Includes bibliographical references (pages 203-217) and index.

States and Quasi-States -- International constitutional change -- States and quasi-states -- Negative sovereignty and positive sovereignty -- A New Sovereignty Regime -- Sovereign statehood -- The old sovereignty game -- A new sovereignty game -- A novel international framework -- Sovereignty Regimes in History -- Sovereignty: fact or norm? -- The dual aspect of the states-system -- A natural law regime? -- The classical positive sovereignty regime -- The 'sacred trust' of civilization -- The constitution of negative sovereignty -- Evolution, restoration or innovation? -- Independence by Right -- The revolt against the West -- Evolutionary decolonization -- Decolonization and development -- Accelerated decolonization -- Precipitous decolonization -- Internationalization -- Sovereignty and Development -- The destitute image of the Third World -- International development assistance -- International development law -- Third World debt crisis -- International affirmative action? -- The dilemma of quasi-states -- Sovereign Rights Versus Human Rights -- The uncivil image of the Third World -- Civilization and human rights -- Decolonization, authoritarianism and refugees -- Self-determination as sovereign rights -- The African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights -- International civility and domestic incivility -- Quasi-States and International Theory -- Classical paradigms of international thought -- Quasi-states and the theory of survival -- Quasi-states and the theory of progress -- Quasi-states and international justice.

Robert Jackson examines the birth and survival of Third World nations since the end of the Second World War. He describes these countries as "quasi-states," arguing that they exist more by the support and indulgence of the international community than by the abilities and efforts of their own governments and peoples. He investigates the international normative framework that upholds sovereign statehood in the Third World. This he calls "negative sovereignty" and contrasts it with what he sees as the "positive sovereignty" that emerged in Europe along with the modern state. Within this structure, he examines how negative sovereignty arose, and its mechanisms and consequences for both international politics and the domestic conditions of quasi-states. He concludes by assessing the future of quasi-states and the institution of negative sovereignty.