The only way to protect citizens from their governments is to divide sovereign authority between the national and international levels

The foremost responsibility taken on by a state is ensuring the safety of its citizens, but how can citizens be protected if the threat to their safety comes from their own government? Carmen Pavel argues that it is a mistake to believe states alone can effectively protect the rights of individuals. She writes that only a form of ‘divided sovereignty’, in which international institutions are invested with the authority to constrain the actions of governments, can ensure individual rights are upheld.