Sovereignty generally refers to a particular national territory, the inviolability of the nation's borders, and the right of that nation to protect its borders and ensure internal stability. From the Middle Ages until well into the Modern Period, however, another concept of sovereignty held sway : responsibility for the common good. James Turner Johnson argues that these two conceptionssovereignty as self-defense and sovereignty as acting on behalf of the common goodare in conflict and suggests that international bodies must acknowledge this tension. Johnson explores this earlier concept of sovereignty as moral responsibility in its historical development and expands the concept to the current idea of the Responsibility to Protect. He explores the use of military force in contemporary conflicts, includes a review of radical Islam, and provides a corrective to the idea of sovereignty as territorial integrity in the context of questions regarding humanitarian intervention. Johnson's new synthesis of sovereignty deepens the possibilities for cross-cultural dialogue on the goods of politics and the use of military force.

pt. I: Sovereign authority and the right to use armed force in classic just war tradition. Sovereignty as responsibility: the coming together and development of a tradition -- Sovereign authority and the justified use of force in Thomas Aquinas and his early modern successors -- Sovereign authority and the justified use of force in Luther and the Reformation -- Grotius and his impact: the Westphalian settlement, the idea of the "law of nations", and the emergence of the territorial idea of sovereignty -- Transitions in the conception of sovereignty -- pt. II: Engaging the Westphalian idea of sovereignty. Finding common ground in the diversity of civlizations -- The two conceptions of sovereignty and the "responsibility to protect" doctrine.