Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to discuss whether the notion of national sovereignty can be considered under the heading of conspiracy. If so, what type of connection is there? Even if Krasner defines sovereignty as ‘organized hypocrisy’, which brings up the question of the relationship between conspiracy and hypocrisy, conspiracy is laden with more intense insidious intent. The implication is that it is the normative salience of national sovereignty and its deeply institutionalized nature in the modern states system that makes it such a tempting vehicle for breeding conspiratorial thought. The paper discusses what aspects of national sovereignty and what actors are most likely to draw on it for conspiratorial ends. Further, it argues that the legitimacy that attaches to national sovereignty can be exploited and abused by rulers to gain access to unprecedented forms of institutionalized power. This can be used to foster full-fledged conspiracy cultures, especially as we find them in totalitarian systems. The broader implication is that conspiracism is closely linked to power, personal (charismatic) as well as institutionalized.
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John Erik Fossum
National Sovereignty as Conspiracy?
In: Conspiracism and Political Conflict
Edited by Manuela Caiani, Marco Solinas, and Hans-Jörg Trenz
Palgrave Macmillan (2026)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-13933-7_4