But of course these naming games are games, not plausible forms of analysis. The line between interstate wars and civil wars is seldom clearcut, since outside powers tend to interfere in civil wars. The history of the modern world-system has been one long attempt to delegitimate internal wars. That is what sovereignty means. But sovereignty is not something a state can unilaterally proclaim.
Sovereignty is violated constantly, most frequently by stronger states relating to weaker states.
There is a generally accepted level of hypocrisy about sovereignty in which everyone participates, usually with the exception of the one whose sovereignty is being abused. Still, the attempt to delegitimate internal violence has been partially successful, in that it occurred constantly and everywhere 500 years ago, and over the centuries it has become less frequent. The Hague Convention was not concerned with such internal wars. It sought merely to constrain interstate wars. We are unlikely to have another world war in the next 50 years or so.