Promoting world wide democratic principles should be a higher priority than promoting sovereignty.

** "There is a definition [of sovereignty] of which most subsequent definitions are a variant: supreme authority within a territory. This definition highlights an important aspect of the concept. A holder of sovereignty possesses authority. Authority is "the right to command and be obeyed." But if sovereignty is a matter of authority, it is not a matter of mere authority, but of supreme authority. The holder of sovereignty is superior to all authorities under its purview. A final ingredient of sovereignty is territoriality. It defines membership in a way that may not correspond with identity. The borders of a sovereign state may not at all circumscribe a "people" or a "nation," and it is rather by simple virtue of their location that people belong to a state and fall under the authority of its ruler." **[1] ** "'democracy' refers to group decision making characterized by equality among the participants. First, democracy concerns decisions that are made for groups and that are binding on all the members of the group. Second, this definition cover[s] different kinds of groups that may be called democratic. So there can be democracy in families, voluntary organizations, economic firms, as well as states and transnational organizations. Third, the equality required by the definition of democracy may be more or less deep. It may be the mere formal equality of one-person one-vote or it may be more robust, including equality in the processes of deliberation and coalition building." **[2] First, democracy benefits the collective. ** "Strategically, democracy forces decision-makers to take into account the rights of most people in society. Since democracy gives some political power to each, more people are taken into account than under aristocracy or monarchy. "No substantial famine has ever occurred in any country with a democratic form of government and a free press". The basis of this is that politicians in a democracy have incentives to respond to the expressions of needs of the poor." **[2] Second, democracy benefits the individual. ** "Many endorse democracy on the basis that democracy has beneficial effects on character. Democracy tends to make people stand up for themselves more than other forms of rule because it makes collective decisions depend on them more than monarchy or aristocracy do. Hence, in democratic societies individuals are encouraged to be more autonomous. Democracy [also] tends to get people to think carefully and rationally more than other forms of rule because it makes a difference whether they do or not. Finally, democracy tends to enhance the moral qualities of citizens. When they participate in making decisions, they have to listen to others, they are called upon to justify themselves to others and they are forced to think in part in terms of the interests of others. When people find themselves in this circumstance, they come to think in terms of the common good. Hence, democratic processes tend to enhance the autonomy, rationality and morality of participants." **[2] Sovereignty (and at its roots, territoriality), on the other hand, assigns meaningless power based on morally arbitrary and human-created borders. This has negative real-world implications. ** "A major component of state sovereignty is non-intervention in a state's internal affairs. This explains why the international community responded so forcefully against Saddam Hussein when he conquered Kuwait but did not intervene when he killed thousands of his citizens with poison gas. The Gulf war punished Iraq's international misbehavior, but internal genocide was mostly ignored, as it was perceived to be a domestic matter." **[3] [1] http://plato.stanford.edu... [2] http://plato.stanford.edu... [3] Gillespie, Thomas R. "Unwanted Responsibility: Humanitarian Military Intervention to Advance Human Rights." Peace and Change, Vol. 18 No. 3, July 1993, pp. 219-246