What if they share the sovereignty
over Khemed in different portions?
We are all
different. Our societies reflect these differences. Each of the countries we
are born in and where we spend our life is different. Some are rich in natural
resources, some are not; some have a strong financial system, some have
financial crisis very often; some guarantee complete freedom of expression yet
some are a “big brother” society controlling every step we take and impose
legal and other limitations on our freedoms; and many other differences. The
peoples in our stories (Khemed, Syldavia and Borduria) are different in many
senses. We know that:
Khemed
The majority
of Khemedians are polytheists and there are some other minorities that are
monotheists. Their main God is Ra, the sun. Together with Ra, there are twelve
other minor (six Gods and six Goddesses). Although the territory is small in
size, it is highly rich in a very rare metal only found there. However, they do
not possess the means for its exploration and exploitation. Therefore, their main
source of income is the exportation of basic products obtained from fishing and
farming. They do not have any means to defend the island. Finally, the
sovereignty of the island has been continuously claimed by two sovereign
States, Syldavia and Borduria. Because Syldavia and Borduria have never been
interested in Khemed and their land they have always maintained peaceful
bilateral relations. Until now.
Syldavia
Syldavia is a
medium size sovereign State with a large population, mainly polytheists.
Similar to Khemed, their main God is Ra, the sun. They also have several minor
Gods and Goddesses. This country is situated in another continent and although
not having natural resources, it is immensely wealthy mainly because of the
many services they provide, their infrastructure and their level of
technological and scientific development. Syldavians have one of the most
developed means of defence in the world.
Borduria
On the
contrary, Borduria is one of the largest sovereign States in the world in terms
of territorial size, but not densely populated. Bordurians are mainly
monotheists. The only God they recognise is Pachamama (Mother Earth). Their
economy is based on agriculture. It is a non-wealthy country with heavy
international debt, high rates of unemployment and inflation and governmental
corruption. They do not have any means to defend their territory.
Geographically, they are located in the continent adjacent to Khemed, so
mainland Borduria shares with Khemedians part of the continental shelf.
If the representatives
accepted that by application of maximin each of them had to receive a portion
of the sovereignty over Khemed they may accept that these portions should be of
different size and nature. Or may not? One of the representatives may argue
that the shares of sovereignty should be equal unless an unequal distribution
may bring all three parties (Khemed, Syldavia and Borduria) to final equality.
In other words, inequalities are unjustified unless they work to the advantage
of the worst-off peoples of the three. If Khemedians were in a situation of
disadvantage, then Khemedians would receive a larger share of sovereignty over
Khemed.
However
appealing, the representatives would see this way of distributing sovereignty
would bring about several problems:
First, the
peoples in Khemed, Syldavia and Borduria have different level of financial
development, their economies are very different and as a consequence, they have
very different levels of wealth. In addition to wealth, all these parties will
possess several other elements that are also likely to be unequal amongst
them—e.g. power, geographical location, etc.
When the
representatives think about dividing up whatever the sovereignty over Khemed
entails, they potentially have to think about what constitutes a fair
allocation of additional wealth and any other elements that are attributes of
sovereignty amongst parties who already have unequal holdings. For example, if
Khemed, Syldavia and Borduria accepted to divide sovereignty in share of
different size and nature, would all of the additional holdings go to the poor party
up to the point at which its situation equals the other two parties?
We have
Khemed, Syldavia and Borduria. They are equal joint claimants to the
sovereignty over Khemed and all that it entails.
Khemed and
Borduria are both poorer than Syldavia. Before the negotiations Syldavia does
not have any obligation in relation to Khemed or Borduria and the wellbeing of
their peoples. Why should they suddenly
acquire that responsibility when it comes to their shared sovereignty over Khemed?
Khemed, Syldavia and Borduria have equal claims and Syldavians no obligation to
sacrifice its equal claim to Khemed or Borduria just because they happen to be
poorer. Syldavia simply does not have that sort of special responsibility to
either Khemed or Borduria.
Second, one of
the representatives may think that Syldavia could accept because they would
need the cooperation of Khemed and Borduria. However, it is still unclear why
Syldavia would agree to lower the benefits for its people only to improve the
situation in Khemed or Borduria. It is easy to think the representatives may
consider Syldavia could accept this sort of agreement and help Khemed and
Borduria. But what about the obligations? An agreement like this one would
imply that the inequalities in the distribution would be fair if they benefited
Khemed and Borduria, then Syldavia not only would have to share the benefits
but also contribute more in terms of the obligations. And that seems
unreasonable again.
For example,
consider the case of the rare natural resource in Khemed. By dividing in
different shares the sovereignty over Khemed and asking Syldavia to help Khemed
and Borduria by reducing its share, Syldavia would explore and exploit the
natural resources in Khemed and would share the resultant benefits. It is hard
to see how or why the Syldavia would accept such an arrangement.
The next post
will consider in more detail this option. But so far it seems highly unlikely
that the representatives of Khemed, Syldavia and Borduria accept the division
of unequal shares of sovereignty over Khemed that might result in more
obligations only to one of them whilst the other two received mainly (or
solely) benefits.
Jorge Emilio
Núñez
30th October
2017
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