Sovereignty has traditionally been defined as absolute and perpetual power of commanding a state. With territorial separation, state failures, interventions within internal affairs of the state and increasing strength of supra national organizations, the notion of a state with absolute power has become an oxymoron. Does a weaker state, mean a weaker or a stronger citizen? Examining state failures and formation of new states of former Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, this paper examines the power of the state and the strength of the citizen.
