Following one of its key goals, the Burke Institute is launching a series of articles on sovereignty and its paradoxes peculiar to many contemporary countries.

We see our role in analyzing the problems of sovereignty in a particular country as well as conducting comparative research.

It is already a truism that the power of sovereignty in a particular country directly depends on economy and a political regime, also on a system of cultural codes. It seems obvious that a country with a more successful, developing economy will have a stronger sense of sovereignty, while a country with a weak economy will have a weaker sense of sovereignty.

However, a closer examination reveals that such a relation is not as straightforward as it may seem at first glance. This is certainly true when we take into consideration the concept of will to sovereignty.

 Our point here is as follows: quite often it is the will to sovereignty that determines its place in the Burke Index, a method of calculating sovereignty in a particular country, which consists of seven positions (political, economic, technological, etc.).

Letʼs compare, for example, two countries: the United Kingdom and Tuvalu. Tuvalu is located on five atolls and four islands in the Tuvalu archipelago. The islands are spread over a distance of 218 miles, with distances between neighboring islands ranging from 31 to 62 miles. Tuvalu is a sovereign democratic state.

Members of Parliament are elected on the basis of universal suffrage by the majority system of relative majority in multi-mandate and single-mandate constituencies. All citizens of Tuvalu who have reached the age of 21 have the right to be elected as members of Parliament.

Immediately after the parliamentary elections, the members of Parliament elect a speaker from among themselves. In addition, the Parliament of Tuvalu has the right to pass laws that do not contradict the country's Constitution.

Each member of Parliament has the right to submit a bill, a proposal for a parliamentary debate, or a petition to the Parliament.

Needless to say, in the economic or military spheres Tuvalu can barely compete with the United Kingdom, but in terms of sovereignty, the situation is quite the opposite.

The will to sovereignty among the citizens of Tuvalu is significantly higher than that of the United Kingdom, which is often considered part of a broader 'Atlantic sovereignty.ʼ

These two countries are just one example of what we can call the “sovereignty paradox,” which results from the fact that the relation between sovereignty and formal economic and technological indicators in a particular country is far from being straightforward. This paradox will also be the subject of our in-depth analysis.