UNITED STATES HEGEMONY IN THE PERSPECTIVE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AND GLOBAL POLITICS: AN ANALYSIS OF STATE SOVEREIGNTY AND HUMAN RIGHTS ENFORCEMENT
Keywords:
American Exceptionalism; Hegemony; Human Rights; State Sovereignty; UnipolarityAbstract
This article aims to analyze the collision between the principle of sovereign equality of states under the UN Charter and the reality of American hegemony within the international legal order. Employing a normative juridical research method with conceptual and case approaches, this research evaluates the phenomenon of American Exceptionalism that generates sovereignty asymmetry. The findings demonstrate that a wide gap exists between de jure status, in which all states are equal before the law, and de facto reality, in which hegemonic power is capable of undertaking unipolar actions such as unilateral withdrawal from international agreements such as the JCPOA and the use of veto rights in service of national interests. This hegemony has caused international law to undergo a functional shift from a universally binding regulator into a transactional political instrument that is "sharp downward yet blunt upward." Furthermore, the enforcement of Human Rights is frequently instrumentalized as a geopolitical tool to pressure political adversaries through double standards. This research concludes that the legitimacy of global law is in crisis as a result of the cherry-picking policies of hegemonic states that undermine the rule of law. The recommendations of this research emphasize the importance of strengthening impartial multilateral mechanisms and reforming global institutional structures to minimize the politicization of law in order to preserve human dignity and international stability.
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