US decapitation doctrine signals end of Westphalian order (Imran Khalid, January 13, 2026, Asia Times)
To understand the gravity of this moment, one must look at the history of sovereign immunity. Since the mid-17th century, the international system has functioned on the “fiction” of equal sovereignty. Whether a nation was a global empire or a tiny principality, its leader was considered the personification of the state and thus beyond the reach of foreign domestic law.
This was not a moral judgment, but a practical one designed to prevent a cycle of endless retributive litigation between nations. By breaking this seal, the United States has effectively signaled that sovereignty is no longer an absolute right, but a privilege granted by the powerful to the compliant.
liberalism is required for a regime to be a legitimate sovereign.