau and Hobbes, who have located political justice within a smaller
community that uses force to “protect” itself against the rest of humanity. It also
introduces to a western audience the thought of Chinese thinkers such as Confucius
and Mencius who argued that a political system must attempt to extend justice to all of
humanity before it could be described as legitimate.

Political science:
The book comprehensively critiques “realism” the dominant school of thought in
international relations theory. It shows that the realist world of balance of power
configurations and national interest politics is no more than an ideological product of
the age of nationalism. It is not an inherent or scientific reality that we must accept but
an ideology which can blind us to the possibility of human politics.

Political activists:
All sorts of internationalist political activists, those campaigning for human rights,
environmental protection, economic justice and world political reform today face a
common problem. This is that what they advocate is seen as an idealistic fantasy
contrary to the weight of history and political “reality”. This is the first book which
uncompromisingly interrogates this intellectual tradition and provides a political
philosophy which uncompromisingly makes the point that legitimacy can only come
from respect for humanity, not just one’s fellow citizens. From here on such political
activists can claim they are the realists with support from history and philosophy while
their opponents are the ones promoting a fantasy based on a backward looking
ideology.